School pride, summer goals carry Kingwood girls forward

Students at school flooded by Hurricane Harvey adapt to new challenges

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

The first weekend of September, Jeremy Dye was finally able to walk the halls of Kingwood High in Texas. The building, brimming with history and tradition, took on a different feel. 

“Us coaches got to go into the building and try and salvage what we could,” Dye said. “I had to take all the trophies, all the pictures off the walls. Binders full of notebooks dating back 1985, all of that was destroyed.”

This was part of the the aftermath that Hurricane Harvey left on the community of Kingwood, located in northeast Houston.

This past week, the high school was deemed unusable this school year due to the damage of flooding. Students and faculty and staff are relocated to Summer Creek High, about 15 miles away, where they'll go to school this academic year. 

Summer Creek students will go to school in the mornings, while Kingwood will have classes from 12:11 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

“On Saturday and Sunday (Aug. 26 and 27) we didn't have any idea that the high school would be flooded, we just kind of assumed once it stopped we'd be able to get back to normal,” Dye said. “And then on Monday or Tuesday water got into the building and it just kept rising and rising. All of our track equipment, uniforms, shots and and discs, everything was just destroyed.”

Dye's first  introduction to Kingwood was met head on by nearly four feet of water. His family moved in Aug. 25, when it first started raining.

Now, the first year coach of a deep and talented girls cross country program -- who moved from Tompkins High, where he coached boys -- has been presented with a clean slate, literally. 

“A lot has been taken away, houses, our school,” senior Jessica Hergott said. “(But) it's the students, it's the teammates that make up the school. Wherever we go we are going to carry on with our traditions, with our work ethic. We aren't going to let a hurricane change what we have been working toward.”

With just a handful of practices together, Saturday at the Oak Ridge Invitational in Conroe, was the first time Dye saw his team compete together. Led by sophomore Rachel James' fifth-place finish, the Mustangs placed five girls in the top 15, winning the varsity race with 42 points. Kingwood was ranked No. 5 in DyeStat's South regional rankings.

“It felt so good just go to out there and run,” Hergott said. “It was so exciting to get to circle up at the end, we had all been waiting so long for it. It was really an awesome day.” 

It's not the school year or season anyone envisioned, but the Mustangs are managing. Dye said during the storm he stayed in touch with his team through social media and texting. Members still found ways to get their workouts in as they are motivated to improve on their ninth-place finish at the NXR South Regional last fall. 

“They want to be top-three in the state of Texas and go to Nike Nationals,” Dye said.

Through this life-changing experience, running has been the one constant in a time of uncertainty.

“I think it's going to make us stronger,” Hergott said. “Wherever we go, we're together, we'll have each other and work together.”

Dye explained it's been neat to see what type of individuals he has on his team. He said last week 46 girls showed up every single day. Eight girls were flooded out of their homes.  

“Adversity reveals your character,” Dye said. “There are girls living in with aunts and uncles an hour away, not sleeping in their own beds. Mentally when you don't get to go home ... it's hard to get your mind to slow down. (But) there's been no negativity.”

Kingwood will have some sense of routine as Dye said they are still able to run their normal running routes in Kingwood, and will continue to do that. A typical day is cross country practice in the morning in Kingwood, then bus or drive over to Summer Creek for school. Dye said the new schedule won't affect them too much this fall, but when track season hits, sharing equipment, a track and working on meet schedules might get tricky. 

While students will be walking into a building that says Summer Creek this school year, Kingwood will be well represented on the trails. 

“When we go out and run, we're running for everybody in Kingwood that got hurt by the hurricane,” Hergott said. “It gives us a sense of pride when we put on that uniform that says Kingwood.”