When Penn State pole-vaulter and State College native Kevin Dare fatefully launched himself into the air on Feb. 23, 2002, nobody expected that it would be the last time.
Dare passed away that day when his head collided with the metal planting box used for pole-vaulting, but his legacy has lived on through the Kevin Dare Foundation, which is operated by his family.
The Penn State track and field team hosted the annual Kevin Dare High School Invitational on Saturday, drawing more than 1,200 athletes from 50 high schools to compete in a slew of track events. The foundation has focused on assisting high school students through scholarships to help them achieve their academic goals.
Along with other representatives from the foundations, Kevin’s brother Eric Dare presented two high school track athletes with the Kevin Dare Heart of the Lion Award, which “has been created to promote courage, sportsmanship, and leadership in track and field” according to a news release.
State College High School’s Isaac Methien received the award for staying engaged with academics and his track team while battling stage one Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Kyla Lewis of Bullis High School in Maryland also received the award for fighting her way back to the track after suffering an ACL injury.
State College High School fielded a number of winners during the event. Kellen Vallentine placed first in the long jump with a length of 22 feet and 2.5 inches. The Little Lions 4×800-meter team of Anthony Degleris, Nick Feffer, Eric Heatwole and Alex Milligan came first at 8:05.64.
On the girls’ side, State College High School’s 4×800 team including Natasha Fedenka, Julia Neely, Larissa Burka, and Ellie Mhando placed first with a time of 10:01.8. Megan Fry also earned a spot atop the scoreboard with an 11-foot, 6-inch pole vault, a season-best for the senior.
“Dare family’s goal is to provide people with scholarships who have gone through catastrophic injuries or illnesses, so today it was kind of fitting that both of them had been through something like that,” Penn State track assistant coach Ryan Foster says.
Foster, who hails from Australia, ran for Penn State before joining the Kevin Dare Foundation after graduating. He eventually worked his way back into the athletic side of the game as a member of Penn State’s coaching staff, but has managed to stay involved with the Dare family through events like Saturday’s track meet.
“It’s a significant event and it’s one that we want to keep doing every year, because Kevin’s name is something that we don’t want to be forgotten,” Foster says. “They’re a great family and I’ve been very lucky to be around them.”
Penn State Track and Field Head Coach John Gondak was similarly grateful to be involved in the day’s events as his coaching staff and student-athletes operated and officiated the track meet.
“The Dare family and Kevin have a significant meaning to our program here at Penn State and have been very supportive of us,” Gondak says. “In a lot of ways, we use Kevin’s story as motivation. The amount of love and passion his family has for honoring him and continuing his legacy is just amazing. To see that and to try and bring that back to our program is something that we use a lot.”
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