Wynn Overcomes Adversity to Become Champion
BY BRIAN PITTS

At the NCAC tournament at Ohio Weslesyan, Junior Apryl Wynn recounts, with a strange eagerness, one of her most embarrassing and disappointing moments on the track. She hustles away from the Oberlin campsite to the track. “I can tell you the entire story,” she says.
She begins to narrate her tale, one about being caught up in her own world, reliving a mistake for too long. The site was this same Ohio Wesleyan University track last spring at the NCAC Championships. Rival long jumper Justina Williams just edged Wynn in the long jump to seize the title. The winning margin was an inch.
“Being the drama queen I am, I am still upset,” Wynn says, recalling her feelings immediately after the 2000 long jump competition. “I lost to Justina Williams on the final jump. I’m all out of it.”
After that long jump, Wynn headed to the track to run the second leg of the 4x100m relay. Wynn took off early and forced the lead runner to hand her the baton outside the legal exchange zone. Oberlin’s track squad, which had a legitimate chance to break the NCAC record, was disqualified. If Oberlin had won that relay, the women would have finished third in the overall standings and they would have defeated arch-rival Denison in the team standings.

(photo by Hans Peterson)

Wynn said she let her team down. “The relay stresses me out. I don’t like having the weight of four people on me,” she said. “I was much harder on myself than my teammates. The Review was much, much harder on me than myself.”

Today, at the second day of the 2001 NCAC Track and Field Championships, Wynn seems to have forgotten her 2000 miscue entirely. The junior has good reason to be in a positive mood. The previous day, she set the NCAC Outdoor record in the triple jump at a distance of 38’ 4.25”. The mark automatically qualifies Wynn for the NCAA Championships at Millikin University in Illinois and is a new Oberlin record.
Observing Wynn, who is now a co-captain, it is hard to believe she would have once allowed herself to get flustered to the point where she loses her concentration. 
She walks tall, carrying her 6’ 1” frame as though she was leaning her back against something. Her hair is slicked in a ponytail. She wears gold earrings that do not dangle. Her look is not flashy by any means, but it is obvious she did not throw on the sweats in the top of the clothes hamper. She reminds one of Florence Griffith-Joyner, the late 1980’s track star who garnered attention not only for her world-class performances, but also for her snazzy, eye-catching track outfits.
Her outfit for today’s long jump competition is her Oberlin tank top with a pair of spandex shorts. Her style on the long jump is set — it keeps her together. She flies down the runway with a flair of showmanship. First, she sets her hands on her hips and measures the runway. Her arms, that give Wynn a 6-foot wingspan, spread like wings. Suddenly, she brings her right arm, which is bent at the elbow, parallel with her chest and lets her left arm hang at her side. She rocks her body backwards and sprints — 18 steps exactly — down the runway. Her long and slender body moves with ease down the track. You might be worried that Wynn will float away.
Wynn kept herself together today, setting an Oberlin College record in the long jump and finishing second. She also finished second in the 100m high hurdles, an event she won last year with a time that was .35 seconds slower than this year’s time. Wynn measured her expectations, noting that the women who outperformed her were out of her reach this season. Referring to the 100m hurdles, she said, “I feel really good about second place. Next year, I’m going to compete with [the first place finisher]. Her form is flawless. It’s going to take guts, sweat, heart, and work.”
She has improved despite not practicing full-speed for almost the entire month of April. Wynn rejoined the team less than two weeks before the NCAC Championships.
A recent health issue that Wynn refuses to disclose kept her from action most of the season. She does admit her recent health problems are not directly related to a track and field injury. “I had a health issue I needed to deal with that was very personal. It was a bad time. I don’t have a normal body.”
Wynn suffers from Marfan Syndrome, a genetic disorder that hinders the body from producing strong connective tissue. Marfan’s contributes to Wynn’s lanky frame and a skeleton that is not perfectly straight, overbending at some joints. One danger of Marfan’s Syndrome is that Wynn’s heart could outgrow its cavity, which could place undue stress on the heart muscle and cause the wall of her aorta to burst or the inner layer of her aorta to rupture. The results of such incidents are mostly fatal.
However, Wynn says the Marfan’s is not escalating. “It’s been really repressed. [However], I’m not put together like a normal athlete.”
She says the repeated jumping takes a toll on her body. Wynn says, “The joint pain really bothers me. I treat it with painkillers and icing. I take four to six Aleve per day – two at a time.” She chuckles, knowing that she ingests twice the recommended dosage. “It’s a really good pain reliever,” Wynn says.
Wynn, who must wear special shoe inserts to provide her flat feet with an artificial arch, knows today’s jumping will take its toll. She points to her left leg, which is dirty from her landing with that leg first into the long jump pit. Wynn says, “I will have a bruise on my left leg tomorrow. It’s going to hurt. It is going to hurt like hell.”
Wynn’s performance this weekend distinguishes her as one of the elite athletes in the NCAC. She tried out for Oberlin’s track and field team as a high jumper her first year. She was scratched from that event and soon found a niche as a triple and long jumper, hurdler and relay sprinter. She has dropped the team relays in favor of individual events, where she is responsible for only her performance.

Wynn describes herself as a loner. But she says she has formed close relationships with Head Coach Tom Mulligan, and senior teammate Liz Chandler and first-year Shannon Houlihan. Nonetheless, Wynn is eager to cheer teammates. At times she appears to be trying to keep them loose with chants from her cheerleading days. At other times it appears she is trying to keep herself relaxed, chatting up coaches and teammates. Her mood seems to switch today between quiet and withdrawn to boisterous and outgoing with little in-between.
She knows she must relax her body to block out any pain and perform at a high level. “I just have to relax and let it come naturally,” Wynn says. Referring to her record-breaking triple jump performance, she says, “I remember relaxing. It felt easy and simple. I didn’t have to think a lot about my technique. “I felt rested and very clear headed. My legs felt rested and strong,” she says.
While preparing for one of her long jumps today, Wynn is in a quiet mood. The sun is high and hot, unobstructed by clouds. She lays on her back with her knees propped up, feet flat on the ground. Her eyes are closed. She is holding an oversized umbrella, letting the ground support the back of the umbrella.
She is now in her private shade. The new shadow forms a barrier between her and the hundreds of spectators and competitors.
As she clears her head to muster the energy and focus for her next jump, only Wynn knows what she is thinking. Likely, she is no longer replaying past mistakes in her head. She says her plan is to compete as long as she can. “I told Coach [Mulligan] I’m not going to be one of those athletes that fade off because of injury. I refuse to lay down. I’m going to compete until I can’t compete anymore.”
Only Wynn and her body can determine how long that will be.