McFarland, USA might bear little resemblance to the bucolic vista of Long Island’s North Shore, but Joanna Kenney’s ascent to greatness may very well be just as inspired, with a better script.
“If you told me my 8th grade year that I would be a Division I track runner, I would laugh…” explained Kenney. “I just did intramural sports. Some of my close friends ran cross-country and track. That was the reason I wanted to try it in high school, to be with them. I ended up reallyliking it.”
High School kids travel in packs. Like many teenagers, Joanna Kenney just wanted to spend time with her friends. They were running cross-country. She decided to join them. Four years later, Kenney is wrapping up an iconic high school track career and preparing to embark upon a once-unthinkable journey as an NCAA runner for Boston College.
“I think it’s such a cool, amazing opportunity that I get to go to school and run, and I got into the school because of my running.”
Kenney’s new pursuit paid immediate dividends for a North Shore team that has won 17 of the last 19 Nassau County Section 8 championships.
As a freshman, she received All-County Cross-Country honors for her performance in the 5K. That winter, she contributed to North Shore’sNassau County team victory by winning the Class B Championship in the 4×800 relay, earning another All-County accolade, then qualified for the state championship in the 2000 meters steeplechase in the spring.
“Most high-level performers have had some, you know, experience in either running or other sports,” said North Shore Coach Neal Levy. “It has been a gradual process. It wasn’t this giant leap forward. At the beginning of 9th grade, Joanna was still on junior varsity….:Her level of improvement from 9th grade to where she is now is probably the greatest we’ve ever had ….we laugh about that, in terms of where she is then, where she is now…she’s a rare find.”
During her sophomore year, Kenney took another step forward. During the fall cross country season, she triumphed in three races and won the 3000m county championship. In the winter, Kenney finished among the top three 12 times, clinching victories in the 1,000 meters, 1,500 meters, 2 miles and the Section 8 Conference Championship in the 3,000 meters to earn a trip to the NYPSHSAA Championship.
In the spring, she clinched a Section 8 Class A title in both the 1,500m and the Steeplechase, qualifying for state and the Nike Nationals, where her team notched a commendable fourth-place finish in the distance medley relay.
“The end of sophomore year towards junior year, she started showing promise, qualifying for the state championship, things like that,” explained Levy. “Consistency, discipline, and training over time; there’s nothing fancy about it, no, magic…she has stayed consistent in her desire to be the best.”
Source: LI Press
