Name: Kennedy Weisner
Year: Junior
School: Elk County Catholic High School
Location: St. Marys, PA
800m PR: 2:11.41
1600m PR: 4:48.69
It’s well known that sports like soccer and lacrosse produce many future running stars. But golf?
Who could have predicted years ago that when a girl from a remote area of Pennsylvania could not continue her golf game because the junior high had no team, she would turn to running — and that her younger sister would follow her lead to become one of the best young milers in the country?
The kid sister is Kennedy Weisner, now a 17-year-old junior at Elk County Catholic High, who will be among the favorites in the Millrose Games high school girls mile at the New York Armory on Feb. 16. Last Wednesday at the Armory, Weisner (pronounced WEES-ner) posted a wire-to-wire victory in the Millrose Trials, in which the top two finishers were awarded automatic berths in what is stacking up to be the signature meet of the indoor season.
Weisner, who lives in the town of St. Marys in north-central Pennsylvania — midway between Pittsburgh and Buffalo — ran 4:54.18 to lead a state sweep of the top three spots. The second berth went to Marissa Sheva of Pennridge in 4:54.90. Sara Sargent of Pennsbury, third in 4:55.87, will be given at-large consideration for the 12-runner field, which will be announced on Jan. 30.
Kennedy and her older sister, Kady, taught by their grandfather, started in sports as young golfers. They attended a PGA summer golf school in Florida. When Kady learned there was no golf in junior high, she was at a loss for a sport and figured, there’s always cross country.
At that point, Kennedy already knew running was worth the effort. The girls’ mother, Sharon, had been a collegiate 400m runner at William & Mary. As a toddler, Kennedy had rummaged through a box of her mother’s awards, deciding her mom was a “famous runner,” and declaring that she wanted to be one too. When Kady started running with her mother to get in shape for the junior high team, 9-year-old Kennedy joined in, and it’s been a threesome ever since.
Kady, now 20, ran for Elk County Catholic, placing second in the state 2A 1600, and she currently competes for St. Bonaventure University in western New York. Sharon, an assistant track and cross country coach at the high school, got into road running after college and is fit enough to keep up with Kennedy on her Sunday 10-milers.
With her mother’s comprehensive yet patient training approach, emphasizing speed and agility, Kennedy ran a 2:11.41 800m and a 4:48.69 1600m last spring, making her the third-fastest sophomore miler in the country in 2012. “Once I ran 4:48,” says Weisner, “it caused me to set new goals. This year I’d like to run 4:40.”
Last fall, on a cross country team of eight girls, Weisner, who trains mostly on the roads, won the state 2A championship by 73 seconds in 18:29 on the grueling 5K course at Hershey. Earlier, she’d placed second in the Manhattan Eastern States championships at Van Cortlandt Park and returned to the Bronx site in late November for the Foot Locker Northeast Regional. Weisner placed 10th to earn the last qualifying spot for nationals in San Diego, where she was a disappointing 37th in the field of 40. Weisner realized that she’d run too many races last fall and was tired by the end of the season.
Elk County Catholic, a co-ed school with about 250 students, has no indoor track team. In the winter, Weisner trains on her own. If the weather turns cold, she runs on a treadmill. If it snows heavily, as it did in late December, she does a snowshoe workout.
In addition to the Millrose mile, Weisner, 5-foot-6 and 107 pounds, will be running mile races at the Brooks PR meet in Seattle on Feb. 24 and again two weeks later at the high school nationals, back at the Armory. Why always the mile? “I’m not sure,” she says, “but it’s the perfect mix of fast pace while not really being a quick race.”
Weisner, a straight-A student ranked No. 1 in her class, has dreams of being a professional runner some day. Such lofty goals have not affected her demeanor. “She’s the most humble, unaffected child,” says her mom. “The local newspapers refer to her as ‘soft-spoken Kennedy.’”
But her competitive zeal was tapped early on. At 10, in her first cross country race, Kennedy was outrun by a 65-year-old man who headed the local running club. That defeat riled her. Kennedy turned to her mother and, noting the man’s age, said, “Mom, I give him credit… but he will never beat me again!”
She learned there was no crying in running. And no golf in junior high.
Marc Bloom’s high school cross-country rankings have played an influential role in the sport for more than 20 years and led to the creation of many major events, including Nike Cross Nationals and the Great American Cross Country Festival. He published his cross-country journal, Harrier, for more than two decades.
