Alyx Treasure appears to have put her ankle woes behind her.
The 21-year-old high jumper from Prince George traded in her red shirt and was proudly wearing a Kansas State University Wildcat purple jersey as she celebrated yet another triumph Saturday at the K-State Winter Invitational indoor meet in Manhattan, Kan.
In her first track and field meet in more than a year, Treasure cleared 1.80 metres (six feet) to win the gold medal.
Saturday's meet was her first since May 25, 2012, when she finished 21st at the NCAA West preliminary round meet in Austin, Tx. In September 2012, Treasure underwent ankle surgery to grind down part of her bone and tighten up ligaments, a painful condition that started bothering her during her high school basketball career playing for the D.P. Todd Trojans.
Until her injury problems, Treasure was off to a stellar start in her NCAA career at Kansas State. She began her freshman year winning five of her first eight indoor meets on her way to becoming the Big 12 indoor champion. That success continued outdoors, when she placed second at the Texas Relays in Austin in front of 50,000 spectators on March 25, 2012, jumping a personal-best 1.84 m. The only high jumper to beat her that day was five-time Amy Acuff, who went on to compete in her fifth Olympics. Treasure, an All-American in 2012, also won the University of Texas El Paso Invitational meet before she was sidelined.
Now in her third year at Kansas State, where she's majoring in entrepreneurship,Treasure is a former Canadian youth and junior champion. She left Prince George in 2010 to attend UBC but did not compete for the Thunderbirds track team. In 2008, as a Grade 10 student at D.P. Todd, Treasure set a Canadian youth record at the B.C. high school championships when she cleared the bar at 1.82 m, a record that still stands.
The Wildcats placed 23rd this year in the NCAA.
