Wharton track and field star Amani Bryant has a stress fracture in the metatarsil of her right foot—and she had it when she won the Class 3A state 300-meter hurdles title May 2 in Winter Park—Wildcats coach Wes Newton said.

“The foot’s been bothering her for quite while now and the MRI confirmed [the stress fracture],” Newton said. “She’s a tough kid and with Ibuprofen and icing, she got through it and won state.”

Newton said Bryant, a junior, is wearing a boot on her foot to limit movement and impact to the affected bone. She is expected to wear the boot a few more weeks and will be unable to compete in next month’s Nike Outdoor Nationals in North Carolina.

“We obviously want her to rest now and get healthy,” Newton said. “She injured the foot long jumping at the Lake Mary Invitational and looking back now, you can see now how it affected her after that meet and why late in the season, she wasn’t able to hit the marks she was doing earlier in the season.”

Bryant posted a long jump of 18 feet, 6.5 inches early in the 2008 campaign but was unable to qualify for the state finals in the event, finishing fifth in the regional at 17-3. At the 3A state finals, Bryant still managed to win the 300 hurdles with the injury and ran the fastest time of all four classifications with her lifetime best of 42.92 seconds.