CV team player advocates athletics

Krystle Horton goes the distance as a top wheelchair athlete.

This Central Valley High School graduating senior has excelled for the Bears at the state level in track and cross country while advocating for wheelchair competitors to earn team points at regular-season meets.

For someone who had to be persuaded by coaches to try longer distances, those races are now her favorites.

Horton was born 3 1/2 months premature in 1989 with infantile idiopathic scoliosis. She has restrictive lung disease and asthma. Although she uses a wheelchair in competition, Horton often chooses to walk around school.

“For track, I’m better at long distances and cross country,” says Horton, who began wheelchair competition only four years ago when encouraged by a coach of Team St. Luke’s. “I still do some sprints, and I throw mainly discus.”

Horton credits her CV coaches and teammates for making her feel comfortable from the start.

“I was made to feel part of the team – a lot. My coaches have been the most supportive. There are no special exceptions. They push you and make you feel like you shouldn’t be treated differently.”

Horton’s condition has required three surgeries, including one spinal fusion procedure.

Since starting wheelchair competition, Horton has played in Hoopfest for Team St. Luke’s for the past three years and will again later this month. Horton also has competed in Bloomsday three times, including a personal best of 1:12:06 this year.

After attending Spokane Valley Christian School through the ninth grade, Horton transferred to Central Valley her sophomore year. At CV, she enjoys taking art classes, especially drawing and pottery.

She turned out for CV track the spring of her sophomore year as the only wheelchair athlete.

In 2006, she finished second in the state cross country meet wheelchair division.

At the State 4A track meet in Pasco in May, Horton won the 100-, 200- and 1,600-meter races as well as the discus. Her most challenging, yet most rewarding work, she says, is done in the mile.

“I was really nervous about doing it. I knew I could, but it’s long. My first mile was 10 minutes plus. Once I did it, it went well. It was getting used to doing it,” Horton says.

Her athletic feats also have allowed Horton to travel. Selected for Team USA (wheelchair) in the Junior World Championships, she went to Ireland last summer and traveled to Georgia for the para-Olympic trials and the Peach Tree 5K road race.

Last fall, Horton spoke to the board of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, asking it to award wheelchair athletes points in track.

According to Horton, wheelchair athletes can earn team points only at state.

“Points for the whole season would be nice to help the team,” she said. “Now it’s at the discretion of the meet director. The argument is that not every school has wheelchair athletes, but they could get more people into the sport.”

It could help with recruiting, she added.

Starting this fall, Horton plans to spend a year taking Spokane Falls Community College courses, including ones on Japanese culture. Later, she is considering schools, such as the University of Illinois, that offer wheelchair sports.

Long term, Horton hopes to pursue a career in graphic design, drawing or wildlife rehabilitation.