THE TOTAL PACKAGE: Heggar Combines Academics, Athletics, Leadership As A Beacon Of Light For The Eagles

CHELSEA HEGGAR REPRESENTS EVERYTHING THAT IS RIGHT AT KLEIN FOREST HIGH SCHOOL.

She is a National Honor Roll student with a 5.0 GPA; she’s a tremendous leader and a great athlete.

Those aren’t our words; that’s from her coach, Shannon Wright, who has built his girls track program into a recognized city power.

Heggar’s track prowess dates back to the sixth grade in PE class.

“I’m in gym, and the coach lines us all up,” the senior said. “It’s a race that is about 50 yards. I leave everyone. I was pretty shocked. I went home and told my dad, ‘I think I’m pretty fast’.”

The rest is history.

Heggar ran and jumped at Wunderlich Intermediate, where she still holds the school record for the long jump. She has continued her success while wearing the green and gold.

“She has been a captain since her sophomore year and is a four-year letterman,” Wright said.

“She can run anything on the track from the sprints to the relays, but she is a special jumper.”

Heggar has finished third in the long jump at the Regional meet the past two seasons and hopes what has been an elusive State meet is in her future.

“I reached State in the relays, but I really want to get there in the long jump,” she said. “I’ll be more prepared this year after seeing how big the track facility was at the University of Texas and how many people were in the stands. The lights were so bright.”

At Klein Forest, Heggar is a beacon of light in the classroom.

“It wasn’t always like that,” she said. “I didn’t like school when I was young because I wasn’t good at it. I wasn’t a great reader and had to work in small groups. Like track, the more you work the better you get. I applied that and would go to the library and read. I worked on my math and my writing. I became an all-A student. I’m beyond proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish.”

With exemplary grades and elite athleticism, Heggar will go to college to pursue her dream of being a nurse. She is close to making her college decision where she will do both.

“The school I’m really interested in has my major, and it feels like home,” she said without revealing the school. “When I visited there, I didn’t feel like an outsider. The coaches and athletes already make me feel a part of the team.”

Heggar checks the academic and athletic boxes, but what about the leadership qualities Coach Wright mentioned?

“We have a ‘Big Sister/ Little Sister’ program inside our locker room where our older lettermen help the underclassmen,” he said. “Chelsea leads that program and is a great mentor to several girls. She’s my ‘go-to’ girl. If the young girls have a problem or concern, they go to her. If she can’t handle it, she brings it to me.”

Heggar added, “Look, we laugh together, we cry together, we complain together. It’s a place to feel safe. There’s nothing to be shy about because we are all going through things. I am, too. We have built a great sisterhood where we all have each other’s backs. Everyone needs that.”

Regardless of how she does on the oval this spring, Heggar is pure gold.