UPDATE: Aryn finished in third place in the 100-meter hurdles and fifth in the 300-meter hurdles at state. We plan to cheer her on in races for years to come.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A local high school athlete will compete for a state championship in the 100-meter hurdles Saturday, even though she doesn’t have a track to train on for the competition.

Aryn Lanier-Collier is a freshman at KIPP: Endeavor Academy.

KIPP is in the process of expanding from a kindergarten to ninth grade campus. Soon it will also include a high school.

Since it didn’t have a high school, KIPP doesn’t have a football field or track. That means Lanier-Collier has to train in the gym.

“I was proud of myself because this year has been a difficult year for me and I achieved what I wanted to achieve,” Lanier-Collier said.

Her coach, Jamel Sims, said the gym floor and a track are totally difference surfaces to train.

“It is a motivating factor when you don’t have what other people have, can you still produce the results and achieve a vision of creating and putting them in position to achieve their own greatness. We made sure to not allow perceive any limits and not having a track or facilities is not any different in this situation,” Sims, track and field head coach, said.

It didn’t stop Lanier-Collier. Friday she finished second in the 100-meter hurdles, meaning she earned a spot in the finals on Saturday.

Her coach said he hopes that once KIPP is complete Lanier-Collier will have the first trophy in the trophy case.