PORTLAND, Ore. — That Michael Casey Kubisiak (he goes by "Casey") is still running is a testament to persistence, patience (his and those around him) and hard work.

The redshirt sophomore sprinter from Newberg High School had every reason to hang up his spikes after his first year as a Viking when he discovered that he'd run for two years in high school on a torn ACL, and that was on top of ACL replacement surgery as a high school freshman.

It took two surgeries last year – one another ACL replacement – this time using his own material rather than that donated by a cadaver, and he wasn't sure he still had a future as a runner.

Kubisiak began running in the seventh grade back in South Bend, Ind. He played soccer and football prior to that because track wasn't available. And since he liked running and track competed with soccer he decided to devote himself to the sport.
"I like running because for all the work you put in, you take all the credit when things go right, and all the blame when they don't," he said.

His sophomore year at Newberg, he got people's attention by running a 10.8 second 100-meter dash.  Eventually he was that school's 2011 Senior Athlete of the Year and broke school records in the 100, 200, 4X100 and 4X400-meter events.
After his junior year in high school, Kubisiak's high school coach told him he should consider a college running career. His first choice was Weber State, until he got a call from PSU head coach Ronnye Harrison.

"I recruited him because we thought he had a real future as a sprinter in our program. At the time, though, I didn't really know what a persistent and determined person he was," recalled Harrison.

For his part, Kubisiak said he visited the PSU campus and "liked how focused the team was on the individual and improving individual skills," a judgment he has never regretted.

"After the first ACL replacement, I was afraid I couldn't run again. The second one was even scarier because the success rate is only 70 percent or so. It's significantly different from the first one," said Kubisiak.

During his redshirt year and through the two surgeries, he received a lot of support from the coaching staff. "They encouraged me to be patient and do the best I could do. I really appreciated that. At other schools, I've heard stories that it's pretty much over if you're injured."

Harrison knew he had an unusually motivated individual on his hands when Kubisiak returned to the track.

"He couldn't run corners. Rather than worry about what he couldn't do, we decided to concentrate on what he could," Harrison said. And, that meant concentrating on the shorter sprints, where you just run straight.

Still, until a couple months ago, Kubisiak had his doubts.

"Even a recently as a few months ago, I ran a 7.03 in the 60. That's not bad, but not as fast as I've been. I thought 'we'll see.' I talked to coach Harrison about it and told him if I couldn't do better than that, I'd hang up my spikes." But, he'd always been an optimistic person, so he kept trying.

In Feb. 2013 he got strong enough to run curves again. "Then, late last fall, I ran a 6.94 and I was over my doubt," he said.
And Harrison knew that his own patience had paid off.

"It took a lot of patience on his part and on the part of everyone around him, but I expect him to be one of this school's best sprinters ever by the time he's done.  It's been a long time since we had a male athlete who could legitimately compete in the Big Sky sprints," said Harrison.

That comment was just before the recently completed Big Sky Championships in Pocatello.

Kubisiak ran a 6.88 60-meter dash to place third in the meet, earning him All-Big Sky honors and moving him into second place all-time at PSU. His goal is to break the record of 6.78 seconds Kenneth Mackin set in 2006.  That would give him another No. 1 ranking as he already holds the PSU mark for 30 meters at 4.11 seconds. He currently is sixth all-time for 55 meters at 6.58 seconds.

He's still not 100 percent and Harrison has him concentrating on sprints without corners this year. They'll put more emphasis on the 200-meter dash next year.

To get where he is, Kubisiak spends six to seven hours daily on track-related activities – running or stretching and rehabbing.  In his spare time, it's school and homework.

"My whole life seems to be track, school and class. I do computer stuff on the weekend.  I like that, I suppose, because computers are what my father does," he said.

Besides running, Kubisiak also got pointed toward his current career goal while in high school.

An environmental science major, he and some friends got involved in an Envirothon competition where they devised a plan to bring back dead spots in Netarts Bay near Tillamook. They took second place and the experience gave him the idea of creating a firm that specializes in creating solutions for individual environmental problems.

An academic junior, Kubisiak wants to use all his collegiate track eligibility and thinks he may start graduate school during his last year. After that, though, running will strictly be a hobby.

Although he doesn't have time for hobbies now, he liked plants and gardening and would like to get back to those eventually. 
He's been self-sufficient, living in an apartment near campus, since he turned 18. He does find time for occasional work around Stott Center and is employed by Premier Valet during the summer to augment his grants and scholarships.

Kubisiak's experience with injuries have taught him a lesson he believes will be useful throughout his life.

"I've always tried to be optimistic. This was the ultimate test of my patience. It was a really tough couple of years, but I always believed that if you work hard, get through that pain, get your strength back, put in the work, you'll get something out of it," he said.