Chuck Slater, North County News: For State Track, Kennedy has the Numbers

Taken from June 9th, 2010, North County News, Page S7

When it comes to advancing to state competition in the ultra-competitive world of high school track and field, any team would be proud to send two representatives. This weekend, however, little Kennedy Catholic is sending four athletes – in six events - to face the best the state has to offer in the Binghamton suburb of Vestal.

Competing for the Gaels in the small-school (Division 2) showdowns will be Jessica Kendzor in the 400- and 800-meter runs, Danielle Asaro in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, Michael Campobasso in the 110-meter hurdles and Dylan Schuck in the pentathlon.

And any or all of the Somers school’s representatives could wind up on the Division 2 medal stand. Schuck off his overall performances looms as the favorite in the pentathlon. Kendzor is no worse than #2 in the 800.

“I’m kinda confident with all of them,” said Larry Elliott, the co-coach with Jacob Bergmeier, in what has been a resurgent year for the Gaels’ track program.

Kendzor, who is a regular at state competition indoors and out as well as in cross-country, has spent her time at Kennedy amassing high marks and high performances. She has written rewritten and again revised the school’s running records and currently holds *eight of them: 300, 400, 800, 1,000, *1,200, 4x400 *(indoor), 4x400 *(outdoor), and the *3.0 mile (XC). The Lehigh-bound senior, who plans to study environmental engineering, won the D-2 state qualifier 400 in 58.96, but actually ran better in the 800, with a personal-best of 2:14.52 in losing to longtime rival Henrietta Miers of Bronxville by a quarter of a second.

“Jessica has been very focused this year,” Bergmeier said. She would sometimes let things bother her. And, I think in college, where she will be working out with some kids better than her, she will improve even more.

But first comes states this weekend. And it’s not who – Miers – but when the 800 is held that concerns Kendzor.

My two events are 50 minutes apart, with the 400 first,” she said. “I’m a little nervous about that. But if I want to go out with a bang at the end of my senior season, I’ll have to deal with it.

“Jessica has a really good shot at the 800,” Bergmeier said.

Kendzor actually had nine school records until recently.

Asaro, who surprised everyone with a 26.53 victory in the 200 at state qualifier, had claimed the 200 mark.
“She blew them away in the 200,” Elliott said.

“She’s a front-runner,” Bergmeier added. “She thrives on hearing those footsteps.” The diminutive junior, Bergmeier said, is “always smiling. When she won that 200, she burst out laughing. She’s short in stature, but not strength.”

“I’ve really worked on my form; on what I needed to do on turns,” Asaro said. “Making the 100 is really what I was aiming for (second in a qualifying time of 13.12). Winning the 200 was shocking at first; when it sunk in, I was excited. Winning (at states) would be amazing.”

Asaro has turned a 12.2 100 and a 26.1 200.

Also “very surprised and extremely excited” was the youngest member of the Kennedy quartet, Campobasso. The sophomore captured the 110-meter hurdles in 15.89 seconds.

“He’s one of the most driven and dedicated kids you will ever meet,” Bergmeier said of the 100-plus student who plans to study engineering at MIT. “His abilities are incredible-he’s a former ranked gymnast and keeps getting better.”

While his time is out of medal range, Campobasso is undeterred.

“Everyone has a chance on any given day,” he said. “My goal is to go under 15 seconds (medal territory). If not this year, then next.”

Schuck, the slashing halfback and determined linebacker who turned games around in leading Kennedy to the football playoffs, shows equal versatility in track and field. While he won the state qualifier with 2,851 points in the five events of the pentathlon, he has a personal best of 3,009. The 6-1, 185 lb-pounder has had efforts that would have made states individually in the long jump – which he did as a junior – the 110-meter hurdles and is quite fast in the 1,500 meter run, the bane of many pent-athletes.

“He is tremendously strong, “ Bergmeier said.

Which makes it something of a surprise that his lowest-scoring event has been the shot put, where the two-sport athlete bound for Union College has a 34-9 best.

“We’ve been working on his shot put,” said Elliott who brought in an outside shot put coach to help Schuck last week. “Right now, we’re hoping for something close to 40 feet.”

If he gets it, the gold medal should follow.

“Just making states is such an honor,” Schuck said, “and I’m going with great teammates.”

Actually, Kennedy has had five standout athletes who helped the boys’ team finish first in their league indoors and third outdoors, while the girls finished second in both. But senior Jesse Aprile, hoping to wind up his high-school career at states, just missed out. He was a half-inch short of winning the D-2 long jump qualifiers (automatic berth) and five inches short of the qualifying distance. He also missed the triple jump by those same five inches.

“He was heartbroken,” Kendzor said, sympathetically.

*Corrections made