SPENCER — North Rowan track sensation LaTasha Pharr is an international celebrity who’s had medals hung around her neck by dignitaries from Chile to Norway.
Still, there’s something special about being recognized right in your own backyard. Maybe that’s why Pharr sounded as excited as if she’d just raced to Olympic gold when she was told she’d been selected by Rowan Baseball Inc. as the county’s female athlete of the year for the second time.
“I’m really happy for LaTasha,” said North girls track coach Brian Mills. “She’s gotten all sorts of national honors, but there’s still nothing quite like winning in your hometown. It means a whole lot to her.”
Pharr, who graduated in May and is headed to the University of Alabama on a full scholarship, also won the award after her sophomore year. Pharr came in second to West basketball/soccer/volleyball phenom Kari Schenk last summer.
“I just took a little break,” giggles Pharr, whose personality is as bubbly as her feet are fast.
Pharr easily hurdled the competition this time, outpolling East basketball/volleyball star Emily Rich; West’s Danielle Scearce, who played basketball, soccer and volleyball; South’s Brittney Gaddy, who excelled in track, basketball and volleyball; and Salisbury track/basketball athlete Ternisha Charleston.
Pharr is the second female to win the award twice. County athletes of the year have been named since 1975, but South basketball star Tracy Connor is the only other double winner. Connor won in 1991 and ‘92.
It’s hard to conceive of just how special Pharr is on the track. At nearly every meet she is the best triple jumper, the best long jumper and the best in both hurdling events. That sort of versatility is like being the best pitcher, hitter and fielder on a baseball team. Or leading the football team in rushing, passing and receiving. Or the basketball team in scoring, rebounding and assists.
In her four 2A state meets, Pharr scored a mind-boggling 142 points, as the Cavaliers claimed three titles. As a senior, Pharr won the triple, the 100 hurdles and the 300 hurdles. She settled for second in the long jump.
So what happened in the long jump?
“Ah, you can’t win them all,” chuckles Pharr.
The defining Pharr moment from a fabulous career came in this year’s 2A state meet at UNC Charlotte.
“It was a heat for the hurdles and the third hurdle was set up in the wrong spot,” said Pharr. “It was too close. I came up on it and knew I was going to fall even before I hit it.”
Pharr sprawled on the track, but somehow got back up, chased down the pack and managed to qualify for the finals. Naturally, in true Hollywood spirit, she wound up winning the event.
“My first reaction when I went down was to get right back up,” she said. “I wasn’t going to just lay there.”
“We teach our kids if they fall to get back up,” said Mills. “But a lot of them would probably still be laying there today. Not LaTasha. She knew what she had to do. What she did was amazing, but it was just LaTasha being LaTasha.”
Pharr, who began running with mentor Robert Steele’s Rowan Express Club at age 8, remains an amazing mixture of motion and emotion, but this past year has been the most difficult of her life.
Instead of a senior year victory tour, most every meet was a struggle with pain. She’s fought through injuries to both knees and both hamstrings. It’s safe to say, she wasn’t 100 percent a single day her senior year.
“It was a rough year,” Pharr acknowledged. “But that’s why this athlete of the year thing means so much. It shows I was still able to maintain and do pretty good.”
Pretty good? Pharr was Gatorade’s choice as the state’s best female track athlete.
Pharr’s mental toughness got its stiffest test of all when her 28-year-old sister died tragically on March 10 while LaTasha was away at a meet in Maryland.
“Sis was the one who was always asking me, ‘How did you do? What time did you run?’ when I’d come back from a meet,” said Pharr. “But the strong survive and I’m going to do good at Alabama for her. You gotta go on. I can’t give up, because she wouldn’t want me to.”
Pharr admits she had a few “knucklehead moments” during her teen years, but Steele, Mills, the other Express coaches and her family have kept her plugging forward through all the tough times. She’ll head for the Tide with exclusive ownership of three county records and the knowledge that she was a huge part of bringing that “State champions” sign to the front lawn of the North campus.
“As far as girls track and field, I can’t remember anyone like her in the county,” said Mills. “I don’t think anyone’s accomplished the things she has.”
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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com
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