Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — In less time than it took to write this paragraph, Grace Stark burst down the track, soared over the five hurdles, and leaped into the padded wall past the finish line. The clock showed her winning time as 7.90 seconds.

Stark's performance in the 60-meter hurdles at the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships on Feb. 24 bettered rival Alia Armstrong (7.96) of LSU, who ran shoulder to shoulder with Stark until Florida's fifth-year senior pulled away heading toward the final hurdle.
 

Stark and Armstrong shared a quick embrace afterward, and then Stark paced around to burn off the extra energy. She appeared still in the middle of the race mentally, but the magnitude of her accomplishment would soon register.

If not in the immediate aftermath of her comeback victory, certainly now as the Gators prepare to host the SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships starting Thursday at Percy Beard Track.

"It was the first major win in a long time,'' Stark said.

Stark, after a long journey back from a tibial plateau fracture and torn meniscus in her left knee – she had two surgeries following the injury at the 2022 SEC Outdoor Championships – is running full speed and better than ever as she prepares for the 100-meter hurdles and 4x100 relay this week.

"My knee feels great,'' she said. "I haven't really had any issues."

Stark's fall in the 100-meter hurdles two years ago at the SEC Outdoor Championships led to surgery that included the installation of a metal plate and seven screws to repair the damage. Stark underwent a second surgery months later to have the plate and six of the screws removed. She missed most of the indoor season in 2023 and finished ninth in the 60-meter hurdles at the conference championships a season after winning the SEC and NCAA titles.

By the time the outdoor season arrived, she was back in the field for the 100-meter hurdles at the SEC Championships but finished sixth. The climb back to the top needed more time.

"There were some rough days. There were some tears. There were lots of hugs,'' UF head coach Mike Holloway said. "The big thing about Grace [is] we're kind of cut from the same cloth. We're both pretty tough folks. We were determined. There were people that called me and told me, 'You're never going to get her back.' OK, we'll show you."

Stark returned to the medal stand during the indoor season at multiple events, but the victory over Armstrong at the conference championships in February at the University of Arkansas was a next-level moment.

Stark answered some questions in her mind.

"You kind of always wonder, with an injury that seems almost career-ending, if you are ever going to be the same or close to where you were,'' she said. "I've been doing it for so long. I'm not going to let one mishap just ruin all the work I have put in." Stark came to UF after a decorated prep career at Lakeland High in White Lake, Mich. A former gymnast and volleyball player, Stark blossomed in the hurdles when her middle-school coach entered her into an event in the sixth grade. Stark took off, winning multiple state championships in the high hurdles and 100 meters.

She also was no stranger to overcoming adversity before her UF injury.

Stark tore a hamstring while competing in an indoor meet the winter of her senior season. She worked her way back into form to win another 100-meter state championship.

Stark's rise on the track garnered headlines in her native Michigan and applause from John Kababik, her high school coach. Kababik had coached the Lakeland High girls track team since the school opened in 1974 when Stark joined the program.

He had never seen anyone like Stark.

"She is the best sprinter-hurdler that I've ever had, and I've had some good ones," Kababik told MLive.com during Stark's senior season. "She is once in a lifetime. Most coaches don't get an athlete of her caliber."

Holloway collects the best of the best for the Gators, and Stark fits right in.

He immediately understood the significance of Stark's win at the SEC Indoor Championships. She followed that performance with a second-place finish in the 60 hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

"It was a very big moment. She downplays it well. It was a very emotional time. I might have teared up a little bit,'' Holloway said. "I think the biggest thing is [that] Grace is a great testament to someone who never gave up and kept fighting.

"Grace is a competitor, and Grace likes to stick her nose in there and fight. And there were days when her mind wanted to fight and her body couldn't. I'm a patient man — a lot more patient than she is. We got it done."

Stark had never imagined the battle before her when she fell two years ago as Armstrong won the 100 hurdles.

She wasn't even sure she was that injured.

"I was just on the ground,'' she said. "I didn't think it was broke. I thought it might be out of place. The last thing I expected when I saw my X-ray was that. It was pretty devastating at first."

Stark said she relied on her family and teammates during the lowest times when she could not drive and needed a ride to the doctor or a trip to the grocery store. They helped her keep her eyes on the finish line.

Holloway served as a wise voice of reason who has seen it all in his four decades as a coach. What he sees in Stark is a talented athlete who is more vital than ever after going through an ordeal that would have caused some to call it a career.

"Grace was very good out of high school. If Grace just kept running what she was running in high school, she would have had a pretty successful collegiate career,'' Holloway said. "But that's not what we're about. We're not done. Our goal is to get Grace to be the best she can be."

Stay tuned.