Seton-La Salle senior leaving mark in track
The fast and the furious. At Seton-La Salle, that’s Raja Rutherford. The senior is a one-woman track team for the Rebels. Plus, she owns school records in sprints and jumps.
For as long as she can remember, Rutherford has been fast. At age 6, when her father noticed her out-running her friends in the backyard, Rod Rutherford immediately took her to Neville Island to train with the Stallions.
“My first meet was there and I practiced there. I was kind of fast,” admitted Rutherford. “I fell in love with track.”
Rutherford also thrilled at jumping. In addition to the 100- and 200-meter dashes, she excels at long and triple jumps.
”When I’m actually (jumping), I come alive,” she said. “It’s such an extreme feeling that you don’t get when you are doing the one or the two hundred. I’ve always loved roller coasters. The drops and the highs,” she added. “That’s kind of like the rush you feel when you are jumping.”
This spring, so far, has been a rush for Rutherford. She opened the season by dominating the sixth annual Warrior Track and Field Classic held at Central Valley. She garnered four gold medals. She finished first in the 100 (12.70) and 200 (26.63) dashes then won the long jump (16 feet, 6 inches) as well as the triple jump (35-1).
At last weekend’s Tri-state Track Coaches Association meet held at West Mifflin, Rutherford lowered her marks to 25.87 in the 200 for the bronze medal and 12.60 for fourth place in the 100. Burrell’s Nicole Scherer won both events. Rutherford also managed 11th in the triple jump and 24th in the long jump against competition that included Class AAA contestants as well as Rutherford’s Class AA division.
“Raja is coming into her own,” said SLS track coach Mark Wright. “It’s challenging for her because she trains all by herself. We have no track here at Seton and she basically is the team.
“Raja is very self-motivated. She’s a hard worker, dedicated and committed. You rarely find somebody with her work ethic. That’s why she is successful.”
Since entering Seton-La Salle as a freshman, Rutherford has experienced success. She holds school records in the 100 (12.6) and long jump (17 feet, 10.5 inches). Plus, she is on the cusp of shattering the 200-meter mark. A PIAA qualifier as a freshman, she finished fourth in the long jump and 11th in the 200 at last year’s WPIAL championships. She placed ninth in the jump at the PIAA finals.
Rutherford did all of that while nursing an injury. During an indoor meet at Kent State, she experienced tightness in her quad muscle. Stretching and warm-ups did not make the discomfort go away. Yet, Rutherford ran anyway. “I was taking ibuprofen for the pain,” she said with a laugh. “I just pushed through it.”
When Rutherford was diagnosed, she had pushed through a level three tear of her quad muscle in two different spots in her thigh. Plus, she had suffered several blood clots during her ordeal.
“My junior year was amazing, considering,” said Rutherford. “I enjoyed it, especially at states, being around people who love doing what I do. And, this year, coming off the bad injury, I think I am making progress.”
Rutherford insured she would progress by supplementing her indoor workouts with a stint on the basketball team. She had competed in softball the season prior, but basketball met her training objectives.
“In softball, there is not as much running, but it does help with hand-eye coordination,” she explained. “As far as basketball, I thought, why not. I played in middle school. If I had kept at it, I would have been decent,” she admitted. “I did have the skills and talent. But I thought that basketball would help me through the winter. I used it to focus on conditioning.”
Because she had nowhere to train for track in the winter, Rutherford turned to the gym. In addition to helping the Rebels win a section title and reach the WPIAL playoffs, she separated her training regiment into sprinting days and jumping days. She ran steps and hurdled obstacles as well as did interval training, concentrating on 800 runs as well as multiple sprint distances between 100 and 300 meters.
Rutherford did all this while also continuing to excel in her class work and extracurricular activities. She maintains a 3.7 GPA. Plus, she is involved in Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Miracle League, Dance Committee and Environmental Club.
“School work is easy,” she said. “It’s all time management. I do work in study halls and I have a lot of good teachers. They understand that sometimes I have to leave early, but I do have to make up the work. It takes great communication skills and we work together to make it all work out. I’m grateful to them.”
Rutherford is grateful to be attending Seton-La Salle High School. She is a North Side resident.
“I like SLS a lot. I didn’t know anybody at first, but it was easy socially to get comfortable. I could be myself and try to find myself,” she said.
“It is hard to come here, though, because I know what a sacrifice it is for my family. That motivates me to do well because my family is giving up so much for me to come here.”
Through track, Rutherford has a “shot at a dream.” She hopes to gain a scholarship to run track in college. So far, Slippery Rock, Bethany, Robert Morris and Point Park universities have expressed interest in her talents. Strong showings at big meets down the road such as the WPIAL and PIAA championships could draw more offers.
“The goal is to run in college,” Rutherford said candidly. “I also want to go to states and do well. Of course, I would love to win. It’s my last shot and I am going to do whatever it takes. I’m going to continue working hard. I’ll never be able to do this again, so I want to leave a good taste in my mouth. If I win, I will be so happy.”