Scout Cai looks to build on college track career

SEATTLE – Former Colfax High School athlete Scout Cai prepares for her potential last turn in college next spring, looking to burnish a decorated career at Seattle Pacific University.

A senior - with an added outdoor season of eligibility due to the pandemic - Cai is a three-time NCAA Division II All-American in indoor pentathlon, outdoor heptathlon and pole vault.

She was named the 2019 U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Indoor West Region Field Athlete of the Year. She is a three-time Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion in the indoor pentathlon and the 2019 outdoor champion in the pole vault.

In the GNAC record books, Cai ranks No. 3 all-time in the indoor pentathlon and seventh in the pole vault. Outdoors, she is No. 2 in the pole vault and No. 8 in the heptathlon.

So when did she realize that she was an elite athlete at the NCAA Division II level?

"I don't think that I have ever realized that," Cai said. "I know that I will focus on the hurdles and think, 'Wow, I suck at the hurdles.' You have to realize your weaknesses and then focus on your strengths in the multi-events. I am still learning. I still want to get better every day."

Natural Talent

Track and field has been part of Cai's life for as long as she has been a competitive athlete. A sprinter since the beginning, she discovered the pole vault as a seventh-grader.

"I saw all of my friends pole vaulting so I just wanted to join them," Cai said. "I stuck with it and in eighth grade, I came close to breaking the high school record."

She went on to not only shatter the Colfax High School record, but to win the Washington small-school state pole vault title three times, setting the Class 2B state record of 12'6." She also won back-to-back state high jump championships and finished runner-up in both the 100 and 200 meters as a senior.

"She's been incredible," Colfax track coach Jason Cooper said. "She was that type of athlete that I just asked her questions; what did you feel on that jump, 'I was inside.' Yeah, you're right. She already knew the answers. She makes your job as a coach pretty easy."

But it was not until Cai picked up the shotput as a junior, where she placed eighth at state, that the idea of being a college multi-event athlete became part of the conversation.

"When my coaches saw that, they said that I could be a multi-event athlete. I didn't know what that was. I didn't know what a heptathlon was," Cai said. "When my coaches told me what it was I thought it was interesting so I decided to try it."

Onto college

A three-sport athlete at Colfax, Cai also competed in volleyball and basketball, winning state championships in all three.

"I enjoyed playing all of those sports but chose track and field (in college) because (Coach Cooper) suggested the possibility of doing track and field in college," Cai said. "I knew that doing multiple sports in college would be very time-consuming so I decided that only focusing on one sport would be my best option."

Since Cai's freshman year, the trajectory has been upward. She placed fifth in the pentathlon at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships and fourth in 2019.

Outdoors, Cai placed ninth at the 2018 NCAA Championships before arriving at what she considers the crowning moment of her career at the 2019 NCAA Championships.

"That was my proudest moment during college," Cai said, pointing toward the wall to the bib number she wore during the meet. "I got All-American in both the heptathlon and the pole vault. I wasn't expecting any of that so that was a really cool experience. I think that was the best experience of my track and field career."

Despite injury issues in the shortened 2020 season, Cai managed to place second in the pentathlon at the GNAC Indoor Championships. Because of the pandemic, she did not get the chance to see what could have been outdoors.

Since the season came to an abrupt halt in March, Cai, who is studying physical therapy at SPU, has trained without those teammates and competitors and without the specialization that helps keep her body in check. She spent most of the summer and fall at home in Colfax, running on the high school track and doing weight training when health guidelines allowed for that.

Since returning last month, Cai has been able to get back into pole vault training at the NW Pole Vault Club. She believes she is not far off of where she needs to be for the outdoor season.

"It felt like I hadn't touched a pole in years even though I only took summer and fall off," Cai said. "It felt really good to get back and I feel like I am in the same place that I was last year. It's all mental focus."

She is now in full preparation mode. "I will be focusing on physically and mentally preparing myself," Cai said.