Woodmore's Azure Travis always a high flyer

Azure Travis climbed her way to the top by climbing her way to the top.

The Woodmore graduate, who is among athletes in this year's Michael K. Bosi series, won consecutive state championships in both hurdle events the last two seasons. This after competing for Midwest Cheer Elite through freshman year.

"Being a flyer, the one at the top of the stunt and the one they throw, it takes core strength and you can't be afraid," Travis said. "Both of those things translate to hurdles because hurdles can be scary. There's always the possibility of falling and getting hurt over them.

"You're in an awkward position over a hurdle; it takes flexibility. I credit some of my (track) ability to that. It made me stronger in a lot of ways to help me to be the hurdler I am now."

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Travis, who has a scar on her knee to remind her that hurdles do bite, is a no fear flyer in all realms. She accepts the fact she might incur some bruises, she's obviously refined her technique and she rarely misses.

Rarely, not never. She stumbled over the last hurdle in the 300 at state in preliminaries as a junior and scrambled to advance.

Not surprisingly, if one specific 300 hurdles race stands out in Travis' career it's the final.

"The fact I fell and was able to still win from Lane 9," she said. "Things happen. If you're given a chance, anything can happen. The most emotion came from the semifinal. It wasn't necessarily good emotion, falling at state and being so upset showed how much I care about the sport and how much it means.

"The final was emotional; I was doubtful to win in Lane 9. I never ran in Lane 9. I never ran on a track with nine lanes other than that one."

She won't forget the 100 hurdles final as a senior either. She topped her own program records to win the 100 in 14.37 seconds and 300 at 43.39.

"That's most special to me, being able to defend my title," she said. "I was grateful to do that."

She doesn't favor one hurdle race over the other, although she appreciates the 100 is faster and extremely technical. She was also seventh in the 100 and 200 sprints at state as a senior.

She helped Woodmore earn a state crown as a team as a junior. She takes pride in her roots.

"Because of the people," she said. "We have a great community, not just within the school. I have wonderful teammates who work hard. We have great coaches who set us up for success and teachers who are big fans and supporters of all our sports.

"The recognition of the track team's ability and accomplishments and the support through it all. It would have been impossible to do it without the support system we have at Woodmore. The biggest part in any of this being possible is my faith in God."

It wasn't easy for Travis to give up cheer. Elite finished fifth at Worlds Cheer, a national competition in Florida, when she was in the eighth grade.

She competed with Top Notch All-Stars from the time she was 7, until fifth grade.

"I missed it a lot the first year, doing it my whole life," she said. "(But) it was hard on the body and it did cause some injuries. Cheer is year round. I was doing two sports at once. I committed to track and soccer."

She eliminated soccer from the equation as well to focus on track as a senior. Her sacrifices find her continuing her track career at Marshall.

"I'm going to work as hard as I can," she said. "I don't like to look too far ahead, but I'm ready to get to work and see everything I can accomplish. It's a fresh start. I'm not going in with an ego. I'll stay humble. Everybody is incredibly talented and was a state champ.

"We have the same goal; get better. We can just push each other."

She never considered winning a state crown before her freshman year in high school.

"I loved soccer," she said. "I was still a cheerleader. Track wasn't in my mind. I ran track in seventh grade. Eighth grade was canceled. After freshman year and then sophomore, I found the love and I found my potential.

"As a sophomore, I did the 300 hurdles for the first time. I really enjoyed it. I didn't think I was going to. At that point, I didn't like long sprints. Coach told me to try it and I got over the fear of the 300 and it worked out well."

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This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Woodmore's Azure Travis always a high flyer