Gracie Zacarias is chasing a Forest track and field legacy through a host of injuries
Some athletes, like Forest High School’s Gracie Zacarias, are made for their sport. When Gracie was leaving other elementary school students in her dust, coaches were watching.
In the fourth grade, she was selected to run for her school’s track meet. When she toed the line for her first race, she had no idea she'd start a track career filled with podium stands, school records and college opportunities.
“I used to run at daycare, and I would always beat the kids there,” Gracie said. “When they picked me for the track school, I was really excited because I could actually compete against kids.”
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The young runner took to the sprinting events, trying her hand everything from the 100-meter dash to the 800, as well as cross country. As she matured in the sport, the shorter sprints and relay teams became her main events.
Zacarias dialed into her training as a seventh grader. Her love for the sport was about to be displayed when the COVID-19 shutdown canceled the track season. It also coincided with her first significant hurdle.
While visiting a friend, Zacarias dislocated her knee with little physical movement. By the end of the year, she'd reinjured the knee and needed to restart physical therapy to heal for her freshman season.
Despite setbacks, she dreamed of running track in college. Her high school track career started off without a hitch. Zacarias would get her first taste of success with trips to regionals with the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams.
Over the next two seasons, Zacarias's name became more familiar. She made the regional finals in the individual 100 and 200 and 4x200-meter relay and finished in the top five in each event at the MCIAC championships both years. All while suffering knee dislocations in both seasons.
In July 2023, an MRI revealed she’d need surgery to replace her MCL. Zacarias’ estimated recovery was one year. Several months after her senior track season would end.
“I honestly thought it was over when they told me my surgery date and how long it would be, 'I was like, I’m not running my senior year,'" she said. “I wasn’t going to let that stop me. So I had to put in all the work I could because I’m going to college for track. I made that my goal, and it’s going to happen.”
The sprinter who planned to hunt down the Wildcats’ 25.31 200-meter dash record her senior year did everything in her power to come back to the track. For the next six months, she endured the most challenging physical therapy of her life. Yet, Zacarias was ready for the challenge.
“If I want it, I have to put in that work,” Gracie said. “So I’m going to put in the work so I can do that.”
That's the exact thing Forest head track coach Brett Stanley expected from his 2023 Green Heart Award winner, an honor earned for Forest track and field athletes who work the hardest at their craft.
“One of the biggest things I noticed is her work ethic,” Stanley said. “Like she eluded to in the offseason, she had to put in a lot of work.“
Zacarias cruised through the first recovery check-in she faced. A passing grade cleared her for physical activity. She was on the track the next day.
Her knee grew stronger with each test, and the track season grew closer. Day after day, she trained, visited physical therapists, and hit the gym. She was tired but knew she needed to push through.
By February, she was ready to compete just in time for the first track meet of the season. When Zacarias stepped to the line, she felt something that hadn’t been there before.
“I was scared, I was very scared, and when I got to the line, I didn’t know what would happen,” Gracie said. “After I ran, I was a little upset with my time, but I had to come to the sense that I did just come back from surgery.”
Her times sped up each time Zacarias stepped on the track following that meet. The hunt for 25.31 was coming down the final stretch.
Zacarias's dream of running in college is nearing as well. With track’s postseason beginning Wednesday, she’ll run through the finish line of her high school career, accomplishing several goals and a few more in her sights.
“It would mean I’ve made an imprint here,” Zacarias said. “I’d have my name on the board again. It would let me know that I motivated other people because I just came back from surgery, and if I broke that record less than a year ago coming back from surgery, that’s a big thing. Not a lot of people do that when they have surgeries like this. They just quit their sport and move on with their lives, but I won’t let that happen. I’ll keep fighting for that.”
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Forest sprinter Gracie Zacarias recovers in time for final track season
