At West Salem High School in Salem, Oregon, there is one talented young lady that is working hard every day to become the best athlete she can be. Only athletes that train as hard as Keira McCarrell can relate to the amount of sacrifice and intense focus that it takes to learn the different skill sets to many events. The training schedule has to be crazy not leaving much time for other things in her life. For her family, well, they love the family time together at track meets or practices.
As a young kid, Keira was not a natural athlete that had talent. It wasn't easy to acquire what she's learned to this point. She's kind of like a rags-to-riches story, except hers is non-athletic to athletic resulting in major success.
Keira has two younger sisters. Taylor has the best 6A-triple-jump mark in the state of Oregon. Her youngest sister, Sydney, is an eighth grader and throws the shot put and discus. Keira would really like to get Sydney to start throwing the javelin.
She is the daughter of Kevin and Terri McCarrell. Kevin played college basketball at Southwestern Kansas where he met Terri. Terri's mom was up in Canada battling a terminal type of cancer. They moved to Canada to be with her. It was there that they would eventually be married. During that time in Prince George, B.C., Canada, two of their daughters were born, Keira and Taylor. When Terri's mom passed they moved back to the USA. Keira now has duel citizenship.
Moving to Oregon, they first lived in the Sprague area in the south part of Salem. By the time she entered grade school they had relocated to the west side of the city. Keira attended Chapman Hill Elementary.
"I really don't remember much about grade school. I wasn't any good at sports ... I know that for a fact -- ha-ha! The one thing I do remember is Mrs. Foekl. She introduced me to science -- an amazing teacher," Keira said.
Keira's low to middle-income neighborhood was right next to a very busy road -- constant traffic. It was difficult to have the normal neighborhood friends. She did manage to have one friend that lived behind her a few blocks away. She speaks highly of Irene. To this day she is one of her best friends. They always get together to celebrate Keira's birthday.
"Irene is so special to me, she's like my right hand. Although she's into robotics and I'm into sports we are super good friends," Keira said.
By the time she advanced to Walker Middle School in West Salem, one could describe Keira as an upbeat and energetic person -- basically a ball of energy. She played basketball, softball, and volleyball. In the sixth grade there was a time where she needed something to do in the spring and summer. Why not try track and field? She was not very good at the hurdles or anything else for that matter. In an all-city meet she placed eighth in hurdles. One of her friends beat her.
She wasn't about to let that friend beat her again. During the summer after seventh grade she signed up to be a member of Salem Track Club. She would look to some day compete in the USATF Jr. Olympic meets. Athletes that win at the state level advance to the regional level and then to the national meet in July.
One day she saw Olympian Dave Johnson throwing the javelin. He started talking to her about the javelin. He showed her a few things and it caught her attention. Later on, she describes this as a miraculous thing. Her family discovered Scott Halley, a coach who specializes in the javelin. Scott inspired Keira to start throwing the javelin and has been her coach since. Technique in the javelin is so crucial and can mean an additional ten or fifteen feet in distance.
"Scott is who really inspired me to start throwing the javelin. He's like a true friend who I can talk to about anything," Keira said.
Keira and her family would drive to Portland four times a week for her individual training with Scott. As the days went by her skill set was getting better and the improvement was noticeable.
"It was crazy, like in basketball, a kid that loves basketball will go out and shoot baskets all night long. For me it was the javelin, I loved going out and working on throwing form -- I really wanted to get better. It just felt so right," Keira said.
She started doing the multi-events experimenting on what she could do and began to excel in those as well. The pentathlon consists of five events and points are totaled for a final score. She started winning in that event as well. By the time she was in the fifteen-sixteen age group she was competing in the heptathlon, which includes seven events, the 100-meter hurdles; 200 meters; shot put; javelin; high jump; long jump; and the 800 meters. The work ethic and time spent to master all of the skill sets needed is beyond words.
Keira throwing the Javelin in a big meet.
When Keira was competing in the thirteen-fourteen year old division she won at the state level advancing to the regional competition. At the regional meet she won the javelin and placed third in the pentathlon. This qualified her to the national meet, however, she did not go due to budget constraints.
She was improving each year through her intense hard work. She was competing in the fifteen-sixteen age group this time. In 2015, Keira was throwing the javelin over 140 feet. She advanced to the Jr. Olympic National Meet in Jacksonville, Florida. She became the national champion in the javelin and placed third in the heptathlon scoring 4,354 points-- seven events! She was recognized as one of the top athletes in the nation in track and field. She was awarded the Athlete of the Year Award twice.
Keira speaks of obstacles she ran into along the way. At one point during her middle school days she started realizing who her friends really were. There was a time where a group of kids that were so called the "in crowd" played some bad pranks on her. One time they paid a kid to ask her out and then later they paid him to dump her. Or another time where she was on a volleyball team, unfortunately it was the B Team. Most of her friends were on the A Team and started treating her differently. That was hurtful to her and something she had to work through.
"I started thinking, whatever. I'm the type of person that doesn't really belong to a certain group. I enjoy talking to anyone no matter what their status is. It was a very difficult thing for me to go through, but I started learning who I was as an individual," Keira said.
Keira came in as a freshman at West Salem High School. This school is located up in the hills and many of the students attending there live in upper-class neighborhoods. Coach Bruey Finck had asked Keira to come throw with the high school kids when she was in the eighth grade. He knew of her and was excited to have an athlete like her join the track team.
"My high school experience as a freshman, well, I got cut from the volleyball team. Volleyball was not working out for me. I played basketball until my sophomore year and decided to focus on my track and field career. I had the confidence I needed when track season came around. I was ready, but the uncomfortable part was that I knew I was going to take some spots from juniors and seniors," Keira said.
Keira's dad, Kevin, is a basketball coach at Chemeketa Community College. This was a difficult decision for Keira. She liked basketball and had some skills, but her passion was in throwing the javelin and competing in track and field -- her future.
"It was okay with me. I was excited to watch her in track and field. She was fast in basketball and did have some skills, but her unique abilities in the multi-events are pretty amazing. I'm sure it was a difficult decision for her, but it was hers to make and the right decision I feel," Kevin said.
This year, 2016, as a junior at West Salem, Keira has blossomed to become one of the state's elite athletes. At the GVC District Championship Meet held in McMinnville, Oregon, she captured the title on all four of her events. She won the 100-meter hurdles in 15.89, the high jump clearing 5' 4", the javelin with a throw of 143' 3", and anchored the 1600-meter relay to a first-place finish. She advanced to the 2016 OSAA 6A State Meet at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. She'll be a contender in all her events.
Keira wins the 100-meter hurdles at the GVC District Meet.
Her awards are piling up. Last year she was selected first team All-Mid-Valley. And this year she's headed to possibly receive that award again. It's pretty amazing what she's been able to do with no serious injuries.
"I've had mentors in my adventure. My mom, she helps me with my spiritual education and teaches me many things about God. My javelin coach, Scott Halley. My old baby sitter, Emily Reeder, she was someone that I would call a perfect role model. I learned so much from her. It was like she had been through all the things I'm going through," Keira said.
Keira had teammates along the way that were so supportive, such as Junior Ahmed Muhumed, cross country state champion and winner of the 1500 meters and 3000 meters. Keira was the first person to talk to Ahmed when he transferred from Portland as a freshman. She found that they could relate to each other. They were both of color and lived in the flats. They both became elite athletes and they had so much in common. Senior Angela Mumford knew Keira was going to take her spot in the javelin so she didn't want to throw javelin anymore -- she became a great discus thrower though. Another was Senior Deven Nipp, a hurdler who was a good friend and encouraged her and Senior Brooke Chuhlantseff, a long distance runner who will join her at state in the 1600-meter relay. And finally, Junior Kasey Campbell, she has been injured this year.
"My teammates are so supportive of me. They are there for me -- I love them. We work very hard and we have fun while practicing together," Keira said.
Academically, Keira maintains a 3.7 GPA and she likes to get her homework done as soon as possible when she gets home from school.
Kevin and Terri are raising some overachievers and they are having fun while doing that. Their demanding schedule is very tough but they wouldn't have it any other way.
"It's amazing to watch her. Kevin coached her in basketball. To watch how it changed her when she started doing individual sports was remarkable. She holds herself accountable, she has a job, she has excellent grades. We spend hours driving to Portland and back and hours at track meets. To us that is family time that we spend with our daughters. The girls cheer for each other all the time. We are so proud of Keira, not just in sports but in so many other things. She is a super hard-working girl with good intentions and always the biggest heart," Terri said.
Kevin makes time to spend with his daughters despite his tight schedule with a full-time job and coaching basketball at Chemeketa. He is to be commended for understanding why his daughter chose track and field and not basketball as her sport. He looked to Keira to make that decision.
"If they weren't involved in sports they'd probably be running around with friends in the streets or something. Hours of driving in a car with my daughters, where else can I have a talk with them about so many topics? Keira has a better heart which is more valuable than what she does as an athlete. She works so hard -- more than we could ever ask of her. She is a blessing," Kevin said.
Although colleges cannot contact athletes when they are juniors until a certain date, Keira has received piles of letters from Division I colleges. I'll list a few of them to give you an idea of the major interest nationally -- UCLA; U of O; Stanford; Kansas; LSU; Yale; St. Josephs; Penn State; Idaho; UNLV; North Carolina; WSU; U of W; and more.
I'm wishing the best for Keira and her family -- she has such a bright future ahead of her. Congratulations young lady! You deserve the success you've worked so hard for.
Keira, what are your favorite subjects in school?
I like anatomy and physiology.
Favorite athletes?
NBA MVP Steph Curry and Olympian Brianne Theison-Eaton.
Do you have a short-term goal?
I'd like to win at state.
Do you have long-term goal?
Throw for Team Canada in the 2020 Olympics.
Is there a story no one knows about you?
Most people don't know that I'm a Canadian. And also, I once wore a softball shoe and a javelin shoe to throw in a California track meet. It was freaky, I looked in my bag and only saw one shoe. My parents took me to a local athletic store to purchase a shoe.
What kind of advice can you give a young kid that's following your passion?
You don't have to be fast to do track and field. Keep your head up because if you aren't doing well in one event, there's fourteen other events you can try. It's an individual sport and you're trying to beat yourself. You're competing against your marks or your time. Maybe one day you'll throw four inches farther than last time. It just takes hard work and making that decision.