Land O’ Lakes Track Star Nicole Woodard: Better Than She Normally Is

Turn back the clock to February 2009.

Nicole Woodard is playing on the Land O’ Lakes Lady Gators basketball team in the district quarterfinals against rival Ridgewood. Nicole is playing power forward and the Lady Gators need a play. Nicole sees the Ridgewood point-guard eyeing the open center under the basket. She jumps in the passing lane, makes a diving leap for the ball, comes up with it and whisks it off to a teammate all before she hits the ground. When she hits the ground her left knee buckles and a sharp pain erupts and shoots all through her body. She gets up and tries to walk it off.

“I didn’t want to come out of the game,” said Nicole.

The Lady Gators would go on to win the game, despite Nicole’s inability to continue. What she found out later was that she had suffered what they call in sports, “an unhappy triad,” which is the tearing of all three knee ligaments, the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), the medial collateral ligament (MCL), and the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL). To top it all off, she also fractured her tibia.

Nicole lost her entire sophomore season in track and field.

This loss came on the heels of Nicole qualifying for the 3A state finals as a freshman in long jump.

“It was hard. The only thing I enjoyed doing was coming out to see my sister practice.”

Nicole’s older sister, Reta, was a district champion thrower. During Nicole’s lost sophomore season, Reta made it to the state finals as a senior in both shot and disc. Reta finished third at states in disc at 122 feet 1 inch and fifth in states in shot at 38 feet 2 inches.

“I thought I’d just have to make up for it; be better than I normally am,” she said.

Nicole did get better. She resumed her role at power forward on the basketball team and continued to lead the team in blocked shots. She also got back on the volleyball team and by the time track season came around, her junior year, she was better. Better than she normally was.

At districts her junior year, she took first place in long jump with a jump of 17 feet 5 inches and claimed third place in high jump at 5 feet 4 inches; a height that tied for first place. She jumped the same height and distance at regionals and qualified for states in both events.

At states, Nicole could not get 5 feet 4 inches again and fell to ninth place. A 5-foot 6-inch jump won the state title. The girls in long jump were jumping 18 feet, more than Nicole could put out on that recovering left knee.

This year, she’s back with a vengeance, better than she normally is.

At this year’s district meet, Nicole broke down the 5 foot 6 wall that held her back for three years. She was the only female athlete to clear 5 feet 6 inches. In long jump, she also claimed district champ with a jump of 17 feet 5 inches. At regionals she cracked the 18-foot barrier in long jump with an 18-foot 4-inch jump that netted her second place.

Nicole will head to the 3A state finals today, April 6, with a chance at bringing home two state titles.

Last year’s high jump champion, Tikiera Relaford was the only one to clear 5 feet 6 inches. Relaford will be back to defend her title but Nicole will challenge her. Miami Jackson’s Robin Reynolds won last year’s long jump at 18 feet 10 inches and she will no doubt be the favorite to repeat as state champ, but Nicole should give her a good run, now that she’s cracked 18 feet.

The difference at this year’s state meet for Nicole?

“Confidence. I won’t be nervous this time,” she said.

There are also a lot of signs that Nicole still has some of her best stuff to give.

“Nicole is probably the best overall athlete I’ve ever had; she probably has 19 feet in her,” said Land O’ Lakes Track Coach Rock Ridgeway. “She might not show it at practice but when she’s out there, she’s the most competitive person on the field.”

With a fully recovered knee, consistently improving heights and distances, if she’s better than she normally is; Nicole could unseat a couple of defending state champions today.

Stay tuned to Land O’ Lakes Patch for live updates from the 3A state finals from Winter Park.