Kendall Weinert didn’t know she would become a top five performer on the varsity cross country team.
In fact, Weinert had no idea she possessed any running talent.
But last spring, gym teacher and cross country coach Jeff Devantier convinced Weinert to try out for the team, during her time in his personal fitness class.
“Well of course, we do a lot of running in physical education, and personal fitness class and she was probably the best runner in that class,” Devantier said.
Still, when the idea of running cross country was first brought to Weinert’s attention, she wasn’t instantly interested in the participating in the sport.
“I never thought that I would enjoy running,” Weinert said. “But I had talked to a few of my friends who had been on the team and they told me how much fun they had on the 2009 team so I finally made up my mind and decided to try it out.”
With this, Devantier thought she did an excellent job this season as a first year runner.
Junior teammate Sarah Feiten agreed.
“Kendall’s really motivated, and she works really hard during practice,” Feiten said. “And during meets she’s really fired up, and ready to go.”
At the beginning of the season, Feiten was unsure of Weinert’s abilities due to the fact that she was a first year runner.
“But once she started to run she got into it,” Feiten said, “and has done really well.”
Feiten said that many of her teammates were extremely shocked when they first witnessed Weinert run.
“[Weinert] really had no real sense of how fast she was,”Feiten said.
Sophomore teammate Aubrey Wilberding was pleasantly surprised as well.
“I knew she was athletic, but I didn’t know she was that much of a runner,” Wilberding said. “I was surprised and very happy. We needed her on our team.”
As the season progressed, Weinert began to keep pace with the faster runners, or surpass them altogether during her run.
“At every meet she would just get faster, and faster,” Feiten said.
As for quickly adjusting to the world of cross country, Devantier didn’t see an issue with that at all.
Devantier said Weinert was a top performer from start.
“I think she had a desire to be one of the best runners on the team, and I think that helped her a lot,” Devantier said. “ I mean, she wanted to be a big part of the team.”
And a big part of the team Weinert became as she was one of only three teammates to make the state cut.
In addition to Weinert, Aubrey, and Tess Wilberding made the state cut as well.
The girls traveled up to Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan to compete in the state meet.
Weinert finished with a time of 19:51, which bested her own personal goal and placed her 140th in the state.
“My final time was 19 minutes and 51 seconds, accomplishing my goal for the season which was breaking 20 minutes,” Weinert said.
Tess Wilberding finished 17th in the state (18:10) and Aubrey Wilberding finished 34 (18:44).
Though, making States wouldn’t have been possible without the assistance of Devantier.
Devantier had Weinert start out with easy workouts, and work up to doing long runs to increase her endurance. He also had Weinert work on interval workouts for end sprints in the races.
“Jeff also had me do some work in the weight room with the machines mainly focusing on upper body,” Weinert said.
The future plans for Weinert are solid in stone, she will definitely be participating in cross country next year.
“I have gained discipline, endurance, determination and to always push for what I know I can accomplish,” Weinert said.
And according to Wilberding, Devantier, and Feiten, Weinert did just that.
“She’s shown a lot, and she’s just helped the team tremendously,” Feiten said.
