Former high school champion battles injuries to regain former stardom

Former no.1 javelin recruit Kaleb Zuidema came to South Carolina in 2011 in hopes of being an SEC champion, but he has yet to take the field for the Gamecocks. 

Who would have though that someone could get a full ride scholarship to a major SEC school, by just merely throwing a stick?

So maybe it's not that simple, but if you can throw the javelin well, schools will come calling. That was the story for South Carolina redshirt freshman Kaleb Zuidema, who rose to prowess back in 2010 as the best high school javelin thrower in the United States.

"I started throwing when I was in eighth grade,"  Zuidema said. "My brother had the Midland Park record, and from that point on I knew I wanted to beat it so I started to take things seriously. By the time I was a sophomore I threw 192 feet three inches, which broke the school record and was the farthest sophomore throw in the state."  

Zuidema hails from a small town called Midland Park in Northern New Jersey, just shy of 45 minutes outside New York City. Midland Park high school keeps with the tradition of the small town it resides in, only graduating 66 students in Zuidema's senior year.

Zuidema throwing for Midland Park in his signature red spikes

 

But the size of his high school never wavered Zuidema's success. His junior year at Midland Park was, as he put it, irreplaceable. Zuidema went undefeated, never placing second in a single javelin event. He went on to win the 2010 Penn Relays, one of track and field's most prominent events, the high school Javelin national championship, set the New Jersey state record and to this day is Midland Park's only state champion in any sport.

"After I threw 224, it's like when a baseball player bats .500, everyone knows him,"  Zuidema said. "So it was really nice going to these track meets and getting to be the top guy."

Coming off his junior year, Zuidema already had prime offers from a number of the nations top programs, but he still had a commitment to another sport he loved, soccer. Zuidema competed with his teammates all season, until they had reached the playoffs.

"At the state sectional championships I tore my ACL with 20 minutes left to go in the second half,"  Zuidema said. "It was a real heart breaker. I was afraid to contact schools back because I was didn't think anyone wanted to recruit me anymore because of my knee."

Coming off his rehab, Zuidema was determined to get back to his javelin, despite doctors telling him that he could not throw again his senior year. Zuidema defied the medical odds and did come back to compete, but the results weren't as flattering from a year ago.

 Zuidema describes his journey from being a hailed state champion to fighting back form multiple major surgeries.

"I went back to the Penn Relays, and for the first time in two years I had fallen short of a victory,"  Zuidema said. "I got fourth, and I guess it was a really sad day. But I realized I was human and that I could rebound from this."

But a torn ACL didn't destroy Zuidema's dreams of competing on the collegiate level, because by that coming fall he was enrolled in the University of South Carolina, fully healthy and ready to prove himself in the best track and field conference in the country.

However it wasn't but three weeks into practices that Zuidema began to feel discomfort in his shoulder while making some preliminary throws. It wasn't long before he was back under an MRI, only to hear the same news again, but just in a different part of his body.

"When the MRI came back, it said that I had a torn labrum in my right shoulder"  Zuidema said. "At first I thought everything was going to be okay, because a lot of athletes redshirt their freshman year. I was happy that I was going to get a chance to finally be 100 percent healthy."

So it was another year of rehab and getting back to being 100 percent for Zuidema. Once his labrum was fully back and ready, Zuidema was eager to get back on the field to start throwing again. He was back home in New York competing in his first meet since surgery at Icahn Stadium in New York City, when on his very first attempt, he heard a slight "pop" in his elbow.

"I finished out my throws because I didn't think anything of it at first," Zuidema said. "I just couldn't be hurt again, I didn't think it was possible. At first, the MRI came back as a slight tear in my UCL, and the doctors said it could be rehabbed quickly."

But after his rehab, Zuidema returned to his javelin only to find the discomfort in his elbow much worse than it had been in New York. After another round of MRI's, the results showed that his UCL tear had become worse. Zuidema was then told he had to undergo the grueling procedure more notably done on baseball players, Tommy John surgery. 

So for the third time in three years, Zuidema would have to sit out a track season with a major surgery. After once being hailed the best young Javelin thrower in the country, Zuidema had yet to show what he was made of in the SEC. Zuidema admitted that the past years have been tough on him, and he even thought about leaving South Carolina altogether.

"I wasn't contributing to the team, I didn't feel like part of the team,"  Zuidema said. "I thought of transferring multiple times because I didn't come here to sit out two years and not contribute any points. I really felt like I had disappointed my teammates."

But through rehab, determination and two redshirted seasons, Zuidema comes into the 2013-14 season an optimistic junior in the classroom and a freshman on the field. While it has been a tough road for the New Jersey native, he still has four years to live out his dream to compete for an SEC championship.