Whitnall's Kamyla Held is an incredible athlete in several sports. But one week after going to WIAA State Track and Field in the shot put, she'll blaze a new trail by heading off to the Marine Corps in San Diego.
"I'm going to be the fourth platoon of girls, going to San Diego," Held says. "It's a little bit different. Everybody says I'm lucky to go there."
As a state dive champ this year, Marines showed up at her competitions. Her part-time job is as a server. Now she wants to serve in this capacity.
"I do want to serve my country," Held says. "I wanna be bigger than what I am right now. I wanna challenge myself, and just add more to my resume."
Held was hooked on the Marines exactly one year ago when performing a pull up challenge at state track.
"Last year at the state meet, I did pull ups, because the Marine Corps was there and they had their pull up bar," Held says. "I decided to write my name down, and so my recruiter contacted me, and I completely fell in love with the family aspect of it."
She's done hurdles, gymnastics, dive, swim and more. She's a recent graduate. But this weekend, it's all focus,on the shot.
"I'm definitely going for top six, so I want to medal," Held says. "I have not been able to throw as far, like the beginning of the season, but I'm going to bring it at state."
Held plans on continuing to dive at UW-Milwaukee as part of the Panthers swim and dive program.
