With her eyes shut and entrenched in a full split, sprinter Ebony Foster sways back and forth, laughing and singing along to music blaring from her bright red i-Pod. She leaps to her feet, extends an earphone to a teammate and breaks into more laughter, and they both begin dancing to the tune. Minutes later, Foster runs a lap around Reynolds Coliseum’s indoor track with a much different facial expression–a face that means business.
“There is a lighter side to Ebony, but she is a great teammate and a true competitor,” coach Terry Reese said. “She’s playful, but she has the talent, focus and the work ethic to be very successful.”
But Foster’s path to track stardom was much different than many of her peers. Foster’s speed wasn’t discovered on the track, but on the softball field.
“I was a softball player, and I liked to steal bases,” Foster said. “I always knew I had speed, but not necessarily ‘track speed.’ Our high school track coach saw me and convinced me to give track and field a chance.”
At her first high school meet, Foster was overwhelmed but wasted no time dashing towards success.
“There are so many people out there and you just want to fit in,” she said. “You get up to the line and you’re nervous. Your heart is beating, your hands are shaking and your palms are sweaty. But once the gun sounds, it’s just like practice.”
The Lynchburg, Va. native didn’t begin running hurdles until she arrived at N.C. State.
“My favorite event used to be the 200 meters. But the hurdles present a greater challenge for me,” Foster said. “You have to make sure you get all your steps right to be successful. It seems like a different race every time.”
Things haven’t always come easy to Foster. She has had to deal with a significant injury twice in her career.
Last year, Foster wasn’t able to compete during NCSU’s indoor season. She was forced to wear a boot to help heal a stress fracture in her right foot. That kept Foster off the track almost two months — about six weeks — and forced her to redshirt.
“It was tough to sit through the indoor season,” Foster said. “But it made me much hungrier for the upcoming outdoor season.”
The rest must have been beneficial for Foster. At last year’s NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Foster earned All-American honors with a fourth place, 13.03-second performance in the 100-meter hurdles.
On Saturday at the ACC Championships, Foster won the ACC Championship in the 60-meter hurdles event, smashing not only the school record, but shattering the seven-year-old ACC Championship Meet record as well. Foster’s time of 8.07 earns her an automatic berth in the NCAA Championships.
Displaying her versatility, Foster nearly earned all-conference honors in the 200-meter, with a time of 23.88. The time was good for fourth place and broke her own two-year school record in the event.
“Ebony has the versatility to compete in so many different races,” Reese said. “When she begins to specialize after her collegiate career ends, she’ll only get better.”
The specialization will be in the 100-meter hurdles, the event Foster hopes will qualify her for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Foster was sixth in the finals of the 2004 Olympic Trials, three spots from a berth in the games.
“My goal is to be in Beijing in 2008,” Foster said. “I won’t settle for anything less. I’ve worked very hard to get to this point, and will continue to work as hard as I can.”
