With winter sport seasons coming to a close, spring sport teams emerge working harder than ever. The indoor track and field season has been in full blast since December, and with the outdoor season approaching in March, teams are training and competing rigorously. Two twin runners, Khaleb Kearney (11) and Kameron Kearney (11) , are working intensely to earn success for themselves and the team.
The Kearney twins officially joined the track team in early high school, but their journey did not start there. With encouragement from their parents, they tried out for the track team in middle school.
“I tried out for track and field [at] Cordova middle school … [Khaleb] didn’t make the cut [in] the first round, I did, but I didn’t even make the team,” Kameron Kearney said.
Despite not making the middle school team, the Kearney twins never stopped working. After overcoming some obstacles, they were on the team together by sophomore year.
“I started freshman year, Kameron started sophomore year,” Khaleb Kearney said. “Kameron really influenced me to run track [in middle school] when he made the cut. He did track in freshman year, but my mom said no because of his grades, so Kameron came back to do it sophomore year.”
The Kearney twins dedicate three hours Monday through Friday to prepare for track meets. Even with hours of preparation, they still get anxious before races.
“I get nervous because I don’t know how I’m going to perform,” Kameron Kearney said. “I don’t know if other people are going to be faster than me, or if I’m the slowest one in the group. It’s very nerve racking, and you get very anxious and you have to go use the restroom before your race is about to begin. And that’s what hits me.”
The Kearney twins manage to enjoy parts of their track meets despite the highly competitive environment. Although runners compete alone, track is a team sport, and the Kearney twins’ favorite parts of track are the encouragement and support they receive from their team.
“We had an indoor meet … three weeks, two weeks ago …,” Khaleb Kearney said. “I told everybody I’m going to run a PR, the coach told me to run a specific time and if I finished strong I could get my PR.”
Equipped with extensive training, a competitive mindset and the support of his teammates, Khaleb set out to run his personal record (PR). The starter gun fired and the fight began.
“As I was running I was doing good … unfortunately I didn’t PR but people said ‘Khaleb, you’re good, you’re going to do this, don’t get that out of your head’,” Khaleb Kearney said. “When people compliment you on your failures, it just makes you more competitive.”
The supportive and competitive culture of track pushed the Kearney twins to work harder and win their races. They both happen to compete in the 800m, one mile, and 3200m races, and racing against each other pushes them harder.
“We’ve been close, but we’re competitive,” Khaleb Kearney said. “We both run the same event, so if we both run the 800m, I’ll be like ‘I’m going to run faster than you, I’m going to beat you,’ and Kameron will do the same thing. It pushes me harder because I don’t want my brother to beat me … I refuse to let my brother beat me at a race.”
The Kearney twins remain in fierce competition to push each other, but they still look out for each other and want each other to succeed.
“It’s really aspects of life that we’re competitive at, but at the end of the day, we’re still brothers regardless,” Khaleb Kearney said. “I want him to succeed, I’m pretty sure he wants me to succeed as well.”
