Kennadi Justine Reed is an 11th grader at Poly High School who has been running track for 10 years and has devoted 3 of those years to Poly’s varsity track team. She has run varsity since her freshman year which says a lot about her effort and performance on the track.  Reed plans to attend a D1 university by scholarship, “preferably University of Southern California or Louisiana State University,” to fulfill her dream of being in the Olympics.

Reed’s goal at the beginning of the year was to become #1 hurdler in California and to break Long Beach Poly’s 300mh record. On Saturday March 19, 2022, she accomplished that goal and she plans to keep the #1 spot for the rest of the season.

“As an athlete, she is amazing,” said track coach Detra King. “She comes to practice everyday and works hard. Whatever task you give her, she excels. Overall she is just a very determined and hard worker. This year her goal is to go to state and win. Where she is right now, most likely she can actually be the California state champion in the 300 hurdles. She is currently number 2 in the state and we plan on changing that. As a person, she is a leader. She leads by example. She works hard so all of her teammates work just as hard as she does because she leads by example.” 

Teammate Kenneth Cox said, “Kennadi Reed is an amazing and fast track runner and I love how dedicated and motivated she is to the sport. She also has an amazing personality and is always laughing and in good spirits.”

Reed has been doing a phenomenal job in the 300mh and her times in the 300mh have been dropping tremendously. She also mentioned that she wants to drop her 400 meter time and to continue to drop her 300mh time. Along with big dreams of being successful, Reed also looks forward to “having a great and fun time” with some of her senior friends that will be graduating this year.

Reed said that the toughest aspect of being a student athlete is just balancing school work and track. She also mentioned that it can be very overwhelming with completing all the school work by the deadline while also trying to get the right amount of sleep.

Away from the track, on the weekend Reed continues to stay in shape by waking up at 8 A.M. to workout in her backyard and as a healthy breakfast, a protein shake with lots of vegetables and fruits. Occasionally getting to go to parties and hang out with friends gives her the opportunity to still have fun away from track. 

When asked what advice she would give to current Poly athletes, Reed said, “Stay humble, focus on yourself and you will succeed and go far in life.”