Meet the Cougars Track & Field Captains: Abu Kamara

From president to captain, this hurdler has made tremendous leaps to leave his mark at Washington State.

Abu Kamara, a senior from Kent, Wash., is a hurdler for the WSU Track and Field team and is the Men's Track events captain for this season.

Kamara's involvement stems far from just track. In high school, he earned 10 varsity letters for football, basketball, cross country, and track. At WSU, Kamara serves as the president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and has been active in the committee all four years. He has been the 2017-18 Pac-12 representative for WSU through SAAC.

Kamara is driven by his culture and his family. Kamara came to the United States in 2006 from Sierra Leone, Africa with his father and younger brother to join his mother as she had established a life for them in the US. Kamara hold close ties to his culture, still fluently speaking Krio and Mende, the native languages of Sierra Leone, when home with his family.

Family is of paramount importance to Kamara, who names his mother to be his biggest inspiration. He makes it a point to model after her mannerisms.

"She's the most selfless person I know," Kamara said. "She taught me that you're only as good as the people around you."

Kamara said his mother's outgoing nature is what inspired him to participate in sports as a child. He has always loved being around people and competing. Kamara said he started with playing soccer in Sierra Leone.

"I was terrible," Kamara said of his soccer skills, "but once I hit my growth spurt I started to get better. That's when I wanted to try every sport."

When Kamara went into high school, he played every sport he could. Needing a sport to play in the spring, he joined the track team. Kamara originally competed as a sprinter, until the coach told him to try hurdles because of his height, that is when he said he fell in love.

Kamara found success in the sport which led him to compete in the NCAA West Region and to place in both the Pac-12 and MPSF Championships last season.

As he embarks into the role as a captain, Kamara wants to create more of a community within the team.

"I want to improve the camaraderie within the team," Kamara said. "With track being such a big team, you know people but you don't really know people."

Kamara said the values of his culture are what influence his plans for the team. Sierra Leone capitalizes on community and helping one another, Kamara said he's never lost that part of his culture.

"It's not difficult for me to support my teammates," Kamara said. "If they're successful, I'm successful."

Though support within the team does exist, Kamara wants to further develop the support to build on everyone's relationships and create a family-like bond.

As Kamara prepares for graduation at the end of the semester, he plans to get a job where he can work with people and be a leader. His background and experiences have given him the skills to be able to communicate with people from all over the world. Kamara said his dream would be to be a college Athletic Director.

"Sports have the power to help people become successful," Kamara said. "I want to help people achieve their goals."

Washington State University Athletics

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