Liberty's Gina Hauptman grimaces as she nears the finish line of the Palmer Terror 1600 on Saturday. Photo by Alan Versaw.
There was someone missing from the Colorado Springs track scene last spring. Well, maybe not exactly missing. She was there, it's just that when you saw her, she was wearing the distance runner's nightmare--a black boot, about knee-high, with lots of velcro straps.
That black book--and the injury it aimed to help heal--meant Gina Hauptman wasn't a participating member of the 2012 track season. The Liberty High School standout who had finished third in the 5A 800 and second in the 1600 as a sophomore endured an entire season of forced idleness. She was barely back for cross country season, running in about three races without visiting the kind of times she had posted as a sophomore and junior.
Several of us wondered to ourselves if we'd ever see the old Gina Hauptman again. The University of Arkansas took a calculated gamble in February and signe...
