KW star Kelsey Jenkins delivers plenty in first season at SPU

Chuck Sekyra had a hunch. A simple gut feeling when it came to recruiting former Kentwood High soccer standout Kelsey Jenkins.

During a time when most colleges steered clear of Jenkins due to a litany of injuries that befell her during a tumultuous junior season, the Seattle Pacific University coach stood firm.

There was just something about this Kentwood kid.

Desire. Athletic ability. Leadership — to name a few.

But potentially more than all of that, Sekyra saw intangibles in Jenkins. Aspects of her game that don’t necessarily translate in the box score no matter how many hours one spends crunching numbers.

“I saw her potential,” said Sekyra, a Kent native and former soccer star himself at Kentwood High. “I’d seen her play when she was healthy during her sophomore year and was like, ‘Wow, this kid plays at a great level of play.’ Knowing her dad, knowing her family, she was one to believe in. You wanted to root for KJ.

“I thought it was worth the risk.”

A calculated one at that.

But few “risks” pay off quite like the one Sekyra made three years ago, when, while Jenkins was saddled on the Kentwood sidelines with two separate injuries, he offered up a scholarship.

And this wasn’t just a scholarship to some run-of-the-mill Division II program, either. Since Sekyra took over the Seattle Pacific coaching helm in 2003, the Falcons have vaulted into elite national status and have become the Northwest’s unheralded crown jewel of women’s soccer.

Programs like this simply don’t crawl out on a limb and offer scholarships to any player, especially if she has missed an entire high school season because of injury.

But Jenkins was far from any ordinary player.

Finally healthy, she showed as much as a true freshman this past fall, helping the Falcons secure their first Division II title on Dec. 6 with a 1-0 victory against previously unbeaten West Florida.

The title keyed a torrent of emotions in Jenkins, most notably a feeling that after a long, bumpy ride through her final two years at Kentwood, she had made the right college decision.

“I couldn’t be happier with my choice,” said Jenkins, a midfielder. “Once you win that national title, it seals the deal that this was definitely the right choice, the right program.”

Indeed, much thanks to a coach who never stopped believing.

THE BIG PICTURE

But to understand Sekyra’s level of belief in Jenkins, whose father Tom played for the Seattle Sounders in the late 1970s, it’s impossible not to look first at what she had gone through.

At the end of her sophomore year in high school and heading into her junior season of prep soccer, Jenkins suffered a pair of injuries: a broken foot and a fractured pelvis. Both were misdiagnosed by doctors, costing the Kentwood standout her entire junior season, which, for prep athletes, is the biggest of the four years.

Sekyra didn’t budge.

He had seen Jenkins play at full strength with her club team, knew her capabilities and wasn’t about to lose out on a promising deal.

“He stayed in contact with me the entire time,” Jenkins said. “He was really positive and told me, ‘You’ll get back out there. You’ll be able to play.’”

The coach clearly was drawn to the former Kentwood standout. Part of it, of course, was due to Jenkins’ upbeat, never-back-down attitude in the face of adversity.

But there was also that hunch, which just might have had something to do with the fact that Jenkins and Sekyra attended the same elementary school, middle school and high school — albeit many years apart.

“We joked about that a lot,” Jenkins said. “We’re basically living the same life.”

Especially now that Jenkins is a full-fledged Falcon.

INSTANT IMPACT

Jenkins has gone to great lengths to make sure Sekyra’s hunch is paying dividends. Matter of fact, this past fall, Jenkins was just one of three freshmen to see any playing time at all. She logged 10 minutes in the championship game and was one of only two freshmen to step onto the field.

“To say I not only was part of that national championship, but that I actually got onto the field in the game is something,” she said.

The year proved to be a paramount success for Jenkins and the Falcons. They put together a remarkable 22-1-2 record and finished the season on a 17-game winning streak, a run during which they outscored opponents, 52-6.

Jenkins made her presence felt throughout as well, starting in eight games when senior Shannon Oakes went down with a knee injury. In all, she finished the season with two goals, four assists and eight points.

Despite the team’s success this year — and, quite frankly, since Sekyra took over — winning a national title still remains a slight surprise.

“It definitely caught me off guard,” Jenkins admitted. “Obviously playing collegiate athletics, you hope for the best. We had talked about (winning it) weekly, even daily. In the back of our minds, that was the goal.

“But in comparison, we know that that’s the goal of everyone across the country.”

PLAY IT AGAIN?

Now, it’s a matter of repeating. But for a program that’s become known more for reloading than rebuilding — and which had eight freshmen on its 24-player roster — there’s a distinct possibility that Jenkins and the Falcons could make another run next fall.

“Definitely it’s a possibility,” Jenkins said. “We definitely can. We’re only losing five seniors. I feel like we’re going to have a healthier team and we’ll still be young.”

Regardless of what happens next year, Jenkins always will know that she has a coach in her corner. One who sees possibilities that go beyond this past fall.

“We saw her get close to her potential this year,” Sekyra said. “She’s going to have a great spring and fall.”

Consider it a hunch.

And a pretty safe one at that.

E-mail staff writer Erick Walker at ewalker@reporternewspapers.com.