High school runner with cancer helped to the finish line by teammates at last high school track meet

Yeva Klingbeil's high school track career was cut suddenly short her junior year when she was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare type of cancer that affects muscle tissue.

Klingbeil, 18, had to undergo months of chemotherapy and radiation treatments after her diagnosis, which left her too weak to compete.

"It was sad because I couldn’t run with them," Klingbeil, now a senior at Shen High School, in Clifton Park, New York, said of her teammates. "But I’d come to meets and cheer them on and still get together with my friends."

The coronavirus pandemic left Klingbeil more isolated from her teammates as school went virtual and track meets were canceled.

She faced another setback recently when doctors discovered her cancer had returned, forcing her to undergo more chemotherapy.

Despite the challenges, Klingbeil's track coach, Rob Cloutier, reached out to her to see if she would like to join her teammates in a tradition in which seniors run the 4x100 relay at the last home track meet of the season.

"I told her I’d like her to anchor, which is the final leg of the relay," said Cloutier. "It’s a moment she’s been a part of many times [watching seniors run the race] so I wanted her to be able to do it one last time."

At the time, Klingbeil was just starting to walk again after using a wheelchair due to complications from chemotherapy, but she was committed to running her high school track one last time with her teammates.

"When I heard they were doing it, I was like, ‘That’s awesome, let’s get a team together,'" she said. "I’d wanted to do it since freshman year, watching the seniors. I remember thinking, ‘That’s going to be me one day.’"

Klingbeil underwent a chemotherapy treatment on the day of the last track meet, May 24, and then put on her team uniform for the first time in over a year.

When it was her turn to run the anchor leg of the relay, her three relay teammates came to her side and walked the track with her.

The entire Shen High School track team also walked along with Klingbeil from the field and then rushed and chanted her name when she crossed the finish line.

"That was a great surprise," Klingbeil said of the moment, which was captured on video by Cloutier. "I feel accomplished because crossing the line was a perfect end of my high school track career."

Klingbeil's mom, Gretchen Klingbeil, was also on hand to see her daughter's accomplishment, which she described as a major moment in Klingbeil's recovery.

"I knew she could do it," she said. "She is determined. She sets her alarm every day to work out."

Cloutier, who has coached the team for 13 years, said he has watched Klingbeil go through her cancer battle with that same level of determination, saying she "always has a smile on her face."

Cloutier teamed up with Klingbeil's teammates to run a marathon last fall that raised money for her medical expenses.

"This past year, everyone has had their struggles, but for people to watch what Yeva has been through puts it in perspective," he said. "She’s worked through this challenge in her life without a single complaint and with a smile on her face. I think everyone who has witnessed her can learn a little bit from that."