The Sojourn Athlete of the Week, presented by Amplify Media, is Princess Kara, a thrower on the women’s track and field team.
Kara is a senior from Port Harcourt, Rivers, Nigeria. She transferred in from Central Arizona College after moving to the United States when she was 20 years old.
“I really wanted to go to school,” Kara said. “When (my coach at Central Arizona) reached out and was like, ‘You can do sports and go to school,’ I was like ‘Is that even a thing?’ I didn’t know that.”
Kara is a 4-time national champion between her stops at the junior college and NAIA level. She has won three discus national championships and added a shot-put title to her résumé as well. Kara also holds the discus junior college national record with a mark of 56.21 meters.
Junior thrower Bri Nichols says Kara’s impact goes beyond the field.
“Princess is a joy to have around,” Nichols said. “She is always someone that I can look to for advice…she’s a really stable figure in my life.”
Throwers can have quite a different training routine, as strength training is just as important as technique and throwing itself.
“It’s every day, and sometimes our body can’t take it,” Kara said.
Kara said sometimes the throwers will adjust their lifts based on how their body feels, whether that’s dropping reps, dropping sets, etc.
“One thing we get to know is how our body works,” Kara said.
Kara has dealt with a number of setbacks this season, including injuries to her throwing hand and elbow. She said one of her coaches joked that she should go to her left hand.
“I’m too old for that,” Kara said.
Kara is not putting pressure on herself to perform due to the setbacks and is looking to leave with her standard she set last year at nationals.
“I want to leave that and be content with it,” Kara said. “I don’t know what outdoor season will look like, but we’re going to see how it goes.”
The Wildcats will host the NAIA Outdoor National Championships again this year, slated to occur May 21-23.
