Greensboro
To prepare for the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A Outdoor Track & Field State Championships on Friday, Kristi Oliver started preparing Monday.
Her daughter, Jordan Oliver, a junior at Murphy, was paralyzed after being in a bad car accident in 2011. She initially got into track and field due to watching her older sister, Kelia, throw for Murphy. It was also a way to help her feel more included socially.
Track and field has done that, and she has also picked up some state titles along the way, including three more Friday in the wheelchair shot put (7 feet, 5 inches) wheelchair discus (15’3.5) and 100-meter wheelchair dash (43.35), bringing her total to seven in the past two years. But Kristi didn’t know how much would go into it when the journey started.
“It literally takes a U-Haul,” she said, joking.
Facebook fundraiser
Initially, Jordan would just throw the shot put and discus from her regular wheelchair. When Kelia went to the indoor track and field state championships in 2019, they saw another wheelchair athlete, Pender’s Daisy Hearn, using a throwing chair. They explored trying to buy one and, after seeing the price, set up a fundraiser on Facebook to help raise money to buy one for Jordan. They had enough money within two hours.
“It has to be special ordered, you can’t just go buy one,” Kristi said. “It has to be measured for their height and their hip width and all that as they’re sitting. When everything was said and done, that chair ended up being slightly under $1,600. The racing chair, if we had purchased it brand new directly from the manufacturer, it would’ve been about $6,200.”
A pop-up tent, as well as a cooler with plenty of drinks and cooling towels for Jordan due to her paralysis, already went in the back of her GMC Acadia, and now the throwing chair was added to the mix. Also included is a tool bag, as Jordan’s throwing chair has to be set in place when she competes.
During her freshman year, Jordan competed in the wheelchair shot put and discus, finishing second to Hearn in both events. As a sophomore, she decided to do the wheelchair dash, competing in the 55-meter race during indoor season and the 100-meter race during outdoor season.
Like with the throwing events, Jordan initially competed in both with her normal wheelchair. That’s not suited for the dash events, so it was back to Facebook to find a racing
wheelchair, which has much bigger wheels on the side than a standard one as well as a third wheel in front.
They found a woman in Clemson who didn’t have a need for hers anymore, and Kristi’s father picked it up the morning after they connected. The dashes have since become Jordan’s favorite event.
A two-person job
That’s another wheelchair apparatus into the back of the Acadia. Some small things are included as well, such as tape if Murphy athletic trainer Bob Grimes doesn’t come to a meet and throwing gloves. With the state meet being an overnight trip, that also includes a travel bag. All that takes up the trunk and back two rows of the car, leaving only enough room for Kristi and Jordan.
Competing seems easier, though that takes a lot too. Helping Jordan is at least a two-person job, with her having to be placed from her wheelchair into her throwing chair and racing chair.
At the state meet, the track at N.C. A&T has small rails dividing the inside of the track from the actual competing surface. As a result, at times Kristi needed help picking up the wheels of Jordan’s chair to make sure she could move around the facility.
The weather can come into play as well, since Jordan’s body can’t regulate temperature due to paralysis. At regionals, it was cloudy during the throws earlier in the day, but the sun came out for her 100-meter dash and she nearly passed out halfway through.
It was cooler at the state meet and, though there were some drizzles earlier in the day, there was a steady light rain by the time of the dash and then during her discus throw. That meant towels on her legs to stay warm when she wasn’t competing.
Despite everything that goes into getting Jordan to a meet, it’s all worth it at the end of the day. She left Greensboro with three gold medals around her neck, and knew she had a good day, smiling as she approached the finish line of the dash.
There’s no more events until indoor track in the winter. However, Jordan will be back for her senior year, with the family Acadia filled to the brim once again.
“Nobody looks at that wheelchair as a hindrance,” Kristi said. “She’s there, she’s a part of the team and she’s supported wherever she goes.”