Kali Kendall was a little reluctant leaving her friends back at her former high school, namely Bishop Loughlin in Brooklyn. As a sophomore, Kali (pronounced KAY-LEE) was just getting settled in at Bishop Loughlin. She was comfortable there, participating in track and field, a sport she grew to love after beginning at the tender age of 7.
But when her family moved to Jersey City in the early spring, Kendall had to find a new school. She enrolled at Snyder High School in late April.
In fact, Kendall enrolled just two days before the cutoff date before she would not be eligible to compete this season at all at her new school.
“It was kind of hard for me,” Kendall said. “I had to meet new people, learn about a new area. I wasn’t happy about leaving. I was just getting used to everything at my old school and now I had to do it all over again. It wasn’t going to be easy.”
Although Kendall admitted that she does well interacting with new people, there was still bound to be a bit of a transition period.
Except for one thing. Kendall had the ability to run fast. In that respect, Kendall was going to be a welcome addition at a school that already housed two of New Jersey’s top sprinters in Zamir Thomas and Rashawn Taylor.
“I knew Zamir and Rashawn before I came to Snyder, so that helped,” Kendall said. “On the track, I felt like I fit right in.”
Snyder girls’ track coach Eric Weaver certainly thought Kendall would be an added plus, almost instantly after he saw Kendall run for the very first time.
“As soon as I saw her run, I said to myself, ‘We needed this,’” Weaver said. “The first time I saw her run, I knew she was an amazing runner. I thought anything was possible.”
Kendall seemed to come out of nowhere when she became a member of the Snyder track program, winning events left and right. She quickly established herself as a warrior in several events.
Two weeks ago, Kendall won the 400-meter run and finished second in the 800-meter run at the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group II championships. A week later, at the overall Group II championships, Kendall reversed the results, finishing second in the 400-meter run in 58.62 seconds and winning the overall Group II title in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:14.82.
Two months ago, no one locally knew who Kali Kendall was. Now, she’s become the first girl to ever win an overall Group state championship at Snyder.
Kendall went on to compete in the NJSIAA Meet of Champions last Thursday and finished fourth overall in the 800-meter run in 2:13.01.
It’s safe to say everyone knows exactly who Kendall is now.
For her efforts, Kendall has been selected as The Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week for the past week. Kendall is the final recipient of the honor for the 2010-11 scholastic sports season. The Hudson Reporter Male and Female Athletes of the Year will be presented in the coming weeks.
Although she’s now finished among the top four in the entire state and tops in her enrollment Group classification in the 800-meter run, Kendall admitted one thing.
“I’m really not a big fan of the 800,” Kendall said. “But I guess I’m pretty good in both. I really didn’t think I’d do this well right away. I thought it was going to be tougher competition. It’s really a great feeling to do this well. It’s really a big surprise. I had goals coming in, running a 54 in the 400 and a 2:11 in the 800. I didn’t reach those goals. I put in a lot of hard work to reach those goals. But winning like this is just overwhelming and exciting. I never expected this.”
When Kendall was informed she was the first girl from Snyder to ever win a state championship, she almost gasped.
“Wow! Is that true? That really means a lot. I made history at this school already? I’m very happy,” Kendall said.
Weaver knows that this budding star has just scraped the surface of her career.
“It’s just the beginning,” Weaver said. “We’re looking for more.”
The 15-year-old diminutive speedster is already making plans for the future.
“I’m really looking forward to running cross country [in the fall],” Kendall said. “If I put my mind to it, I can do it. Getting this attention like this is really mind changing. This is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. It’s a great feeling.”
And as for stealing the spotlight away from the two-time overall state champion Thomas for just second?
“It’s about time someone else gets noticed,” Kendall laughed.
She’s well on her way in her new home. – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.