The Wright way: WVU track standout thriving despite pandemic
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GLENVILLE -- From home to home.
Former Gilmer County track and field standout Sada Wright left town in 2018 with plenty of gold medals, but now she's back from Mountaineer land a little earlier than expected.
"Most of my team has gone home. There are some still in Morgantown and up there together," said the West Virginia University sophomore public health major.
"Honestly, I think everyone just checks in on each other every once in a while. It is weird. We go from seeing each other every single day and part of them I won't see until we go back."
She's reunited once again with brother Trevor, mom Michele and dad Willard, the Titans' track coach.
It's not all been bad, but it's far from what was last normal.
"I think even though I'm home I still have a routine and I go to the track at the same time everyday and I eat my meals at the same time and lift, but it's totally weird.
"I go from school where I might get home at eight, nine o'clock and that's the only time I'm even home and stuff all day long. I'm not used to having free time and I know a lot of other athletes can relate to that."
A multi-time prep state champ in discus and shot, Wright said she tossed her indoor personal best to start the year and finished the Big 12 meet in 12th place, .2 meters from her PR.
"Big 12 was packed in the weight," she said of her final event of the season. "We were really ready for discus. I was going to throw discus.
"The day I had practice and they canceled everything was the best discus session I've ever had my whole life, but I mean I'm looking forward to growing and I was having fun with it."
Learning remotely hasn't been extremely challenging for Wright.
However, she was thankful for her professors.
"They work with us a lot and understand this isn't ideal for anyone," she added. "They are still doing their best to teach us and make grades and assignments fair.
"I'm not concerned, personally, about doing bad because all my classes got put online. My classes were easy to setup online, but some people's aren't. I'm sure some people would have a different answer for that."
Wright said she fully understood "like some of my friends and stuff, they are in nursing and are in classes that have lots of labs and clinicals and stuff. It's difficult for them. I'm hoping the best for some of them.
"Ellie Gardner, from Williamstown, is on my team. She's aerospace engineering and I don't know how that's going to work. She's so smart. Maddie (Gardner) is also super smart. They are both so smart and work so hard. Ellie and I are close. She's funny."
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic aside, Wright is trying to keep an even head.
"I'm getting my redshirt," she added. "There are athletes on my team who are seniors and going to grad school and accepted jobs and things. It's not really any point for them. I kind of just feel for them a lot.
"I don't feel like, yeah, I'm bummed it will be however long until I get to throw, but I don't really feel like I have the right to complain as much as some people will be upset about it."
Although she's doing what she can like everyone else, social-distancing hasn't been too much of a hassle.
"It is super weird," she chimed. "There's really good dynamics on our team. I don't think there's any problem with people being away.
"Everybody still checks in on each other. My teammates are really funny so it's easy to talk, but I'm probably the funniest."
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com