Two months prior, Ozona's Kelyn Gass was one of the biggest stars in West Texas basketball. The junior finished the regular season averaging 18 points per game for a surging Lady Lions team. She was Ozona's number-one option and a major reason they rose to prominence this year finishing with a 31-6 record and making a trip to the Regional quarterfinal.
Ozona girls basketball coach Steve Scott dubbed Gass the ultimate team player.
The Lady Lions season finished on Feb. 20 and two weeks later, Gass competed in her first track meet on March 7 — a rapid turnaround time for most athletes transitioning to a different sport.
"It took me a minute to get into shape," Gass said. "(Track) is so different. With basketball, you're running up and down the court, but in track, you have to go longer distances."
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What is difficult for most athletes, Gass made look effortless. In less than two months of training, she took home first place in the 100-meter hurdles and high jump events at the district and area meets. At the area meet Wednesday, her 15.56-second hurdle time was nearly a full second faster than second place and her 5-feet, 2-inch high jump was a full four inches higher than the next closest. She also advanced to the regional meet with the 800 and 1,600 relay teams, but for Gass, advancing to the next meet was not her only goal.
Since recording her first time in the 100 hurdles this season, Gass said she had one singular goal. She had to record a time under 15 seconds. She is racing to beat herself.
"We always take it day-by-day and meet-by-meet," Ozona track coach Jesse Garza said. "We try to go and set our personal bests every week and sometimes it doesn't happen, and that's one thing that I've been talking to the girls about, like your best that day is your best. We can't go run a 14.9 right now. We set our goals, but every given day is different."
Currently, Gass' personal best this season is 15.46 seconds, which she posted on March 22 at the San Angelo Relays — the second fastest time this year in West Texas trailing reigning 2A champion Lainey Jernigan's 14.69.
As Gass proved during basketball season, though, she performed best helping her teammates improve, which ultimately pushed her to be her best. And as Gass crossed the finish line in the 100 hurdles in Sonora at the district meet, she immediately turned to her teammate McKenna Luckie to ensure she also qualified for the area meet. After the final results came in and Luckie's qualification was confirmed, Gass and Luckie embraced on the track.
"I was so proud of her," Gass said. "I really like it when my teammates do well, and I feel like it gives me more confidence because I know that we have each other there and we can hype each other up to go and compete."
Like Scott, Garza could not help but praise the leadership and admiration Gass has for her teammates.
"She's one of our best athletes and she's really grown up this year," Garza said. "She peaked in basketball and she continued that into track... she's stepped up. She's never run the mile relay before this year and was a big part of breaking the school record at the San Angelo Relays... She is really special and she worked her butt off."
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