Reaching New Heights

Kayla Thorpe is the last Terp standing.

The Maryland track and field thrower was the only Terp to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Thorpe will compete against the nation’s best student-athletes in the javelin throw starting on June 6, becoming the first female javelin thrower in school history to participate in the NCAA Championships. 

Thorpe’s parents were first-generation immigrants from Barbados, an island country in the southeastern Caribbean Sea known for its breezy white beaches and breathtaking blue bays. Her parents came to the U.S. in 1993 with two of Thorpe’s older sisters, while one remained in Barbados. 

Her family sacrificed the life they had known to provide a better education for their daughters. Nine years later, Kayla was born. Now, she will be competing at the highest level in college athletics weeks removed from earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology. 

“I never would have expected my season to end the way it has been ending,” Thorpe said. “Of course, it's not finished yet. So hopefully, it just skyrockets even more, but I just couldn't ever imagine my career looking like this after the past two years that I've had.”

Thorpe's path to success took time. It was a four-year journey filled with unexpected twists and turns, and she had to confront and overcome numerous challenges. But even more interestingly, her throwing career wasn’t planned. It occurred due to a decision she made after a grueling workout. 

Thorpe was influenced by her friends to begin running track in middle school. She continued track when she got to high school, but the training intensity ramped up. 

As a freshman at Upper Darby High School in Pennsylvania, Thorpe did a workout with her team that her head coach proclaimed “The Cemetery Run.” It was a 2.2-mile run around Arlington Cemetery, a 130-acre plot across the high school. All track athletes, including sprinters, hurdlers and distance runners were required to complete the run once a week. 

Thorpe completed the run once and hated every second of it. But it wasn’t until she found out the team would be doing it again that she decided to get out of it by practicing with the throwers.

“That was the worst workout of my life,” Thorpe said. “I knew I never wanted to do that again. I considered myself a short-distance runner. When I realized that we were going to do that again, I was like, ‘Can I just go over there by the throwers?’”

A day spent with the throwers turned into four years. Thorpe's adjustment was drastic, but she enjoyed it and eventually became the best thrower on the team. She became the first Delaware County athlete to win a medal in the javelin, shot put and discus at the District 1 Class 3A Championships. She also boasted All-Delco Honors each year in high school. 

Thorpe committed to Towson University, where she competed from 2020-22. She was an NCAA East Region Preliminary Qualifier both seasons. She registered 10 top-five finishes in her freshman outdoor campaign and seven top-five finishes, including one event title in her final season as a sophomore. Thorpe was a four-time Colonial Athletic Conference (CAA) scorer and medalist, both indoor and outdoor. She also broke the school’s javelin record with a 49.77m throw. 

However, Thorpe’s accomplishments didn’t happen without setbacks. The throws coach who recruited her, Zachery Ball, accepted a job at Michigan State within her first week with the program. Thorpe was left without a coach for a few months until Tyler Burdorff filled the void. He began working with her in January 2021 but accepted a position at Maryland following the end of the season, leaving Thorpe without a coach for a second time.   

“We built a pretty strong relationship that year,” Burdorff said. “I think she quickly bought into me and what I wanted her to do. … One of the tougher decisions in my life [was] leaving Towson to come here. I knew it would hit her pretty hard, and it did.” 

Thorpe agreed. “We meshed very well,” she said. “It had a tough impact on me, I'm not going to lie. I was going through it after that happened. It made me think about my future a lot.”

With everything that had happened, Thorpe was searching for a new home. The thrower debated between reuniting with Ball at Michigan State and Burdorff at Maryland. 

“Before I even reached out to her, I knew it was probably going to be between us,” Burdorff said. “It was funny because it was a good summary of my relationship with that other coach, Coach Ball. We competed against each other in college.” 

Thorpe chose to reunite with Burdorff and became a Terp. As a junior, she was again a NCAA East Region Preliminary Qualifier in the javelin throw. She remembers that day in Jacksonville, Florida well. Thorpe uses it as motivation. 

She needed to throw roughly 48 meters to advance to the NCAA Championships but slipped two out of her three attempts. 

“It was a gut-wrenching feeling to know that was the only year that I did not have to PR,” Thorpe said. “Other years, it was 50, 50, 50, like you have to get a 50 to make it out. All it took was a 48, and I couldn't do that.”

This year, Thorpe’s confidence and consistency have reached new heights. She won the bronze medal at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships and was named Maryland’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award nominee. She has also thrown over 50 meters in her last three meets in the javelin. 

Thorpe saw herself in a similar position this year in the NCAA East First Round. This time, though, she broke her own school javelin record with a throw of 51.95m. This placed her sixth among her competitors and qualified her for the NCAA Championships. 

“I came back to the conversation we had after last year at Regionals,” Burdorff said. “One of the things that I told her was that I was going to find a way to be a better javelin coach for her. I was going to find a way to make sure that we had the consistency that we needed to come into the meet and be consistent with a mark that would make it through. It was kind of exactly what we did this year. It was exactly what she did.”

Thorpe credits the people around her, including her throws coach, for helping her make it to Oregon. 

“I’m grateful to work with the people I've worked with and practice with people I've practiced with because every person has motivated me and helped me to be a better person,” Thorpe said.