Alexis Fuscaldo ‘22
Photo courtesy of Celeste Graham ’19
Aside from being a senior on the track team, Kemi is also a tri-captain of the girls’ track team alongside teammates Laura Null and Casey Kinniry. Kemi started running track in fifth grade when she attended St. Dorothy’s School in Drexel Hill as an activity where she could spend time and have fun with her friends. However, after a practice when all team members had to complete a time trial, Kemi’s coach realized her ability to run fast and told her that she “would be an awesome addition to the sprint group.”
Each practice, Kemi runs the sprint group workout, whose exercises vary each day. Head coach John Goens, who has been with the team for the past eleven years, says that Kemi runs the 100, 200, 4×100, and 4×200 events in meets. She is described by her teammate, Laura Null ‘20, as a “role model for the team and someone that the coaches can depend on to run her best race at all times.” Coach Goens also said that he, along with his coaching staff, had talked with the team before EA’s campus closure about the likelihood that their season would be shortened due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As one of the seniors on the team, Kemi speaks for them all when she says, “It’s very sad that unknowingly we’ve already run in our last races as an EA student.” However, despite their track season being cut short, the team is not letting that get their spirits down. Kemi and her co-captains are checking in on their teammates constantly and are continuing their workouts as best they can, and as of the week of March 29th, the girls were in “week six of their training and are doing as much of their workouts as they can.”
Kemi’s favorite memory from EA Girls’ Track is when her 4x100m relay group (Kemi Odeyemi ‘20, Kathleen Anderson ‘20, Laila Williamson ‘21, and Jill Rotman ‘18) won 1st place in the 4x100m Relay Finals at the 2018 Inter-Ac League Championships. She says, “The distance between us and Penn Charter’s team was so close (.03 seconds), and I remember after Jill crossed the finish line, the four us went in for a big group hug, and we were all so happy that all of the hard work that we had put in during the season had paid off.” After high school, Kemi plans on attending college to be a pre-medical major and has hopes to run for her college’s club team. Kemi has been a key part of the track team for the past four years and will be truly missed. In the words of her fellow teammate, Grace Barton ‘21, “Kemi is a committed athlete and that is why she excels in the events she runs. Her hard work is truly inspiring and something that will be missed next year.”