When Hyleas Fountain was in eighth grade, she watched the state track-and-field meet, turned to a Central Dauphin East High School coach and vowed to compete there the next year.
She did. And that was just the beginning.
Fountain is scheduled to compete Aug. 3 and 4 in the Olympics heptathlon in London as she aspires to win her second Olympic medal. She won the silver medal in the heptathlon at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
The opening ceremonies take place today.
The former Swatara Twp. resident always knew how to make her dreams come true, said Al Moten, the former CD East track coach.
?I knew Hyleas was special from the first time I coached her,? said Moten, who was Fountain?s coach from ninth through 12th grades. ?An athlete like that comes to a coach every 15 or 20 years. I was blessed to coach her.?
Moten is optimistic that the 31-year-old Fountain can win another medal in the grueling event. The heptahlon includes the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, a 200-meter dash, long jump, javelin and 800-meter run.
Fountain, a 2000 graduate of CD East, is especially strong in the long jump. She once jumped 19? feet at Landis Field, and later jumped 23 feet, Moten said.
He said she is equally strong at the high jump, noting that she jumped 6 feet when she was a junior.
?Hyleas also is a very determined, strong runner,? said Moten, who is now an administrator at Gaudenzia and assistant pastor of Shiloh Church of God in Christ in Swatara Twp.
?In high school, she distanced herself from other females because she was at a much higher level. She always tried to do better, but she was humble and teachable, too.?
Moten called Fountain one of the star athletes in his coaching career, which also included Elizabethtown College and Lebanon Valley College.
By the time Fountain was a senior, competing against girls offered little challenge. Moten said she began competing against boys in track-and-field events, frequently winning. He said people came to the meets to watch the high school girl compete against the boys and beat them in the high jump.
?Hyleas would follow any suggestion I gave her, always trying to do better,? Moten said. ?She?s a sweet, humble kid who doesn?t feel she?s above everyone. She?s there for the team and encourages the other athletes.?
Yet even Fountain had her off days. After winning four gold medals at the district track-and-ield meet during her senior year, she had high hopes heading to the state meet in Shippensburg.
Instead, she was injured during her first event, which hindered her the rest of the day. She fell in her last race. She didn?t win any medals.
?When she cried, I told her that there would be better days ahead,? Moten said. ?Then we went to dinner at Red Lobster. She put everything behind her. Most kids would have ended their athletic careers there. Hyleas didn?t. That day became the catalyst that she wanted to make up for and do better. And she did. She has a great attitude.?
Fountain trains hours each day for the heptathlon. To keep her lean and muscular build, she eats a lot of fruits, vegetables and beans, some fish and a little meat.
Moten, who coached at Central Dauphin East for 15 years, follows Fountain?s competitions closely.
?I?m very proud of her,? he said. ?Next week will be ?Hyleas Fountain Week.? All eyes will be on her.?
Always an athlete
Fountain?s love of all things athletic date to her childhood, when she went to the Bressler and Oberlin parks to play and rode her bicycle through the ?triple cities? of Bressler, Oberlin and Enhaut.
As a 7-year-old, she ran competitively with the Harrisburg High Steppers.
She competed in the Swatara Twp. Recreation Department?s summer events, and won ribbons in field events at Tri-Community Elementary School and in track events at Central Dauphin East Junior High School.
By the time Fountain was in high school, she had hit her stride, Moten said.
The Olympics will feature another product of the Central Dauphin School District.
Ryan Whiting, a Central Dauphin High School graduate, will compete in the shot put.
?Hyleas and Ryan were good students, good teammates and represented our school district in their high school careers and beyond with class and integrity,? said Ford Thompson, Central Dauphin School Board president. ?Their achievements speak very loud and clear to their superior athleticism. Even more important, both are such quality people.?
More Olympics on PennLive.com
Olympics will provide plenty of action for any kind of fan ? Your weekend Olympics guide: Opening ceremony, local Olympians and more ? Six unusual Olympic sports of today and four from yesteryear ? Full Olympics coverage ?Source: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/07/central_dauphin_graduate_hylea.html
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