Overcoming Challenges Since Birth, Gosser Looks Forward to Division I Track Career

GREAT RUN: Despite nursing a hamstring injury during the last month of her stellar career, Barnegat’s Valencia Gosser (right) not only won the Shore Conference crown in the 100-meter dash, but also anchored a talented 4×100-meter relay. (Photo by David Biggy)

Valencia Gosser returned from a hamstring injury just before this past spring’s Shore Conference Championships and qualified sixth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.10 seconds. A short time later, she became Barnegat High School’s first conference champion in the premier sprint event with a time of 12.64 seconds.

Now, some would consider this a major accomplishment, and it is. But for Valencia, overcoming obstacles have become so routine in her life, she’s almost oblivious to it.

“She doesn’t see obstacles,” said her mother, Theresa. “It’s like they don’t exist to her.”

Oh, sure, Valencia has doubted her ability to overcome at times, but for the most part that’s changed during recent years.

“I wouldn’t have thought five years ago that I’d win a sectional or Shore Conference title, or anything like that,” said the recent BHS graduate. “I would have doubted myself. But now, I’m confident with what I can do. If there’s something I want to do, I just go after it, and it doesn’t matter how many obstacles are in the way.”

Given her life, it’s not a wonder why Valencia has developed such confidence. She’s overcome a lot of odds since all but being born into the New Jersey foster care system, addicted to multiple drugs.

PROUD: With the love and support of her parents, Richard and Theresa, Valencia Gosser has overcome a lot of setbacks in life and now is headed to Division I Rider University. (Supplied Photo)

“Valencia was a crack baby, addicted to several drugs, and she had been in the hospital for months going through withdrawal. She had multiple handicaps, and we were told she’d never walk or talk,” said Theresa, who along with her husband, Richard, has six adopted children, including five special needs boys.

When the Gossers first met Valencia, she was 14 months old.

“With the five boys already at home, we were intent on getting a little girl, and when we went to this foster home in Trenton, the house was full of cribs with special needs babies,” Theresa recalled. “And there she was, this little, itty-bitty thing just standing there at the edge of a crib. She didn’t eat regular food. She had been just bottle fed to that point, and she was deemed medically fragile.”

While the Gossers trudged through the adoption process – they finalized Valencia’s adoption when she was 4 years old – their daughter progressed both physically and mentally, albeit slowly.

“The first three years of her life, she had leg braces,” Richard said. “She was all muscle, very rigid because of the crack addiction. She couldn’t bend much at all for a long time. Eventually, she started becoming more active, and her physical capabilities began to show.”

By second grade, Valencia was playing basketball and had exhibited physical abilities that set her apart from other youngsters her age. She was quicker, faster, stronger, and could jump higher. According to Richard, she played one season in the Barnegat Recreation softball league and could hit the ball over the fence with little effort. She also dabbled in field hockey with Stafford Recreation, as a goaltender.

RESPECT: Valencia Gosser joined the Barnegat Schools Junior ROTC program. The structure of it helped her develop leadership skills, among others. (Supplied Photo)

“Her natural ability was great,” he said. “But her physical ability was more advanced than her brain. It took her a while to figure things out, to learn how to play the game.”

In middle school, Valencia developed an affinity for volleyball, which carried into high school – she was one of the hitters for Karla Jennings’ squad, which won a sectional title last fall – and, of course, her speed and running ability became an instant hit with BHS girls track and field coach Rebecca Kane, who appropriately dubbed Gosser the “Speed Queen.”

“I’m willing to try new things,” said Valencia, who easily broke the 100-yard dash school record as a freshman, clocking a 12.32 to finish right behind former Manchester star Jada Ellis during the 2019 NJSIAA South Jersey Group II meet, two weeks before Gosser ran to a 19th-place finish at the Meet of Champions in a crisp 12.31. “You never overcome anything without trying it. But I don’t think much of the challenges. I just do what I have to do.”

Throughout her career at Barnegat High School, what she did was set five school records – a combination of indoor and outdoor marks – and at various points captured county, conference and sectional crowns in two of the most difficult events to win as a sprinter, the outdoor 100 and the indoor 55-meter dash.

Prior to winning the conference 100-dash title in May, Valencia had won the sectional indoor title in the 55 dash with a time of 7.33 in February, preceded by the county title in the 55 dash in 7.44 seconds to win the county championship a few weeks earlier. Sadly, her sophomore spring season was ruined by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But despite her athletic prowess, Valencia’s bigger challenges were in the classroom, and she worked hard to overcome those as well.

“I stayed after school a lot to get extra help for certain classes,” she said. “I had to overcome a fear of speaking, and I learned to open up more. Sue Rogers, my case manager, helped a lot with steering me to the right classes. But I had to do the work, and it wasn’t easy for me.”

MEDALS GALORE: During her stellar track and field career, Valencia Gosser at various points captured county, conference and state sectional titles in either the 55-meter dash or 100-meter dash. (Supplied Photo)

Valencia joined the Junior ROTC group while still in middle school and continued with it through high school, something that helped her grow more confident.

“I liked the drill competitions and the family aspect of it,” she said. “It helped me with my leadership skills. The individual structure of it really worked for me.”

In January, Valencia was offered the opportunity to pursue a collegiate track career at Rider University, a Division I program within the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference under the guidance of five-time MAAC Coach of the Year Bob Hamer. She signed her National Letter of Intent to compete for the Broncs in early February and will study criminal justice.

“My cousin Chris is in the FBI, and he’s had some great stories about how he gets to do some of his work, so I took an interest in law enforcement,” she said. “I don’t want to be a police officer, but I definitely want to do something within law enforcement. We’ll see where it takes me.”

Obviously, Division I track will be a few steps up from what she’s known and experienced throughout high school, but she’s ready. A lifetime of overcoming obstacles has ensured it.

“I’m a little nervous about the school part, but I’m ready for the track part,” said the 19-year-old. “I’m excited to experience what it’s like at that level, and I’m looking forward to the workouts. I already know the coaches are going to work with me to change my technique, and I can’t wait to see how much better I get. Maybe professional running is in my future.”

— David Biggy

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