Back On Track West Valley Sprinter Distances Herself From Past, Focuses On State Titles

For too long, Staci Adams ran to get away.

When she settles into the starting blocks for the first of her three events at Star Track XV in Tacoma this weekend, she’ll be running to get somewhere.

The West Valley junior has had a checkered past, but now she is a contender for State 3A titles in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 300 hurdles.

“I would love more than anything to win state,” she said. “It’s in my heart.”

Adams began running when she was young, to get away from the memory of her father’s death and her inability to get along with the rest of her family.

Her parents were getting a divorce. She was living with her father in Sedro-Woolley when they were involved in an accident that killed Michael Adams.

“No one can explain how I lived through it,” she said.

Back with her mother, she used to go to her grandparents’ place near Sedro-Woolley and run with the horses.

She always ran and she was always fast.

She even ran away.

Her sister encouraged Adams to join her family in Spokane. Hoping for a new start, Adams enrolled at West Valley, but even that wasn’t easy.

“When I was a freshman, I had a hard time making friends … but they gave me a chance,” she said. “Now I have a lot of friends. I’m happy.”

Adams went out for track, qualified for state in four events, broke the athletic code and stayed home.

“I learned to follow the rules and I learned what is important to me and what is not,” she said. “There are always other times to have fun and I need to take track more serious, train harder.”

That realization didn’t happen over night.

Adams left her sister last winter.

“She was way too controlling,” Adams said. “She wanted to be my sister but then she had to be my mom. It just wasn’t good. There were hard feelings.”

She spent a night with Shannon Goodsall and soon the Shelley and Jeff Goodsall family became hers.

Still, there were some struggles. Adams missed the occasional practice last spring but still picked up medals at state in the 300 hurdles (fourth), 400 relay (fourth) and 800 relay (fifth).

But even this year, she missed the Pasco Invitational for missing a practice. That may have been the final lesson because her grandparents, Glen and Gerry Adams, who often travel to her meets from Sedro-Woolley, were in the stands at Pasco waiting for her to run.

“They were mad at me about that… I let them down,” Adams said. “I don’t think I tell them enough how much I appreciate them.”

The Goodsall family has helped with the appreciation.

“I love this family,” Adams said. “I’ve never really had a normal family. That’s why I’m doing a lot better. I’m a lot more stable. They treat me just like their daughter.

“They’ve given me so much support. It’s a family. I trust them. We have open communication. I respect their rules.”

“She’s come so far in the amount of time we’ve known her,” Shelley Goodsall said. “She has had a pretty messed-up life… She’s doing so good… Her grades have come up so far. Everything’s coming together at the same time. It’s amazing.”

The relationship has a visible effect on Adams.

Her times of 12.1 seconds in the 100, 25.0 in the 200 and 44.2 in the 300 hurdles rank first, second and second, respectively, in the 3A state rankings. She holds the school record in all three events, as well in the 400 (57.2 the only time she ran it).

And, she has reopened communication with her mother.

Adams still battles confidence “Everybody else can see how good she is, she just has to see it,” WV coach Dori Robertson said.

The Goodsalls are trying to teach her sports isn’t about winning and losing.

“We tell her, ‘Do your best, that’s all we want. Go have fun and enjoy it,”’ Shelley Goodsall said.

Now when Adams reaches the starting line, she will still think of her father but there is enough happiness for her to enjoy the moment.

Win or lose, she has hurdled enough obstacles to make starting any race a win.

“I want to show everybody I can do it,” she said.

Staci Adams isn’t running away any more.