Hunt for glory

In some respects, Bob Hunt is no different than your average 17-year-old. Hunt, a senior at Riverside High School, swims, snowboards, works out in the gym, and competes in track and field for Riverside. He’s hoping to score a track scholarship to either Arizona or Illinois, and like every other teenage boy, he says he would like to move out of his parents’ house and live on his own someday.

The only difference between Hunt and the majority of his peers is that Hunt was born with a condition called Caudal Regression Syndrome.

Simply put, his spine ends at the mid-back level, he has no tailbone and he sits in his wheelchair with his thin legs crossed beneath him.

Hunt is about two-and-a-half feet tall without his wheelchair, but he hasn’t let his medical condition stop him from participating in sports.

Teresa Skinner, the coordinator and founder of Spokane’s Team St. Luke’s – a sports program for disabled athletes – introduced Hunt to wheelchair sports when he was in third grade. Since then, Hunt has become one of the program’s biggest successes.

Under Skinner’s tutelage, Hunt learned to powerlift, road race, play wheelchair basketball, and to “push” (the wheelchair equivalent of “running” in track and field) in track events ranging from 100 meters to 5,000 meters.

Hunt made his first official basket in a competitive wheelchair basketball game a few weeks ago at Hoopfest – an impressive accomplishment considering that wheelchair basketball is played with the same 10-foot post used in conventional basketball, and even in his wheelchair, Hunt stands less than 4 feet tall.

The 40-pound athlete has long, sinewy arms that can bench press a max of 85 pounds, and he’s shooting to increase that to 90 pounds when he competes in powerlifting at the National Junior Disability Championships in Spokane beginning Saturday. Hunt will also compete in track and road racing at the NJDC.

“Road racing’s my favorite,” Hunt said. “I like the sound of the wheels on the road when I’m racing because I have carbon fiber wheels.”

But beyond next week, Hunt has his sights set on representing the United States in track and field at the 2012 Paralympics in London.

“That’s my goal,” said Hunt, who clocked a personal best 19.15 in the 100-meter dash wheelchair for Riverside last season. “I think I have a shot. In the sprints at least.”

Sports has become more than a hobby for Hunt. It’s a lifestyle. And one that’s taught him some valuable life skills along the way.

“Teresa helped me push myself to be more independent so that now I can do things by myself,” said Hunt, who used to be completely dependent on help from an aide who would accompany him everywhere.

“Growing up, I was always dependent. I couldn’t do anything myself, I’d need help to get to the bathroom, and I didn’t want to push my chair at all.

“I hated pushing myself. Everyone would do it for me, so I didn’t want to push.”

Sports showed Hunt that he didn’t need to live his life beholden to his physical disability.

“Sports gave me something to do,” Hunt said. “When I first went to my first track meet in Seattle for Regionals, I was shocked. I hadn’t seen that many wheelchair people in my life.”

Hunt also taught himself to snowboard two seasons ago.

“I brought a little plastic snowboard up to the mountain and one of the ski patrol guys saw me on it and hooked me up with all this stuff,” Hunt said. “He’s the one who introduced me to snowboarding and I’m hitting jumps and everything now. And it’s my second year.”

Hunt uses a 44-inch snowboard and rides by strapping his hands into regular boots and bindings.

“I’d tried wheelchair skiing before, and I didn’t like it,” Hunt said. “I’ve always been a snowboarder kind of guy.”

Hunt regards himself as an athlete, and that’s exactly how he’s treated by his Riverside track coach Ian Hansen.

When he first entered high school, Hunt had to adapt to the rigors of life as a student-athlete. Hansen held him to the same standards as all the other athletes at Riverside – able bodied or not.

“As he got into high school, Bob has been held more accountable for his academics,” Hansen said. “It was really difficult for him sophomore year with grades. Our policy in all sports is that if you have one F, you can’t compete.

“Sophomore year, Bob had more than one F, and it was something new for him to realize ‘you can’t go on the track today, you’re gonna sit in the classroom and I’m gonna go through your homework with you to find out what you need to do.’ “

Hunt managed to get his grades by the end of the season and has maintained them ever since.

He knows he’s got to stay on track with school if he wants to continue competing on the track.

“Bob has this can-do attitude,” Hansen said. “He will take a hard workout and know that it’s going to help him in the long run, and just do it. It’s been great working with him.”