Perseverance and Faith Get Ella Lucas Through Tough Times

Ella Lucas throws the discus for South Carolina track and field, but there are times when her career probably felt like a marathon. The junior from Pennsylvania started her collegiate career with a bang, but multiple injuries and surgeries over the next two years changed everything. Through perseverance, leaning on her faith, and taking advantage of mental health resources available through Gamecock Athletics, Lucas has come out on the other side with a new outlook.

“It was really challenging, but I wouldn’t change a thing in what’s happened to me,” Lucas said. “I’ve learned so much, and I’m a different person on the other side of it now. I wouldn’t be who I am without those trials.

“After my first surgery, I wanted to prove to everyone that I was back and that I was still a good thrower and could do everything that I used to do. When I got sidelined the second time, I thought that if I can’t contribute to the team with points or scoring, how can I still contribute to the team? I just tried to be the number one supporter by being there for my teammates and by helping other people that were going through an injury. After the second surgery, I wanted to really fall in love with the sport again. I wanted to be healthy for life, do well of course, but also just enjoy the sport.”

Although she played other sports as a youngster, Lucas found the throwing events at an early age as her brother, David, who is eight years older, was a seven-time All-American while competing for Penn State and was a national champion in the weight throw and also won the Big 10 Discus Championship.

“I grew up going to all of his track meets when he was in high school and college,” Lucas said. “Seeing his success and what he achieved was so inspiring. I wanted to do the same thing. I fell in love with the sport by watching it. Then I found out that I loved doing it!”

As a sophomore in high school, she reached a turning point.

“I remember being in the circle and praying, ‘God if this is for me then let me be able to go D1 and I will spread your word,’” Lucas said. “Here we are now! Before I go into the circle now, I always breathe in and say, ‘Christ is in me,’ and as I breath out, I say ‘I am enough.’”

A high school All-American and state champion in the discus at Pennsylvania’s Warwick High School, Lucas was ranked as the top U.S. thrower at the both the 2022 and 2023 Penn Relays. That success seemed to carry over immediately in her collegiate career, but that joy was short-lived.

“Freshman season, I had a great first meet,” Lucas recalled. “I came out with a huge P.R. (personal record). I was off to a great start, but the week before that I was already in pain. I’d had some pain before, but nothing that ever lingered. I basically put band aids on things all season, just trying to see if they’d get better.

“It was very hard. Every day, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to go out and practice or not. That doesn’t put you in a great place mentally.”

In the summer of 2024 after her freshman season, she had surgery for a bilaterial sports hernia at the Vincera Institute in Pennsylvania.

“The groins, abductors, and abs on both sides of my body were torn, so they went in and repaired all of that,” Lucas said. “It was supposed to be a six week recovery, but I was not getting any better after that. I came back to school in the fall and tried to train to get better.”
She had a cortisone shot during the Christmas break, but when she returned for the spring semester, her condition did not improve, and she was unable to compete. In the summer of 2025, she had another surgery to repair a bilateral cam hip impingement, which is a condition where excess bone grows on the head of both hip joints, causing them to be irregularly shaped and rub against the socket.

“The two injuries sort of went hand in hand,” Lucas said. “I think the hips caused the first surgery. They had to go in and shave the head of my femur bone because it wasn’t moving correctly in that socket. So, it was chipping away at my labrum, and they had to repair that. They also took out a bunch of scar tissue that had built up in my legs.”

This was a six month recovery. She was able to start training with the team again this past January. The two years of pain, accompanied by not being able to compete took its toll, but leaning on her team as well as using the resources available to student-athletes through South Carolina Athletics helped her get through it.

“There was a constant battle in my head,” Lucas recalled. “I would leave every practice my freshman year crying. I was in so much pain. It hurt so much because it was a sport I was so in love with. I put my identity into it. Then all of the sudden, every time I do it, it brought me pain.

“Even this past fall, I would think about whether it was worth going through all of this again. I’m glad I didn’t quit. There were many times I wanted to. It was the support system that we have here at South Carolina that got me through, whether it was my trainers, my friends and family, my coaching staff, my teammates, or my sports psychologists. Everyone here made a difference in making sure I was still enjoying my sport and enjoying who I am.”

Lucas had started meeting with Director of Sport Leadership and Mental Performance Dr. Raylene Ross during her freshman when her struggles began. She continued to meet with the mental performance staff throughout her career to keep her on the right track. Part of that mental recovery involved immersing herself in every aspect of her collegiate experience.

“When I got injured again in the spring of 2025, I completely lost myself,” Lucas said. “I told myself this fall, that I was never going lose myself again. I put myself in several different positions. I became president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council. I absolutely love being in that position to advocate for student-athletes. I became a team captain as well.

“I also got really involved in the business school and the sales program. I found out that sales is the career for me. Finding out who I am outside of track was huge. I do track, but it’s not who I am. I still love it and have even more passion for it, but the legacy I leave behind will be more in how I treat other people. No one is going to remember if I threw 60 meters or 57 meters. I still want to go to nationals and all of that, but when I leave here, my teammates will only remember how I treated them or how I helped.”

Coming into this year, she wanted to focus on where she was mentally first.

“My goal this season was just to be healthy and compete,” Lucas said. “I haven’t thrown as far as I had before. My goals are to continue to be happy in the sport and be healthy. Performance goals are to score at SECs and nationals. That’s been my goal ever since I was younger. For now, I’m resetting my brain to enjoy the everyday part of it. The results will come. The journey has been good.”

Lucas opened the 2026 outdoor season by winning the discus event at the Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational.

“I had the craziest nerves of my life before that meet,” Lucas said. “I woke up that morning with my heart beating out of my chest. I forgot what it was like to compete. Luckily, I was able to put some things together. I executed it and got the win. There were a lot of emotions.

“I wouldn’t be able to get through anything I’ve done without God on my side. The trials only make you grow closer to Him. There is always so much peace in knowing that God has a plan.”