Editor’s Note: With the coronavirus outbreak shutting down spring sports, The Republic will be featuring senior athletes from Columbus East, Columbus North and Hauser whose final seasons were affected by the decision over the course of the spring.
A stress reaction in her right leg was going to cause Mel Hasler to miss the first half of her senior track season.
But the Hauser hurdler and sprinter wasn’t taking solace in that fact when all spring sports were shut down by the coronavirus. She was looking forward to at least spending time with her teammates before being cleared to compete.
“It’s still pretty tough because I knew I was going to miss the first half of the season, but I was going to be able to go to practices and go to meets and see my teammates,” Hasler said. “I’m really going to miss that this year, along with being able to run.”
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Hasler mainly was a sprinter her first two years with the Jets, while her sister Grace was a hurdler. But after Grace graduated in 2018, Mel decided to give the 300-meter hurdles a try last year and ended up qualifying for regional.
“I was really hoping to go farther this year,” she said. “I wanted to place higher in sectional, maybe even win it, and maybe even make it past regional.”
Grace and Mel grew up competing in rodeo events and have gone to the National High School Finals Rodeo each year they were in middle school and high school. Mel was the National High School Rodeo Association president last year and now is in her final year of competition.
Mel thinks she injured her right leg while goat tying last year, and that led to problems with both shins.
“With my stress fracture, riding was really painful,” she said. “But since I’ve been doing my rehab, it’s a lot less painful.”
Most of that rehab has been with Hauser athletic trainer Amy Shipp. Mel has had ultrasounds on both legs, done therapy exercises with Shipp, and has undergone Astym treatments at Columbus Regional Health.
Still, Mel was able to make it through basketball season, where she was a starter and key defensive stopper for the Jets.
“It was (painful),” she said. “But I was thinking, ‘Oh, I just have to push through it. It’s my last year.’”
By this point in the track season, Mel likely would have returned to running. But because the season was canceled, she has been doing only some jogging and has spent a lot of her time working with her mother Dena in fixing up the family’s horse barn.
“We’ve been cleaning the barn nonstop and just getting things organized,” Hasler said. “It’s kind of nice to have a break because we’re getting everything in line now. It’s been a lot, but it needed to be done at some point.”
While Mel is finishing up her senior year through e-learning, she has been able to practice in her barn for this year’s state rodeo competition, which is June 12-14 in Rensselaer.
“I think it was easier this year because I didn’t have as many classes,” Hasler said. “In a normal school day, I was coming home around noon and was able to ride. It has made a lot more time for me to focus on my homework and focus on my rodeo stuff, too.”
Mel currently ranks first in the state in goat tying and barrel racing and second in all-around. The top four in each event qualify for the National High School Finals Rodeo in July in Lincoln Nebraska.
This year, Mel won the Finkle Scholarship, which is an agricultural scholarship administered through the Heritage Fund. She plans to join Grace at Purdue, where she will major in agricultural communications.
“I’m hoping to get involved in some different clubs like ag council and the Indiana Farm Bureau Club,” she said. “I’m super excited to go there and pursue agriculture because it’s something I want to study.”
Hauser girls track coach April Dalton was looking forward to having Mel lead the team this spring.
“Even though she had the stress fracture and the splint, she came to practice to see what she could do,” Dalton said. “That shows what type of person she is. She was always in pain, it seems like. Her shins were always hurting her, but she fought through it. She was always a leader, always positive, always encouraged her teammates. She was always involved in everything and was just so busy and makes everything she does a priority in her life.”
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Q: Can you describe how you felt when you heard that your season was canceled?
"I was pretty devastated. Not having a strong end to my basketball season, I was really looking forward to finishing out my senior year. I was so sad because I knew that I would never be able to go on a busride with my friends singing in the background or sit out in the freezing cold at a track meet. I was devastated.
Q: What is your best memory with the program?
"One of my best memories is Mrs. (coach April) Dalton making me run hurdles at practice one time just to see what I could do. I started doing really well and ended up making it to regional."
Q: What will you miss most about your school and team?
"I think what I’m going to miss most is just making memories with my friends. I’m just really going to miss getting on the bus and going to track meets and huddling up under a blanket because it’s cold outside. Memories like that is what I’m going to miss most."
Q: What lesson(s) did you learn from your time with the program?
"I learned to try something new because you don’t know if you’re going to like it or not unless you try it. You also have to learn to push through pain."
Q: What are your plans for college or the future?
"To attend Purdue and major in agricultural communications."
Q: What is your final message to the team?
"Just to thank them for always supporting me and making me laugh, no matter what the circumstances, just thank you for always being there for me."
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