For a beginner, Kaiserslautern sophomore Lynndsey Hyter is doing just fine, thank you very much.
“I’m just learning how to play basketball,” Hyter said. “I just started last season.”
That beginning came on Kaiserslautern’s junior varsity team, but it didn’t come without notice.
In her first game, the Lady Raiders took on Wiesbaden. Hyter, a point guard, didn’t score but her speed and athleticism impressed Warriors coach Steven Jewell.
“[Jewell] asked me afterwards why she was playing JV,” K-town coach Corey Sullivan said.
Hyter is averaging 12 points a game for the Lady Raiders (4-1). She’s just scratching the surface, according to Sullivan.
“She learns very quickly athletically,” he said. “She gets better every day.”
How successful Hyter becomes is up to her, Sullivan said.
“If she’s willing to do what’s necessary, to put in the work, she can succeed,” he said.
As the reigning Division I champion in the 100, 200, 300 hurdles and long jump, Hyter has the athletic ability required for basketball success. She’s learning how to use it, too.
“She’s learning to control her speed,” Sullivan said. “Sometimes a player is too fast for her own good. Lynndsey is starting to adapt her speed to the game.”
Hyter demonstrated her progress in a 58-39 loss at Heidelberg on Jan. 13. Hyter scored 12 points, including back-to-back layups on quick slashes to the basket that cut Heidelberg’s lead to 19-15 with 4:10 left in the first half.
They were the sort of moves one would expect from a sprinter.
“Driving is the strongest part of my game,” Hyter said.
Off the track, that is.
Hyter, who said she and her family will be retuning to the States this summer, has big plans for her final European season.
“I want to try to get some records,” said Hyter, who’s looking to improve on her European-winning marks of 48.59 in the 300 low hurdles and 17-4 in the long jump. Hyter took bronze in the 100 and 200 in the Europeans with times of 12.97 and 27.14 respectively.
According to K-town track coach Marty Kollar, continued success in track is easily in the cards.
“She has made wonderful progress in the 300 hurdles,” Kollar said. “She is a natural athlete for track and well-suited for the hurdles.”
Except for DODDS-Europe’s other hurdles event, the 100 intermediates, according to Hyter.
“My stride is too long for the 100s,” she said.
Hyter has farther to go in quest of the European long-jump record of 19-2.25 than she does for the 300 hurdles mark (45.50), but if desire counts for anything, don’t count her out.
“She is very competitive and watches the other players with keen interest,” Kollar said. “Then she strives to excel.”
