NATCHEZ — Candace Frye didn’t have a senior season at Natchez High, but that didn’t scare away Jackson State University.

But even Jackson State wasn’t expecting her to recover as quickly as she did.

Frye tore her ACL while playing basketball her senior season at Natchez High, before her track season had begun. But NHS track coach Larry Wesley worked diligently to help Frye earn a scholarship despite Frye not having any senior numbers and film.

“I kind of sat out (that year), but he always told me I’d get it, I just never thought it’d be a full scholarship,” Frye said.

“He’s very concerned about his athletes. He wants them to do well, not just with track, but with life.”

When Frye began her freshman season at Jackson State, she said she was unsure how the coaches would be as far as her scholarship carrying over each year.

“I’m happy they trusted me,” Frye said. “I started to run cross country in order to get back into things, even though I’m not a cross country runner.

“The coach at the time, Pauline Banks, kept working with me, and I kept getting better. They were shocked I did so well (that year), because I had to overcome the injury.”

But Banks would leave Jackson State after Frye’s freshman year to coach at Texas Southern University. It would be the first of three coaching changes in Frye’s college career.

In her sophomore and junior seasons, Earnest Tche and Mark Thorne, who coached boys track at JSU, also coached the girls’ team. This past season, Rachel Cowan coached the girls.

“We had to give her a chance, let her get used to us and our attitudes,” Frye said. “Most of the people that were recruited ended up leaving, but it got better after a while.”

And Frye admitted having three different sets of coaches in four years made things difficult.

“There’s not a lot of continuity when you change coaches,” she said.

“It’s very tough. At first, we were used to training with weights more when we were under the boys’ coaches. (Cowan) had a different workout. She told me to just do what I knew to do, but I did her workouts also.”

But the coaching changes didn’t seem to affect Frye’s on-field performance. In her freshman season, she finished third in the SWAC in the 400-meter hurdles. Her next three seasons, she won the 400-meter hurdles, including this year’s SWAC Championship April 29-May 1 in New Orleans.

“Winning wasn’t the best part (this time),” Frye said. “I broke a minute by running a 59.86. I’ve always wanted to break a minute.”

Frye was also given an MVP award at the SWAC tournament, something she said was surprising.

“It wasn’t on my mind. I wanted my team to do well, but when they called my name, I was so shocked,” Frye said.

With the SWAC competition over, Frye moves on to the Tiger Final Qualifier event hosted by Clemson University Friday and today. She’s currently No. 27 in the 400-meter hurdles and must remain in the top 48 in order to qualify for NCAA East Prelims.