Former Kofa multi-sport star motivated to succeed

Keiley Sharp prepares for future competitions despite Coronavirus Pandemic

Keiley Sharp has proven herself "a force to be reckoned with" during her time with the Kofa Lady Kings, as she has dominated in the sports of track and field, as well as volleyball.

Since her graduation a year ago, Sharp has moved on to Texas Christian University on a track and field scholarship.

After starting her collegiate career with the high jump in the Fall, Sharp's journey with the javelin competition screeched to a halt in early March with the emergence of the Coronavirus Pandemic.

This forced the Yuma native to return home unexpectedly to continue with distance learning and individual training thanks to current mandates on social distancing.

Sharp's initial heartbreak of the closed season has turned into motivation as she is working with a Yuma-based trainer and keeping herself accountable with teammates and coaches back at TCU.

A month into this historic season of social isolation, Sharp is taking one big life lesson from all of this:

"I would say not taking competition for granted. As much as we get racked up and nervous for competing in meets and stuff, that is something I will forever cherish going here on out, because competition and track meets are not guaranteed anymore. This has changed my mind that anything can just stop. It can just stop in a heartbeat. The next day, your season can be done. And I never really had that thought in my mind until now, which is changing my perspective a lot."

Sharp hopes to rejoin the Horned Frogs come August.