Being a role model for wheelchair track drives Ravenna Southeast junior Jenna Fesemyer more than defending her four state championships.
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PALMYRA TOWNSHIP, Ohio – The thing about trailblazers is they always forge ahead, with less concern for their own success than carving paths for those who will follow. Gaining steam amid Portage County farms and feed stores this spring is a three-wheeled trailblazer whose smile alone is powerful enough to knock down barriers.
Ravenna Southeast junior Jenna Fesemyer need not look far to see the impact she has had as Ohio's first female wheelchair high school athlete and state champion. She was the lone female and won, by default, four events when wheelchair athletics were added to the state track and field meet last year.
On Saturday, Fesemyer will have competition at the state meet, and she could not be more thrilled. Four other female wheelchair athletes, as well as nine boys, will join her in Jesse Owens Stadium in Columbus. Among them is her teammate, Southeast freshman protege Emily Gallatly in the 100 and 400 meters. Fesemyer seeks to defend her state titles in those events as well as the grueling 800 meters and sitting shot put.
Fesemyer is unlike any high school athlete I've encountered in three decades of chronicling teens around Ohio, and it has nothing to do with her "inconvenience,'' as she prefers to label the fact she was born with a rare condition that left her without a left leg and hip socket. The perpetually upbeat and driven Fesemyer understands her unique place in the state's rich athletic history, and her priority continues to be growing her sport and enlightening the public about its athletes. She is more interested in leaving a true legacy than lines in a record book.
"This isn't about me. This is for the people who haven't been in a team sport or haven't been involved in anything after school. This is for them,'' Fesemyer said, pausing as her eyes began to water.
She leans forward for emphasis.
"I really want them to experience this,'' she said, "and I really want them to take this opportunity and run with it like I did.''
Fesemyer, 17, is well on her way.
She recently penned a short chapter about her life and her perspective on disabilities for a a teacher's guide, "Activities for Developing Empathy," by retired Ravenna educator Becky Kirby.
"She's the one who should be writing a book,'' said Kirby, who is Fesemyer's aunt. "She has a such good outlook on life. She's a good role model for all kids. She can find the best in any situation, works hard and sets goals.''
In the teacher's guide, Fesemyer writes, "It is my ultimate goal for people to understand my situation, and when I see people are curious, I am eager to help them understand. (A) question people may have is how to interact with children who have physical inconveniences, especially in physical education class or on a field trip. My answer to this would be to treat them the same, with equality and an open heart.''
The teacher's guide includes a page of student activities related to "Jenna's Story: A Physical Inconvenience." The guide suggests teachers ask students, "How would you describe Jenna's attitude?''
For those who have come in contact with Fesemyer, the answer usually is the same.
"She's an amazing kid with a really cool spirit. Jenna is a rarity. To get that excited at her age and get involved and not be terrified is a real rarity,'' said Paralympic track coach Teresa Skinner, who has been advising Fesemyer.
At last year's state track meet, Fesemyer's spirit reduced to tears the commissioner of the Ohio High School Athletic Association, Dan Ross, who was instrumental in wheelchair racing becoming a state event in Ohio. He cried after presenting Fesemyer one of her four first-place medals.
"She exemplifies exactly what high school sports are all about," Ross said at the time. "You want kids to have that opportunity and do with it whatever they can do. I'm really, really proud of her and what she represents."
Ross has grown close to Fesemyer. He stopped to see her in February, surprising her at school.
"Her focus is way beyond herself,'' he said this week. "I don't think there's a better ambassador. What a gift that young lady has.''
Students at Southeast see the gift, as well. Fesemyer, an honors student, recently was elected president of next year's senior class.
"Since Jenna was in elementary school, she always had that thing you can't teach. She was a born leader,'' said her mother, Cindy, who coaches Jenna on the golf and track teams. "Being a parent, I always worried if kids would see her as different. It was nothing like that. I never had to go there. She's never thought of herself as a victim, and that took care of a lot of things.''
Making tough calls about her future
Fesemyer recently had to make a difficult decision about her future as an athlete. She had never used a wheelchair until taking up wheelchair track last year, and at first found the idea of using a wheelchair distasteful. Fesemyer who grew up riding ponies on her family farm, ran some relays on the track team last year using her running "blade" prosthesis, while also training in the wheelchair events.
Running gave her a feeling of freedom unlike anything she had experienced. But she had to decide whether her future as a potential Paralympian beyond high school was as a running amputee or in a wheelchair classification for amputees. She said her right knee has suffered so much wear and tear, which is common among amputees, it was apparent the leg would not be strong enough for high-level competition.
Fesemyer chose to concentrate on wheelchair track.
"That was a very hard decision I had to make,'' she said, choking back tears. "It makes me sad. It makes me tear up, because that's what I love to do. I love to run.''
Her parents, David and Cindy, recently ordered a $5,000 custom-fit racing chair to replace the standard 3-wheel competition chair she has been using. She will not have the new chair until mid-summer, after she competes in the National Junior Disability Championships in Ames, Iowa, in three weeks.
At 5-8 with long arms and a powerful upper body, Fesemyer shows considerable promise in the sport. After graduation in 2015, she plans to attend and compete at Illinois, renown for its wheelchair athletics.
Fesemyer's athleticism extends beyond the wheelchair. She was the No. 3 golfer on the varsity last fall (49 average for nine holes), and she competed in the standard discus and scored in varsity track events this spring. She has real promise as a standing discus thrower in the Paralympics, but so few girls and women compete in the event that its future in the Paralympics is uncertain. In fact, the U.S. does not even have a discus record in her division, women's single-leg above-the-knee amputee, and if she does the event in Iowa, Fesemyer could be considered the U.S. record holder.
Before sports came along, Fesemyer envisioned a future in music or theater. She had to make a decision then, too.
"I used to sing and play the piano. One day I woke up and said, 'Music or sports?' and I went with sports,'' she said. "There's a spiritual element to this. All these doors that opened up for me, I never planned for them. So, just having a plan for yourself, and God having a plan for you, and really noticing that is what stole my heart.''
Fesemyer has worked her way into the hearts of so many she has touched. She senses it, and it drives her to do more than win.
"The satisfaction of winning isn't what keeps me going,'' she said. "There's so much more in this than just that. Just to see other kids coming out and growing to love this as much as I love it, that's what pushes me.
"That's what makes it even sweeter. They've all become role models in some way, and that's how I would want to be seen.''
