KSU track athlete Andre Dorsey earned second team All-American honors at the 2013 NCAA Indoor Championships despite having overcome injuries.
In high school, Dorsey participated in track and field and football. Due to coaching preferences track won Dorsey’s attention.
“I chose to run track in college rather than play football because of one on one coaching,” Dorsey said. “It is the only way I can get better. I prefer it rather than being coached on a 100 person team; it kind of helps out.”
Although Dorsey chose track and field as his main focus in high school, his involvement in football caused physical challenges that he still faces today.
“In high school I tore a meniscus twice, one on the right knee and one on the left knee, and I also had a compound fracture in my throwing hand,” Dorsey said.
Dorsey conquered the challenges he faced in high school, but bad luck still awaited the young star. The sophomore fractured his ankle in his first track meet, and is still in the process of recovering.
“I am still healing from my injuries, but everything is still good enough that I can compete so I can’t complain,” Dorsey said.
Dorsey carried with him his persevering attitude through the indoor track season.
As a sophomore Dorsey earned the second team All- American honors at the 2013 NCAA Indoor Championship and became the first KSU Track and Field athlete to earn All- American honors since 2006. The overwhelmed athlete fell short of his goal and set a mark of 15.72m in the triple jump.
Dorsey earned 11th place, but it is a small stepping-stone on the long route to achieving his future goals.
“I will definitely beat it next year. The biggest thing is I jumped over 50 feet a few times this year. I don’t really practice the jump at all so I think it is just inexperience. My timing was off but now I definitely know I can jump a lot farther than 52 feet,” Dorsey said.
The Kennesaw Track and Field team heads into their outdoor season after recently wrapping up the indoor season. Dorsey expects the team to be successful in the upcoming season.
“Our specialty is outdoor and not really indoor so considering that margin we are going to do much better,” Dorsey said.
Dorsey plans to finish in the top 10 in the triple jump next year. His goal is to jump 15.30m and qualify for the USA Championships in June. The KSU Track and Field team will have to push through grueling heat this summer as they prepare for next year’s indoor season.
“Throughout the summer we are going to train hard and engage in AAU track. I am going to try to qualify for team USA and work with them. Then I will try to keep moving forward,” Dorsey said. “Next year I am going to say we may be even better than this year. My goals for the championship are pretty eyes so as long as I keep doing what I should be doing I should be able to hit them.”
Continued growth and athleticism is expected from the team, and a championship is expected from persevering athlete Andre Dorsey in the near future.