For a four-sport athlete, Regan Sisson hasn’t competed much lately.

Shin splints sidelined Sisson midway though her sophomore track season at Eudora High, and a Kansas State High School Activities Assn. transfer rule cost her half her junior year at Seabury Academy.

“It’s been a long 18 weeks,” said Sisson, who was forced to sit out the entire first semester after transferring back to Seabury following one year at Eudora.

Sisson, who lives in Eudora, attended Seabury in grades seven through nine, but she attended her hometown high school last year.

“I wanted to try something new,” she said.

Sisson ran varsity cross country and track and played junior-varsity basketball for the Cardinals as a sophomore. She came back to Seabury this fall — not because of athletics, she said, but because public school didn’t challenge her academically.

That move cost Sisson her cross country season and the first five games of the basketball season.

“To me, the spirit of the rule is to not have kids transfer for athletic reasons,” Seabury athletic director Brian Clyne said. “If a kid transfers for other reasons, that ought to be a consideration.”

No exception

Seabury's Regan Sisson sat out the entire cross country season and five basketball games because she transferred from Eudora High. Sisson is shown Wednesday at Seabury Academy.

But the KSHSAA makes no such exception.

“A student is ineligible if: Change in school is made without an accompanying move on the part of the student’s parent,” the KSHSAA handbook says. “They will be ineligible for interschool extracurricular activities for 18 weeks, beginning with the first day of their attendance.”

Sisson placed 11th in Eudora’s Class 4A cross country regional last year, and she likely would have been Seabury’s No. 2 runner behind junior Katie Pottorff this fall. Instead, Sisson was relegated to junior-varsity races because the transfer rule applies only to varsity competition.

The Seahawks placed third in their 1A regional and were sixth at state, leaving Seabury coach Eric Nelson wondering what might have been.

“If she would have run varsity, I think we would have vaulted up to third at state,” he said. “I think she underachieved as a JV runner. She didn’t have anyone pushing her. She’s a varsity runner, and it was hard for her to get fired up for those races.”

Cross country season ended, but Sisson’s suspension didn’t. Seabury’s basketball team started 3-2 without her.

“It’s been really hard,” she said. “I couldn’t even have my uniform. I still don’t have it and won’t until January. It’s been really frustrating. I would have liked to be able to help, contribute or something.”

Street clothes only

Seabury's Regan Sisson, left, boxes out her coach, Nick Harris. Sisson and the Seahawks practiced Wednesday at Seabury Academy. She missed the entire cross country season and the first five basketball games this year after transferring from Eudora High.

Instead, Sisson sat on the bench in street clothes.

“She’s asked me about every game if she can at least warm up,” Seabury coach Nick Taylor said. “I haven’t allowed that. She’s been very anxious. It’s going to be good to see her out there.”

Sisson’s long wait will end Tuesday when the Seahawks travel to Colony Crest.

Taylor won’t say if he plans to start Sisson, but the 5-foot-5 guard definitely will be in the rotation.

“She’s going to help a lot,” Taylor said. “She’s a very knowledgeable player. She’s very talented. She’s a good basketball player. She can shoot. She’s got a good jump shot. She’s quick, too. She’ll bring speed to our team.”

Taylor was getting by with a seven- or eight-player rotation during the first semester. Sisson will add depth, as will Irene Oben.

Unlike Sisson, Oben — a senior from Cameroon — changed her address when she changed schools, but she too was subject to the KSHSAA transfer rule because her legal guardians didn’t move with her. Oben lives with her brother Eric, a Kansas University student.

Soccer, then track

Sisson plans to make the most of the second semester at Seabury. After basketball ends, she plans to play soccer and she hopes to run track as well.

For now, she’s just looking forward to getting back into a Seabury uniform.

“I’m going to be real excited the first game,” said Sisson, who played varsity basketball as a Seabury freshman. “I get to participate in a game instead of sitting on the sideline like a spectator. I’ve been practicing hard with the team. It’s been like studying for no test.”