by Ted Ryan

A vulnerable heel did in Achilles and a tender Achilles tendon has hampered the start of Emma Hulburd's running career at Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina. A four-time Vermont high school individual state track champion for Rice Memorial, the Shelburne native limped through much of her freshman year at CCU after injuring an Achilles last summer. The injury limited Hulburd's cross country season and she missed the indoor track season after aggravating her Achilles at Thanksgiving.

After plenty of rest and rehab, Hulburd is back in a competitive mode, running a variety of races as her coaches try to determine the distance best suited to her talent. She ran 3,000 meters in her first race, 1,500 in the next and 5,000 in her third. She's scheduled to try the 10,000 in Coastal Carolina's conference championships this weekend. "I ran the longer distances, the 1,500 and 3,000 and the 4-by-800 relay in high school," said Hulburd, who won her division's state titles at both distances as a junior and a senior. "In high school, I never ran more than 3K and (April 3) I ran the 5K and just loved it." She said the Coastal Carolina coaches decided to enter her in the 10,000 because "they're pretty sure I'll place and score for the team," said Hulburd, although she has never run the distance competitively.

If Hulburd succeeds, it will mark a triumphant comeback in an injury-skewed first year in college. "It was hard because I came into the (cross country) season injured. I missed a good few months, missed all of preseason and probably the first third of the season," Hulburd said. Still, she finished seventh in the Coastal Carolina Invitational, her best showing. "The trainers here are excellent and they got me back in shape," she said. The injury limited her training and when Coastal Carolina placed third in the Big South conference championships, "I didn't do nearly as well as I wanted to; I hadn't been at practice all week."

All things considered, Hulburd conceded the cross country season was still a pretty good one. "I got to go to a meet at Lehigh and did pretty well there, but it was definitely a big adjustment to college. The training is much more vigorous," she said. At Thanksgiving, Hulburd reinjured the Achilles and spent most of the winter in rehab, trying to strengthen muscles around the Achilles and the hamstring. "We've finally gotten control of it," she said. "I think I should be fine."

The outdoor track season has gone much better. Hulburd placed 27th in the CCU Shamrock Invitational 3,000 (11:21.74), 18th in the Weems Baskin Relays 1,500 (5:11.79) and third in the Duke Invitational C-seeded 5,000 (19:33.62). "I just barely started to do workouts a month or two ago and my times are coming down. The workouts are really going well and I'm finally training the way I want to train," she said.

Selecting Coastal Carolina was not difficult. Hulburd's family often vacationed in the Myrtle Beach, S.C., area and Conway, where CCU is located, is nearby. I wanted to go to a school with warm weather and the coach started recruiting me for Coastal," Hulburd said. "The campus is by far the most beautiful and the atmosphere here is great. We're about 10 minutes from Myrtle Beach. It's right near the water."

Hulburd's major is in exercise sports science and she plans to pursue a career in a health-related field, possibly sports medicine, or nutrition. Away from varsity athletics and academics, Hulburd said she has been involved in a campus outreach program. She also loves to play basketball - she competed in cross country, indoor and outdoor track and basketball at Rice - and loves going to the beach. Though Myrtle Beach is renowned as a golf haven, Hulburd said, "I actually don't play, but I kind of want to try." As for her athletic career, Hulburd said, "I guess I hope to be able to train as hard as I can, get as fast as I can, and help the team win a few more championships. I can't even imagine what I hope to do in four years. I just hope to be healthy."

Do you know a Shelburne student-athlete competing in college sports or a Shelburne athlete excelling in his or her area of interest? Let me know at TedryanVT @aol.com.