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SYRACUSE — Syracuse freshman Hunter Woodhall loves competition.
This is only his third year participating on an organized track team, but he has already qualified for the state meet, and he was the only freshman boy on his team to do so.
Hunter, who competes using two prosthetic legs, set a personal record of 52.62 seconds in the 400 meters at the Region 1 Championships and came in fourth, earning him a spot in the state competition.
"I ran my best race and then I qualified for state," he said. "I was really excited because I kind of figured all of my hard work is paying off."
Hunter has been using prosthetics since he was 15 months old. He was born with a birth defect in both of his legs and doctors told his parents they could amputate them or wait to see what would happen, but that if they didn't do anything he would likely have to be in a wheelchair. His parents decided to have his legs amputated when he was 11 months old and soon he became more active than ever before.
He loves all sports, but has recently decided to focus on track and football. This year he competed on the track team for both the indoor and outdoor seasons in the 100, 200 and 400 meters, plus team relays. He qualified for state competition, which is currently taking place at Brigham Young University, in both the 400-meter individual event and 4 x 400 relay.
Syracuse coach Roger Buhrley said Hunter has been steadily improving since he joined the team.
"One of the things is he really is a competitive kid. He is always trying to get a little bit better and always trying to get an advantage, whether it's in training or whether it's in the races," Buhrley said. "That always helps him. He's competitive enough to always want to be getting better times and train a little harder, race a little faster. Those are things he is always concentrating on."
Hunter's parents, Steve and Barb Woodhall, said one of the reasons he has performed so well in sports is because his two older brothers have always pushed him to keep up and do better. His brother Spencer will also competing at the state meet in the discus.
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On a typical day, Hunter Woodhall spends roughly three hours running.Hunter started running in fifth grade for fun when he wanted to do a 5K and received a pair of running feet. Recently, he has been training more seriously and competed in his first International Paralympic Committee Athletics event in Mesa, Arizona, May 10 where he took first place in the 400 meters.
"Everyone knows he has a disability except for Hunter. For him, he's just Hunter and he doesn't expect anyone to feel sorry for him or cut him any slack," Buhrley said. "He plays football as well as running track, and so he is more than willing to get out and try what everyone else does and he pretty well succeeds at it."
