Carlynton athlete leaves a legacy
Conor Richardson went through a challenge far greater than anything she’d ever faced on the volleyball court, the basketball court or the track when she was just a freshman in high school.
“I didn’t think anything was wrong because I’d been living with scoliosis for so long,” she said of a condition that affected her spine and was creating pressure on some internal organs. “Now, I had to stop everything [athletically].”
Specifically, her ribs were pressing against her lungs.
She underwent a nine-hour surgery and turned a painful experience into a glorious one as she went on to earn All-WPIAL honors in volleyball and basketball and won three WPIAL medals in track and field during her senior season at Carlynton High School .
For her accomplishments in all three athletic disciplines in the 2014-15 school year, Richardson has been named the Post-Gazette West Xtra Female High School Athlete of the Year.
Richardson is appreciative of the accolade. But she knows how far she has come since those scary days when she was told that surgery was the only way to cure her affliction.
“I knew this was serious,” she said. “I had to go through with it, but after that I tried to keep a positive attitude.”
Much, however, was on her mind.
“I cried twice,” she said. “I cried when they told me I had to have the surgery, and I cried when they told me to say good-bye to my parents before I went into surgery.”
The procedure went well, but Richardson wasn't entirely free from athletic challenges. An anterior cruciate ligament tear in her right knee forced her to miss her sophomore basketball season. But she came back from that setback to record two outstanding years for the Cougars. In just more than two years on the basketball court, she scored more than 1,000 points.
In her senior season, she earned All-WPIAL honors in volleyball. She averaged 19.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5.6 steals and 4.4 assists per game for a Cougars basketball team that went 20-7 and reached the semifinals of the WPIAL Class AA tournament and the second round of the PIAA Class AA tournament.
As if those feats weren't enough, Richardson also earned WPIAL medals in track by finishing fifth in the 100-meter dash, third in the 200 and also ran on Carlynton’s thirdplace 400-meter relay team. She also qualified for the PIAA Class AA track and field championships in those three events.
Those accomplishments have convinced her basketball coach at Carlynton of her place in the annals of Cougars athletics.
“I’m the best person to ask that question,” Tim Bonner said. “The only other person that could be in that category is Brian Mickens, who played at Carlynton in the 1980s. I coached him in football when he was in junior high. Up until two years ago, he was the best athlete in the school’s history. Brian was outstanding in football and track but was so-so in basketball. Conor is an all-star in all three of her sports, and it would be hard to vote against her.”
Nate Milsom, who is the school’s athletic director, also coached Richardson in track.
“She’s just an amazing kid,” Milsom said. “Her work ethic is the reason she is where she is right now. I can recall seeing her before
we redid the track, and she was using a walker to get around the track [after her surgery] because she couldn’t take any steps without using a walker. She went from that point to competing in three events at the state track championships. It’s an amazing story, and I don’t think many people understand how hard you have to work to get to that point.”
Richardson will set aside volleyball and track and concentrate on playing on the Duquesne University women’s basketball team where she plans to major in business.
She said it would be easy to wonder “What if” had she not had any health issues during her four years at Carlynton.
“I try to not think about it,” she said. “You could drive yourself crazy because you’ll never get that answer. Look at the situation you’re in now. I wasn’t meant to play in my freshman and sophomore years because if I was [meant to play], I would have.”
Now, she’s off to The Bluff, which wasn’t a consideration some time ago.
“At first, I didn’t want to stay home,” she said. “But when I went there, I felt this was the school. And that’s what happened when I went there on my visit. I committed 15 minutes after visiting with coach [Dan] Burt. My family had lunch, I called [the basketball coaches] back and told them I want to be a Duquesne Duke.”
And, so, the remarkable story continues.