ANAHEIM – What Jason Medina knows of the day he blacked out has been pieced together over time by loved ones who witnessed what happened.
Medina was an eighth-grader in 2010 and a sprinter at South Junior High in Anaheim. He remembers taking part in a track meet with classmates and students from neighboring schools.
He remembers the 440-yard dash.
Medina has no recollection, however, of setting foot on the track that afternoon. He doesn’t recall stretching, taking his position or exploding off the blocks.
Parents and coaches in attendance that day have told Medina he collapsed in mid-sprint approximately 20 yards from the finish line.
Medina, now a senior at Katella, remembers waking up in the hospital one week after the meet.
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If Medina’s heart accelerates past a certain threshold, it begins to fail. That’s what caused his collapse.
Medina said the cause of his condition is unknown, and his diagnosis will forever limit what he can do athletically.
Four years ago, it halted his participation in the one sport he excelled at as a youth.
“I had no idea what track was at first,” said Medina, the youngest of four siblings raised by a single mother. “My PE coach threw me into track because he liked the way I ran.
“From there, I grew a passion for it and ended up being pretty good.”
Medina began his freshman year at Katella in fall 2010 and tried out for the school’s tennis team at the urging of friends. Never before had he touched a racket.
“I liked competing,” he said, “and I liked winning. I did not like losing, so I trained hard on my own. I learned (tennis) off YouTube and I copied the pros.”
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Medina earned Katella’s No. 1 varsity singles role not long into his high school apprenticeship, but there were some disappointments along the way, including a loss in the league finals’ opening round.
It took Medina a year to round into form.
If he wasn’t watching tennis matches and tutorials online, then Medina was at the park hitting tennis balls. He became a student of the game by his sophomore year, and he returned to school that fall refined and determined.
Medina captured the Orange League singles championship. He finished the regular season with a 29-1 record.
“I wanted to redeem myself for my freshman year,” he said. “When I won, it was the best feeling. It was the accumulation of all my hard work.”
Complacency plagued Medina for much of 2013 season. His motivation dipped after achieving “such a monumental thing” as a sophomore. He prevailed, however, and retained the league’s singles championship.
Katella, meanwhile, captured the program’s first league championship in 41 years.
“You can’t perform physically if you’re not mentally in the game,” Medina said. “When you’re down a break or two (in a match), it’s the mental edge that keeps you going, that keeps you in it, that keeps the desire to stay in the match.”
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Medina’s 18-year-old body appears to have reached a critical point.
His knees are a perennial source of discomfort, and Medina has played this entire season with a torn left meniscus. Frequent MRIs keep Medina briefed on the severity of his knee injury. He plans on having surgery after the season.
Medina chalks up his maladies to “the wear and tear of playing those tough matches.” A painkiller regimen allows him to play regularly, though never without pain. He limps regularly.
Medina said his heart condition is still a concern, too. If he loses perspective of his physical limitations during a match, he starts to lose control of his body. He then feels as though he’s going to black out.
“When I start to feel that,” he said, “I know I need to stop myself, breathe and take control before it gets out of hand.”
Medina hopes to enroll at an East Coast university that affords him the opportunity to attend classes with fewer students. Because of his various physical conditions, he doesn’t see himself playing tennis next year. But his plan is to play again, and he knows what it will take.
“Most people say (tennis) is a God-given talent,” Medina said. “I really think it’s the will to do what’s necessary and go above and beyond what’s expected, what needs to be done.
“It all depends on how much you want success,” he added, “and how hard you’re willing to work for it.”
Contact the writer: bwhitehead@ocregister.com
