PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles High School long-distance runner Kynzie DeLeon lost out on the chance to get on the podium at the state track and field championships her senior season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, her running career is far from over.
DeLeon signed last week to run both cross country and track and field for Warner Pacific University, an NAIA school in Portland, Ore.
“It’ll be fun,” DeLeon said. She said she loves Portland and loves the neighborhood feel of the Warner Pacific campus in the eastern part of the city.
“Kynzie is a great addition to our women’s program, both as a very competitive runner and a very good student,” said Warner Pacific head track and cross country coach Randy Dalzell. “She expressed a great desire to work hard and a real passion for her running as well as seemed to possess a great spirit and attitude that would make a great teammate. We are very excited to have her join our women’s program and feel like she will give us another very strong runner for next fall.”
Despite not being able to finish out her senior athletic career in high school, DeLeon still ends with a stellar career for the Roughriders. She started out playing soccer, then switched to cross country her junior year. Despite her lack of experience, she finished 10th at the state cross country meet her junior year and 21st her senior year. She also won the Bellevue Invitational her senior year and consistently finished in the top five in nearly every race she ran all season, forming a devastating one-two punch with her teammate Lauren Larson to lead the Roughriders to league and district championships in both track and cross country.
As far as track and field, DeLeon specialized in the distance events, finished 10th in the 3,200-meter race and 13th in the 1,600-meter race in her junior year at the state 2A track and field championships. She also ran on the Roughriders 4-by-400 relay team that finished 11th in the state last year. The relay was her favorite event.
One of the reasons DeLeon liked Warner Pacific is that she wants to become a veterinarian and the school has a pre-vet program.
“They were super welcoming. They remind me of my teammates” in Port Angeles, she said.
DeLeon said she was a little upset that she didn’t get to run track this year. While she has done well at state the past two years, she was really looking forward this year to trying to make the podium as a top 8 finisher.
“I was training all through the winter” toward that goal, she said. “I miss my friends and my teammates.”
DeLeon has continued to train during Gov. Jay Inslee’s stay-at-home order.
“I’ve been running up and down the road where I live trying to stay in shape,” she said. “I’m running with my dog and my brother. It’s kind of sad without the team.”
DeLeon switched from soccer to cross country because she found one of the things she enjoyed most about soccer was the running. Once she got into it, she found she really enjoyed her new teammates.
“In distance running, everyone encourages each other. To go on a long run is really relaxing,” she said.
Another big benefit of attending Warner Pacific is DeLeon will be near former Roughriders’ teammate and state track champion Gracie Long, who is attending Corban University in Salem, Ore., about an hour away from Warner Pacific. DeLeon said Long, who runs long distance for Corban is her best friend from Port Angeles and that was another reason she wanted to go to Oregon. Corban and Warner Pacific are in the same NAIA conference, which means the two friends will compete against each other a few times a year.
