Cortland N.Y. – As the sun starts to set, Nick Kaires walks back into the circle. The warmer air and sunshine from earlier now replaced with a crisp breeze and a cloudy sky.
Kaires takes a deep breath as he sets up in the back of the discus circle. A few seconds later the disc is sent flying into the air as the entire crowd watching along follows the disc as it soars through the air.
The throw is over 45 meters far, good enough for Kaires to win the meet and extend his season well into May, but he still shakes his head in a slight disappointment. He knows he can throw further than that.
As the competition comes to a close Kaires takes a moment for reflection. As a slight smile cracks his face, he is reminded that a few months ago he did not know if this moment would ever be possible again.
Kaires has had to battle back from injuries numerous times throughout his career and this season is just another example of that.
A senior thrower for the Red Dragons, Kaires is no stranger to the recovery process. Growing up Nick was always a two-sport athlete, competing in both football and track and field.
Kaires continued to be a two-sport athlete in college as he played defensive line for Cortland during his first two years in college.
“As a football player you pretty much are always banged up,” said Kaires. “Transitioning from football to track was the hard part. There was no break or offseason to recover, it was just straight through.”
The constant stress started to take its toll on Kaires and eventually during the indoor track season his junior year he suffered an injury to his shoulder that forced him to end his season early.
“I went from the highest of highs competing at the conference meet to being shut down and not knowing when I was coming back,” said Kaires.
Through all the uncertainty, Kaires was able to make his return in April of that year and ended his outdoor season as conference champion in the discus throw and a regional qualifier in both discus and hammer throw.
Kaires was poised for an outstanding senior season before tragedy struck him once again. After one meet Kaires was highly ranked in the conference and had already hit the regional qualifying mark for the weight throw.
Then during the team’s winter session training Kaires sustained an injury to his back that would put all of his plans on halt.
“That was a really hard time for me,” said Kaires. “I come back early for winter training, get injured and then I’m just spending all day alone in my apartment trying to rehab it. That’s when all those negative thoughts and uncertainty comes flooding in.”
Within days he was back in the athletic trainers and working towards a possible return. As time went on it became clear that there was not enough time to make a return during the indoor season.
Kaires was forced to entirely shift focus onto the outdoor season and focus on building off his previous season success. That would not be an easy task as there was no timetable for his return with his injury.
Every day that he went to the trainers was a step in the right direction but still not a guarantee that he would be healthy enough to compete. Kaires ultimately leaned on his fellow teammates in the training room to help get through the process.
“Being in there is kind of the thing that no one wants to do but at least we were in there with each other,” said Jason Zaita a freshman on the team. “We leaned on each other for motivation and having someone to work through the process with really helps out with the mental side of things.”
The added stress from being in rehab every day while keeping up with schoolwork wore hard on Kaires yet he continued to push on, working every day to ensure he got back to where he wanted to be.
“Those days got real long and tiring mentally, but I just had to keep telling myself it was worth it and the light at the end of the tunnel was getting brighter,” said Kaires.
Kaires’ continued determination and resilience has begun to rub off on other teammates as well giving the team a collective sense of resiliency.
“I’ve been through the ringer with injuries myself and just seeing the way he has carried himself through the whole process has been incredible to see,” said Ryan Joule, a javelin thrower and Kaires’ roommate.
Now with the season in full swing Kaires can officially say he reached the light at the end of the tunnel, and he has his sights set on the prize. Kaires aims to defend his SUNYAC conference title in the discus throw and aid his team to an overall conference team title.
“There is no one that deserves a win more than him and there is no one that I want to see win more than him,” said Joule.