Bad luck has cost Butler jumper Gracyn Vardy two chances at states. Is third time the charm?

April 08, 2026 Last Updated: April 08, 2026 10:27 PM Sports

JACKSON TWP — Maybe getting the injury out of the way early in the season will be just what Gracyn Vardy needs to fulfill her postseason goals.

The Butler senior qualified for the PIAA Track and Field Championships in 2024 in the high jump, but an illness left her unable to compete. A month ago, she qualified for the Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches Association indoor state championships, but she partially tore her left hip flexor the week before during warmups at another meet.

That’s two potential state championship appearances lost. She’s hoping the third time is the charm.

“I’m hoping that the time off doesn’t have an affect on my senior season, but I’m gonna work very, very hard to get back to where I was,” Vardy said Saturday after finishing third in the high jump with a height of 4-11 during the Butler County Classic at Seneca Valley High School. “And I’m hoping for a very good season.”

Vardy, who competes in all three jumps, was cleared to return to competition March 24. She is just high jumping right now as she works her way back to full strength. The bitter cold and wind at the Classic didn’t help, either.

Her personal best in the high jump, according to PA Milesplit, is 5-3. She also has PRs of 16-10.25 in the long jump and 33-4 in the triple jump. She finished 11th in the high jump last year at WPIALs, off the podium, and tied for fourth as a sophomore with a 4-1 to make states.

She particularly loves the long jump, which is the event that led to her injury at the TSTCA meet a month ago.

She felt a pop and sharp pain when she landed during a warmup jump and knew instantly something was wrong. She tried to tough it out — “me being me,” she said — but her first two jumps were nowhere near her normal distance, and she crawled out of the pit after the second.

“Excruciating,” she said. “It’s not a fun feeling, and it could’ve been so much worse.“

Butler senior jumper Gracyn Vardy is seeking to break her mom's high jump personal best this year and hopes to finally make a state championship meet after years of setbacks. Submitted photo

A full tear would’ve ended Vardy’s senior season and her hopes of returning to the WPIAL Track and Field Championships and perhaps getting recruited by the track program at the College of Charleston (S.C.), her dream school.

A partial tear means those goals, as well as beating her mom, Carrie Walker’s, PR of 5-4 in the high jump, are still intact. It’s a program top-10 height. Vardy has been referred to as “Carrie’s daughter” since she joined the team, and her mom’s PR has long been a target.

“I’m gonna surpass her,” Vardy said, calling her mom an inspiration, too.

“Self-motivated kinda kid,” Tornado girls coach John Williams said. “It’s an interesting dynamic just knowing her mom for years. … You see the competitiveness, it’s just that mother-daughter thing.”

Vardy also dances, training multiple days per week nearly year-round. She’s been dancing since she was 3 and competes in multiple disciplines; she and her club have a week-long competition at Seven Springs called the Dance Masters of Pennsylvania, effectively a state championship.

She loves dance, and many of her friends she said will continue into college and beyond while she hopes to keep jumping and study to be a pediatric occupational therapist.

“I think that’s where she developed a lot of her coordination and grace,” Williams said. “She’s always been very coordinated, very smooth.”

It makes for long days, but worthwhile ones, Vardy said. She’s trying to soak up her final weeks with all her friends and every last competition while hoping as the weather warms and her hip flexor heals further, she’ll reach new heights.

“I think it’s a little mix of both, but I think I try to see the positive of everything,” Vardy said when asked if the years of setbacks have been positive or negative motivation. “I always believe everything happens for a reason.”

Butler’s Jason Wick celebrates after breaking the meet record and vaulting 15 feet in the Butler County Classic track and field meet Saturday, March 28, 2026, at Seneca Valley High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle

Rob McGraw

Butler’s Kevin Shriver took first place in the boys 100-meter dash with a time of 11.43 in the Butler County Classic track and field meet Saturday, March 28, 2026, at Seneca Valley High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle

Rob McGraw

Seneca Valley’s Mitchell Everly competed in the wheelchair 100-meter race in the Butler County Classic track and field meet Saturday, March 28, 2026, at Seneca Valley High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle

Rob McGraw

North Catholic’s Audra Lazzara took first place in the girls long jump (16-7.50) in the Butler County Classic track and field meet Saturday, March 28, 2026, at Seneca Valley High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle

Rob McGraw

North Catholic’s Audra Lazzara took first place in the girls 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.57 in the Butler County Classic track and field meet Saturday, March 28, 2026, at Seneca Valley High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle

Rob McGraw