A freak accident robbed Jazmyne Hayes of accomplishing all her goals on the basketball floor during her senior season at West Mifflin Area.

She took out all her frustration on opponents when track and field season arrived.

Hayes overcame a serious concussion to close her high school career with WPIAL and PIAA track and field gold medals. For her dynamic athleticism and, more importantly, the courage Hayes displayed to return from a dangerous injury, she has been named The Daily News Girls Athlete of the Year.

'It was a year,' Hayes said, 'that I will never forget.'

A terrific basketball player capable of thriving at all five positions, life was good for Hayes on Jan. 18, when she led the thriving Lady Titans to a 74-60 victory over South Park. During that game, however, her life changed.

Hayes banged her head off the floor against South Park, and though in pain, finished the game. Later that evening at home, Hayes fell to her knees in excruciating pain and was barely able to function.

Something was wrong.

'It was so scary,' Hayes said. 'I didn`t know what was going on. And my eyes became so sensitive to the light.'

Hayes was soon diagnosed with a serious concussion. She not only missed the next month of basketball season, but missed a month of school.

Her condition was so serious that Hayes was not permitted to sleep for more than seven hours at a time, requiring her mom to wake her up periodically.

'I was told by the doctors that I could go into a coma if I slept for more than seven hours,' Hayes said. 'So I ended up being awake all the time. I wasn`t expecting any of that to happen.'

With basketball far away from Hayes` mind, her team`s fortunes quickly turned. A WPIAL title contender with Hayes, West Mifflin was fairly ordinary without her, losing three of its next six games, including a rematch against South Park.

'We just couldn`t win without Jazmyne,' former West Mifflin girls basketball coach Phil Shar said. 'I know that it killed her to sit out. It killed me, too. And it killed our team. You have to realize how good we were with Jazmyne in the lineup. We were getting really, really good. Without her, we weren`t even close to the same team.'

Shar was blessed with many great players at West Mifflin, and he ranks Hayes among his favorites. She was a coach`s dream, Shar said, because of her versatility.

Hayes averaged 14 points, 8 rebounds, 6 steals and 5 assists during her senior season. Shar wanted to use her in more of a guard-forward hybrid role, but because of his team`s lack of size, she was forced to play close to the basket.

And she thrived.

'I don`t know if I ever had a player who could do so many things,' Shar said. 'Defensively, she always took away the other team`s best player. And she probably had the quickest first step of any girl I ever coached. She really could do it all.'

Hayes` season was not finished. She made a courageous return in the postseason — only after being medically cleared — and helped West Mifflin win a playoff game before bowing in the quarterfinals. She had missed too much time — and the team had become too sluggish without her — to win a championship.

'What a shame,' Shar said. 'She didn`t deserve that injury. Just a shame.'

The story of Jazmyne Hayes, however, was just beginning.

Having been cleared to play sports at the conclusion of basketball season, Hayes was 100 percent healthy when track and field season arrived.

A gifted leaper, she made her mark in the biggest events.

Hayes won the WPIAL Class AAA individual triple jump championship with a jump of 37 feet and 11 inches.

'That was impressive,' West Mifflin track and field coach Mike Mazzarese said. 'Little did I know what was coming.'

Mazzarese said that he expected Hayes to contend for a medal at the PIAA track and field championships at Shippensburg University.

She exceeded her coach`s expectations, using a career-best triple jump of 39 feet and 23⁄4 inches to win the gold medal.

'It was an amazing feeling,' said Hayes, who acknowledged that she used the pent-up energy of not being able to play basketball as motivation in the triple jump.

Mazzarese believes Hayes` natural competitiveness pushed her to the career-best jump.

'I think, like all great athletes, she loves being pushed and loves the big stage,' Mazzarese said. 'The atmosphere there was perfect. She had never jumped more than 38 feet. She really put on a show.'

Like Shar, Mazzarese ranks Hayes among the best athletes he has coached.

'And basketball players usually make good triple jumpers,' he said. 'They`ve already got a lot of the footwork and the instincts for it. She was just perfect.'

Hayes will take her talents to LaRoche College next season.

Shar believes she will thrive.

'She`s just one of those people,' Shar said. 'She was so good when she was a freshman. It just comes naturally to her. She works hard, and she is such of a joy to be around. That smile on her face is one of the things that makes her so great. Jazmyne is always smiling, always so happy. There`s something to be said for that.'

And maybe that optimism is what kept Hayes going during the scariest time of her life.

'Everything worked out,' she said. 'It wasn`t always an easy year, but to finish it the way I did was perfect.'

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