Gar-Pal's Brantner has heart of a champion

Jun. 6—It has been less than two years since Kyra Brantner needed open heart surgery for a coronary abnormality, putting her promising future as a track-and-field star for Garfield-Palouse High School in serious doubt.

In the time since, the Viking standout has done more than put that doubt to bed. After medaling in four events but not quite titling in any last year as a freshman, the sophomore blitzed to four gold medal finishes — three of them on meet-record marks — at the Washington Class 1B state meet late last month at Eisenhower High School in Yakima.

A fondness for winning

"I played softball in fifth grade, and I really hated softball," Brantner recalled. "We had track throughout our middle school program. I tried it out, went to my meet and won, I think, two of my events. I was like, 'I kind of like winning,' so I kept doing it."

So began a storied career. Brantner was soon introduced to Spokane Speed Academy club track, with which she has participated in the offseasons since.

Remarkably, being diagnosed with a coronary condition and undergoing open-heart surgery at the beginning of her freshman year in high school barely slowed her down in the bigger picture.

"Last year, I was like, 'I really have to go back,'" she said.

Brantner would take second in the 100-meter dash, long jump and triple jump at State as a freshman, then reach the USATF Junior Olympic national meet last summer with her club program, setting the stage for an even bigger sophomore high school campaign.

Having dominated all four of her events throughout the regular season and at Districts, Brantner made a statement on Day 1 of State with a personal best long jump mark of 18 feet, 9 inches — leaving the previous state meet record of 17-10 1/4 in the dust by nearly 11 inches.

An even bigger Day 2 saw Brantner set new state records in the triple jump (36-2 3/4) and 100-meter dash (12.38 seconds) while winning the 200 with a time of 25.57 to boot.

"That's been my goal since like sixth grade — to be one of the best," Brantner said.

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A triple threat

Brantner is a three-sport athlete — and while track is certainly her forte, her achievements in volleyball and girls basketball would be the envy of many in their own right.

She plays as an outside hitter for the Vikings in volleyball, and has produced massive performances like a 42-assist, 17-kill, 16-dig triple-double against Sunnyside Christian last fall. She helped the Vikings earn a state tournament appearance in which they took the eventual champions five sets.

In basketball, Brantner showed early flashes of her penchant for raising her standard in the postseason as she scored 19 and 16 points in the state quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, to lead the Vikings to a runner-up finish, drawing Tribune Prep Athlete of the Week recognition in the process.

"It means a lot more to score those higher-point games in the finals or the semifinals, because you know the teams are good, and it really shows that your skills can do it," she said.

Looking ahead

Apart from sports, Brantner is a 4.0 GPA student, has a summer job lined up doing handy work at WSU and is raising a sheep to show at the Palouse Empire Fair this September.

Once she finishes high school, she aspires to continue her track career at the collegiate level while studying a health-related major at a university in central or western Washington.

"I just know I really want to help people and be in that medical field," she said.

In the meantime, Brantner hopes to "continue breaking my own records" and pile up more state gold over the two years she has left with the Vikings.

Wendt may be contacted at (208) 848-2268, or cwendt@lmtribune.com.