By Marianne Ward
Ariel Okorie, a 2016 Waynesville High School graduate and freshman at Kansas State, finished first in the nation in the heptathlon after two days of competition at the USATF Junior National Championships. She will represent the United States of America in the Pan American Junior Championships on July 21-23 in Lima, Peru.
“You have no idea how many years we have been working toward this,” said Selina Huggard, her mother who also served as her coach during previous summers. “This has been a long time coming. Ariel has worked so hard for the past six years to achieve this.”
Immediately following the championships on Fri. June 23 in Sacramento, Calif. Okorie hugged her mom and said, “I did it.”
Athletes compete in seven events in the heptathlon. The first four – 100 meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200 meters dash – are on the first day of the competition, and the remaining three events– long jump, javelin throw and 800 meter dash– are on the second day. Despite being a freshman in college, Okorie is eligible for the Pan Am Junior games because she entered K-State as a 17-year-old.
At K-State, Okorie continues to improve in the heptathlon’s seven events, reaching 20 feet, four inches in the long jump and 5 feet 4 inches in the high jump. She’s also crossing the hurdles line at 13.6.
“She has an outstanding coach at K-State and great teammates,” Huggard said. “It’s a great environment and I am so glad that’s where she is going.”
But Okorie is far from finished. “She is an amazing kid with an amazing work ethic and her heart is set on making it to the 2020 Olympics,” Huggard said. “She is working with her coaches and teammates to get those points to have a chance to make the U.S. Olympic team.”
Over Okorie’s four-year career at WHS, she won 11 state medals, 6 sectional championships, 8 district championships, and 12 Ozark Conference championships. Okorie holds four Waynesville High School records: 100-meter hurdles, 14.19; 300-meter hurdles, 42.87; long jump, 19’6”; and javelin, 110’6”. Her career team points over 4 years is a school-record 1,117.5. She is the first Waynesville track and field athlete to go past 1,000 points.
“Every time they announced her name, they would say, ‘from Waynesville, Missouri,’” Huggard said. “The first person she called today was Coach (Gary) Shultz to let him know.”
Fans may remember that Okorie was known not only for being fast but also for eating “baby food.”
“It’s really toddler pureed food,” said Huggard, a chef. “It’s a fast way to get nutrients into her between her events so she can stay at the top of her game.”
And, she clearly has reached new heights. Okorie and her K-State teammates are on a billboard near Manhattan, Kansas.
