Meet Kennedy Petersen, the glue to the Roland-Story girls' outstanding sprint relay teams

Right before a big meet during her freshman year, current Roland-Story junior Kennedy Petersen was practicing handoffs with teammate Adalyn Sporleder.

Fellow relay teammates Lauryn Kilstofte and Kamryn Lande were watching from the other side of the track when suddenly they saw Sporleder go down on the ground.

"It was five minutes before our race, and Kennedy and Adalyn slam into each other," said Kilstofte. "Adalyn falls on the ground and Kennedy comes over and says, 'Guys, I think Adalyn’s a little mad at me.' Adalyn was so mad.”

Petersen got the message.

“We learned to not mess up handoffs,” said Petersen. “We haven’t since.”

Petersen went on to qualify for state with the other three girls in the distance medley. They placed fourth in Class 2A.

She also ran on a 4x100 team that placed fifth.

As a sophomore, Petersen was part of a 4x200 team that placed fourth. She also ran in the sprint medley and 4x100 at state.

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Now Petersen wants to make it to state in four events — the sprint medley, 4x200, 4x100 and 4x400.

“Making state in all four events is a big goal of mine,” Petersen said. “I’ve been able to make it to state, just not in all four events. It’d be really cool to hit that my junior year.”

Petersen grew up around the track. Her father, Brian, has been a longtime boys track and field coach at Roland-Story.

"Kennedy and her sister (Mackenzie) always used to walk over from the elementary after they got out of school for the day and do warmups and form running activities with my boys' teams," said Brian Petersen. "The boys' long-time assistant, coach Billerbeck, even calls Kennedy 'Coach' because she would try and help us train the guys back then."

Petersen said she grew up in a cool environment that taught her a lot.

“I learned what being part of a team is, and what it takes to be good at the sport of track,” Petersen said. “All of the different elements and how to work hard in those.”

She carried that with her as she began competing in high school.

“She is so competitive,” said Roland-Story runner Kamryn Lande. “She pushes everyone in practice. She’s such a good teammate.”

Petersen, Lande and Sporleder are all junior classmates. They formed a tight bond with Kilstofte, a senior.

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Those four girls are all running the sprint medley, 4x200 and 4x100 this season. Sporleder leads off and Petersen is usually the second or third leg.

“I can always trust that Ken is going to get us in a good spot after I hand her the baton,” said Sporleder. “I focus getting out of the blocks fast to get it to her, and then she can just chase the other girls. She loves chasing them.”

Petersen loves running relays. She is especially adept at running the second or third leg of a race.

“I always have two handoffs,” Petersen said. “I like being second or third, because I can catch girls around the track. The 4x400 is fun.”

Sporleder, Lande and Kilstofte have all stood out on their own in individual events. But Petersen's focus has always been relays.

"Kennedy is a track coach's dream athlete," said Roland-Story girls track and field coach Andy Herrick. "She has natural running ability, dedication, a strong work ethic and she loves the sport of track and field. This combination makes her a great sprinter. One of her key traits is she loves getting the baton when she has to chase other runners down."

Petersen will likely run with Sporleder, Kilstofte and Lande in the sprint medley, 4x200 and 4x100. Exchange student and Roland-Story girls basketball standout Matilde Motta has been running with Petersen, Kilstofte and Lande in the 4x400.

During Thursday's Nevada co-ed meet in Nevada, Petersen helped the Norse girls place third in the sprint medley (2:12.27) and 4x200 (1:50.55), and she also came in third individually in the open 200 (27.75).

Petersen knows a lot of work needs to be done to get those relay times down by the state qualifying meet. But she is confident that with the veteran group she has around her, they will be ready to qualify for state in all four.

“This relay has been really special," Petersen said. "It’s been together for three years.”

She also wants to try and make the Drake Relays in the 4x200. If the Norse can do that, they will have a lot of momentum heading into the final stretch run before state.

“It’d be cool to win an event at state,” Petersen said. “I think we have the potential to do that.”

Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Kennedy Petersen is an unsung hero for R-S girls track and field