Kenedi Bradley, fastest girl in history of Chesterton High, sets school record in 100 meters, 200 meters and 4x100 relay and wins two regional titles

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

The regional round of track and field is not about times, heights and distances. It’s about getting one of the top three automatic qualifying spots to earn a trip to state.
Plus, for the elite athletes it’s about winning a regional title.
Junior Kenedi Bradley’s hunger to win was so great that it led to her destroying multiple school records, including a most prestigious one. It’s official now: Bradley is the fastest girl ever to attend Chesterton High. She won the 100-meter final at Portage regional Tuesday in 11.71, breaking for the second time this season a school record held by Camryn Dunn, who ran the 100 in 11.91. Bradley’s previous best: 11.94. Bradley already had taken down the 200-meter record held by Dunn, who still holds the 400 mark.
Bradley didn’t stop there in piling up titles. She was declared co-champion in the 200 meters with Portage’s Tiara Gray because nobody who looked at the frame-by-frame replay of the race could find the slightest difference between the runners clocked in 24.77. Bradley’s previous school record, set earlier this season, was 24.90.
The 4x100 team that Bradley anchors broke its own record with a 48.31 to finish second to Valparaiso (47.36). Ava Kontos, Kaylee Dade, Addison Pack and Bradley set the school record with a 48.47. This time Sydney Bradley subbed for Pack, who was less than 100% physically.
The 100-meter runners benefitted slightly from a tailwind, but the 200 runners did not because the same amount of the race was into the wind as against it.
Bradley finished fifth at the state meet in the 100 meters last season, so improving wasn’t going to be easy, but she did, and not by a little. She became much stronger. Her endurance in the 200 meters improved by a great deal, and she tweaked her form, which is why she looks as if she’s not even going all out when she’s running faster than ever. Her arms pump efficiently and high now, which is no accident, because she was doing more than launching tons of 3-point shots and playing AAU basketball during the offseason.
“It was in the fall,” Bradley said of private sprinting lessons she took. “We were working on my form because my form was really bad, and I’ve been working on my breathing because I wouldn’t breathe in my races.”
She explained how her form improved: “My arm would get stuck, and I wasn’t doing cheek to cheek. Now I’m trying to do full range of motion.”
Trying and succeeding.
“I was determined in the 100,” Bradley said. “I was hungry for the win. I knew I could do it. I was very confident for that race. Coach M (Lindsay Moskalick) had me (hand-timed) at an 11.8, so I was expecting an 11.8, then when I heard and 11.7, my heart sunk because that was my goal, to get an 11.7, 11.77, 11.79, something like that, and 11.71, that was crazy.”
Bradley said that working with strength and conditioning coach Matt Wagner “helped me a lot,” and she consistently praises Moskalick for shaping her path to improvement.
Bradley has set her goals for what she’s looking to achieve at the state meet Saturday, June 7 at North Central High: “For the 100, I think I have a really good chance of making top five again. I’m striving for first or second. That’s my goal. The 200, I’m just going to try to make it out of prelims. And in the 4x1, we’re definitely going to try to medal because I think it’s a possibility.”
The 4x100 relay runners and alternates won’t be making the trip alone.
The 4x800 relay team anchored by senior Veronica Wilgocki pushed the school’s streak of making it to state in the event to six seasons. Told all season by Moskalick and Wilgocki that they were good enough to do it, three freshmen believed it and achieved it. Hannah Haring, Paige Clancy and Taylor Kisic give the Trojans a chance to continue the streak for three more years. The four girls teamed for their best time, a 9:34.83, at the right time to finish third.
Senior Hailey Geiser will make her second consecutive trip to state in the long jump. She finished second with a 16-10 leap.
Senior Autumn Spencer makes her first trip. She made her final throw a memorable one, a 127 that broke her personal record by 8 feet. She finished third, missing second by just 11 inches.
To review, Bradley will be competing at state in two individual events, Geiser one and Spencer one, and two relay teams, one anchored by Bradley, will compete as well.
Several others contributed points by placing in the top eight to help Chesterton finish third at the regional. The top 10 teams: 1. Valparaiso 103, 2. Lake Central 85.5, 3. Chesterton 59, 4. Munster 58, 5. Merrillville 57.5, 6. Crown Point 52, 7. Gary West Side, Kankakee Valley 33, 9. Highland, Portage 29.
Gretta McCrovitz came closest among Trojans who did not earn one of the top three automatic qualifiers. Her personal best 59.21 in the 400 meters earned her fourth place, which added five points to the Chesterton total.
Kontos placed sixth in the 100 with a personal best 12.48.
The 4 x 400 relay run by McCrovitz, Lux Mountford, Dade and Aubrey Bamber placed seventh in 4:07.10. Lucian Raffin also picked up two points for finishing seventh in the pole vault, matching a personal best (9-0).
Lauren Kroft concluded her junior season of improvement by running a personal best 11:40.11 and finishing ninth. Mountford also finished just outside of scoring a point in ninth with a 48.08 in the 300 hurdles.