Spencer Hay thought his track career was over.

Suffering from a stress fracture in his left tibia and enduring hours of rehab, the Palmerton senior was twice told by doctors he couldn't return to practice.With the season already underway and his return in doubt, the state medalist from a year ago made a difficult decision."I thought if I'm not back by a certain time, I'm just not going to do track because it would be so late in the season," Hay said. "I would be a shell of myself if I didn't have the time to prepare and work out like I could. I would feel almost embarrassed if I couldn't do what I did last year. I didn't want to be just average."Two days before meeting (with the doctors again), I was talking to my dad (who is also the Blue Bombers' jumping coach). It was at track practice. I was just sitting around and he could tell that something was off. I just finally came out and told him if I don't get the A-OK this time, I'm not waiting another two weeks."Hay didn't have to wait - or quit the team. Doctors cleared him, and the rest - as they say - is history.The high jumper returned with a bang, clearing 6-4 to take first at the Tamaqua Invitational. Hay went on to capture a gold medal at districts before reaching the ultimate at states. Not only did the Blue Bomber win the event at the PIAA Championships with a leap of 6-8, he set a new school record in the process.The old mark, by the way, was held by his father."Once I finally got the OK, I worked my butt off," said Hay, whose performance earned him the Times News Male Track and Field Athlete of the Year. "I had goals and I wanted to break my dad's record so bad. That was always in the back of my mind ... At times, I couldn't even do some of the workouts they gave me because it caused so much pain. I had to back off, which is not like me. I hated doing that, but in the long run it did help out.""He told me he'd be missing the track season if he didn't get cleared," said Jim Hay. "As a coach and a father, it was heartbreaking. Fortunately, he got cleared. The rehab was frustrating for him, because he wanted to be at practice. He was also a good long and triple jumper, but we knew if he came back, he'd probably only do the high jump."Hay didn't overwhelm during the regular season, consistently jumping 6-0 during league meets.That, however, was by design."We didn't have a single meet that I competed in that I was jumping off all-weather," said Spencer. "It was always macadam. I wasn't going to try and hurt myself jumping on that type of surface. I would ... get the win and then just shut it down. When I finally did get to an all-weather surface, I did 6-6 at Allen and 6-4 at leagues."Hay cleared 6-4 at leagues to place second, and reached the mark again at districts to win the event and earn a return trip to states.At Shippensburg, he capped a high-school season that almost never started by winning gold."I knew it was going to be a good day because I felt confident," Spencer said. "Last year I felt nervous. A bunch of family members and friends kept calling and texting me, giving me support. But it meant more to me that my dad was there. He taught me everything.""As a coach, I always want to see the kids do their best," Coach Hay said. "It was an emotional and special day. It was a moment you hope every coach and father can experience, and I was fortunate to have it both ways."Hay's storybook year didn't end after the state meet. Planning on going to Penn State-Berks to play basketball, the future Nittany Lion received a call from main campus about joining the track team.Now, instead of hanging up his cleats, he'll be part of a Division 1 program."It all hasn't sunk in yet," said Hay. "I never thought in a million years I'd be able to go Division 1 in track. With all the hard work and dedication, everything just worked out for the best for me ... I never thought I'd do track again. Now I'm lucky enough to be doing that for another four years."