GREENFIELD — The first time Crystal Peterson stared down a hurdle, she didn’t know what to think. She just knew she had to clear it.
As a fifth-grader in Iowa, Peterson, now a senior at Greenfield-Central High School, ran towards the obstacle at full speed during gym class and found her passion in the process.
No tipping or face planting on the first attempt. Just pure joy.
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“After I went over it, my gym teacher was like, ‘That was really good.’ Ever since then, I thought, I’m going to do that more often,” Peterson recalled. “The first time I went over a hurdle, I just fell in love. Obviously, I love competing, and it’s kind of like an adrenaline rush.”
While basketball is her second love, Peterson won’t deny her affection for track and field, a part of her yearly routine since the seventh grade.
Now, without a spring outdoor track season due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and choosing not to compete in college, Peterson admittedly misses the thrill, but she won’t soon forget the lessons learned.
From reaching the pinnacle early on as a freshman state-qualifying hurdler to her battles with asthma, the sport taught Peterson perseverance, helped her turn inward and find her own strength.
Coincidentally, it all came together in her final meet of her high school career on March 9 at the Hamilton Southeastern Blue & White Indoor Relays.
Finishing first in the 60-meter hurdles in 10.04 seconds, Peterson set a new indoor school record, while placing fourth in the long jump at 15 feet, 6 inches, a personal best.
“Before the indoor meet, I wasn’t really sure how I was going to do, and at the indoor meet I did a lot better than I expected because in the first meet, you don’t always do your best, but I thought, ‘Wow, I could have a good year,’” Peterson said. “My hurdles felt like I had been doing them all along. I felt, this was going to be a good year.”
Everything was falling into place for another potential run at state for Peterson this spring with her asthma more controllable and her confidence soaring.
She was eager to bond deeper with her 1,600-meter relay team that consisted of Addison Hill, Kayana Maroska and Reagan Crouch.
“I got really close to them all four years, so I loved that about the sport,” Peterson said. “I was really looking forward to another good year and spending time with my friends because my 4×400 team had gotten really close in the preseason.”
Her unexpected finale two months ago was fitting, despite the heartbreak of losing out on one more opportunity.
As a freshman, Peterson set a school record in the 60-meter hurdles at 10.41 to place seventh during the Hoosier State Relays at DePauw in 2017.
The records would continue to fall over the next three years.
“You don’t have somebody like that just show up as a freshman and basically be your No. 1 scorer for three straight, and what would have been four straight years,” Greenfield-Central girls track coach Reuben McCracken said. “It will definitely be big shoes to fill.”
Peterson set a school record in the long jump at 15-8 for sixth during her first sectional in 2017 before topping the indoor school mark at 15-4 in 2018 after setting the indoor bar at 14-9 the year prior.
Her new school standard in the 60 hurdles this spring bested her own record at 10.06, which she established in 2018.
As a sophomore, Peterson ran a school-best 46.63 to win the 300 hurdles during the 2018 Cougar Chase Invitational and seized the 100-hurdle school record at 16.51 during the Shelbyville Sectional for second place overall.
The Cougars’ long jump records became Peterson’s to break, leaping 15-4.75 during indoor track last year and 15-7.25 during outdoor at the sectional for sixth place.
“As a coach, it was so beneficial to have someone who could do so many things,” McCracken said. “She was never a vocal leader, but she was always a leader by example. When it was time to go, she was getting to the line and ready to go to work.
“A lot of kids will stand around until it’s time to go, but when you have one of the better athletes on the team who is willing to get to the line, it’s going to motivate everyone else.”
Little did spectators know the former Hancock County Athlete of the Meet, who set new meet records in the long jump (17-2) and in the 100 hurdles (17.09) and 300 hurdles (47.80), was at a disadvantage.
“It was really tough my sophomore year because I had a lot of hope and then I had asthma problems come up I never had before. It put a damper on my mental state, and I think that affected my ability to compete as well,” Peterson said.
“It came out of nowhere. It started in basketball season my sophomore year, and I saw a bunch of doctors. My sophomore year, it was really a struggle because I couldn’t figure out what to do. The inhalers weren’t helping too much, so I was sitting out of practices a lot.”
As a freshman, Peterson took off by placing fourth in the 300 hurdles (46.87) at sectional and later third at regional in 46.38. She advanced to the state finals and placed 19th overall at 47.03.
“It was really special, and I wish that I could go back or had done it another year other than freshman year because I didn’t feel like I took it in as much I could have. I was just the youngster trying to make it,” Peterson said.
“I didn’t think I was going to make it freshman year, and then my sophomore and junior year I had the same time I had freshman year, but other people got faster, and I didn’t.”
Part of the reason was Peterson’s inability to regulate her breathing. Not always able to recover as quickly as she needed between events or during practice runs, she tried multiple solutions to open her airways.
It wasn’t until junior year during basketball that Cougars head girls coach Bradley Key offered some advice from his own experience, since he also wrestled with asthma.
“I went to a specialist and did a stress test and ended up finally getting a daily inhaler, which ended up helping,” Peterson said. “But, they didn’t recommend it until I mentioned it after my coach said something about it.”
Though, Peterson took a positive step forward, state still alluded her with a 10th-place run at regional in the 100 hurdles in 2019 and a 14th run in the 300 hurdles. The 1,600 relay team was 15th at regional.
“Ever since then, I think I’ve had a setback in mentality that I can’t compete as well as I could have or should be doing. It’s been a struggle,” Peterson said. “I felt a little better because I wasn’t sitting out as many practices and keeping up with my teammates finally, so that was better.”
She felt her best this winter during basketball, averaging 8.2 points per game and 2.1 rebounds with 1.6 assists and 1.3 steals. During preseason track, she led with effort and it was difficult to ignore.
“She was definitely putting in the work. That was never a question or a doubt with her. She showed up from basketball as soon as it was over, and she went right to work,” McCracken said. “There was never a question of what her goal was or where she wanted to get to.”
The same can be said of her academic future while attending the University of Southern Indiana this fall where she plans to major in sonography.
Peterson was drawn to the medical profession after her maternal grandmother, Tammi Ito, passed away in Japan her eighth-grade year shortly after relocating from Iowa to Indiana.
Peterson and her mother, Shinobu, were able to say their goodbyes before Ito died, but the event made an immediate impact.
“My grandma had pancreatic cancer, and when they found it, since it’s a really hard one to find, she had about two weeks to live,” Peterson recalled. “We had to update our passports right away and flew out there. We saw her right before she passed, and I was so upset. I thought, how did you find this only two weeks before she died? So, I thought, if we can do regular screenings or imagining, then it wouldn’t happen. Maybe I can help get that to happen.”
Just like the hurdle placed in front of her seven years ago, Peterson is locked in once again.
“I thought about it a lot (running track in college), and I had some options, but I just decided I didn’t want to. It’s a big commitment and I just wanted to focus on my studies,” Peterson said.
