Two years ago, Sean Powers was a pretty typical kid. He loved playing soccer and swimming and riding his bike. He was always on the move. But he also was withering away to nothing, his nearly 6-foot tall frame just a notch above 100 pounds.
“That’s when they figured out I had it,” says Powers, a freshman at Lake Norman Charter School.
The “it” in this case is cystic fibrosis.
Powers, now 14, is one of about 30,000 children afflicted with the disease that affects the lungs and digestive system, causing mucus build-up that affects breathing and can lead to life-threatening lung infections. The disease also obstructs the pancreas and hinders the body’s ability to process food.
Physical activity can be nearly impossible for people with cystic fibrosis. Powers has defied the odds, though, not only competing on a LNC cross country team that has a shot at a state championship this season, but also in becoming one of the Knights’ top runners.
“I never had heard of him until the last day of school last year,” says LNC coach Craig Zamiara. “Someone came up to me and said ‘Coach, you’ve got to meet this kid. He’s a great kid. And he’s a great runner.’”
Zamiara encouraged Powers to work out over the summer and then come to tryouts in August. On the first day of tryouts, the team ran a mock 5K race, where Powers finished just a few steps behind allstate performer Chris Hack.
“That’s when I knew that we had something special,” says Zamiara. “I knew then that he was good.”
Zamiara has dealt with athletes who require special attention due to diabetes, epilepsy or other such ailments. With Powers, he found out quickly that there isn’t a great deal he can do for an athlete with cystic fibrosis, except, possibly, to have an endless supply of food nearby.
Powers is on a doctor-prescribed diet that requires him to consume between 6,000 and 8,000 calories per day.
“It’s a high-fat, high-calorie, high-protein, high-salt diet,” says Powers. “Most of it burns off quick.”
Still, the training regimen and the diet have helped him bulk up to a still skinny but healthy 150 pounds now, giving him the strength and endurance he needs to compete.
Prior to the season-opening Providence Invitational on Aug. 26, Powers targeted the school’s freshman record of 17:30 as a personal goal for the 3.1-mile race. On Saturday, in the team’s second meet, he crossed the finish line in 17:18.
To get an idea of how special the Knights’ team may be this season, that time was fourth-best among LNC runners on Saturday, with Michael Westbay (16:50), Hack (17:02) and Matt Panza (17:13) also turning in stellar times. Add to that group Jordan Wallace, who was Hough’s top runner before transferring to LNC, as well as Nathan Farber (17:26), Bryant Hooker (17:58) and Matt Farber (18:28), and it’s easy to see the team’s potential.
The LNC boys won the 1A Midwest Regional and finished third in the state in 2010. Last spring, Hack became the school’s first state champion, winning the 800-meter run.
The LNC girls were second in both the region and state meets last year, finishing two points behind champion Hendersonville at the state meet. The Lady Knights have state championship aspirations this season, too.
Sarah Hardin finished fourth individually at last year’s state meet and returns to lead a talented team that includes Stephanie Zaino, Danielle Clark, Lauren Swift, Sarah Jones, Megan Somloi and Holly Miller.
“We have a lot of runners showing great potential,” says Zamiara. “Both the boys and girls teams have a shot at being the first team at Lake Norman Charter to win a state title. This year could be the year.”
Others runners to watch
Davidson Day: Jake Bringewatt, Rachel Bringewatt, Melissa Zammitti.
Hopewell: Taylor Boykin, Jessica Burroughs, Emma Cathell, Nate Nash.
Hough: Ryan Dennehy, Morgan Freese, Stephen Hansen, Kevin Harrow, Breana Jenkins, Lexi
Powers.
North Meck: Melissa Helms, Liam Hunt, Jenna Parker, Stephan Snyder.
SouthLake Christian: Joe Bryant, Alison Geis, Anna Landis, Sam Orr.
