Catching up with St. Ignatius coach, Michael Kennedy

Today, we chat with St. Ignatius jumps coach, Michael Kennedy. An alumnus of the school, Coach Kennedy has been the St. Ignatius jumps coach since 2015, leading one of the best jump programs in the section and state. His athletes have included multiple section champions (notedbelow in the interview) as well as state meet podium finishers in multiple jump events. Thisseason, St. Ignatius athletes lead the section in the boys' triple jump (Noah Gonzalez) andthe girls' long jump (Elle McCuskey-Hay, photo below), and have multiple jumpers also ranked in the top 10. During meets, you can definitely find the enthusiastic coach guiding his athletes to a new PR.

1. What was your own athletic experience? Where did you go to high school? What sports/events did you do, and what are some of your proudest achievements?

I grew up playing anything and everything – basketball, baseball, soccer, flag football, etc. As the youngest of four siblings and many older cousins, I was always the smallest, just trying to hang. Those experiences made me extremely competitive from a very young age, and it’s not a trait I’ve been able to turn off. I ended up playing football, basketball, and running track at St. Ignatius (SI). I remember going to my older brother and sister’s meets when they were at SI, so I always had an interest in following in their footsteps. Plus being the fast kid growing up, it made sense to give it a try. I sprinted my first two years at SI, running 11.11 as a sophomore and qualifying for State in the 4x1 in 2008. We got a new coach that year, and she told me I should also try long jumping over the summer. I ended up jumping 21’ 10” my third meet and qualified for the Junior Olympics. I suffered a bad ankle injury my junior football season that required two surgeries, which essentially wrecked my junior track season. But after a lot of work and rehab, I had a big senior year at SI running 10.79 and jumping 23’ 0”. I was a State Long Jump finalist in 2010 and our 4x1 also qualified for State that year running 42.31. Both sprint times were School Records for 15 years up until being broken earlier this season! I then ran collegiately at UC Irvine and was a two-year captain there, something I am very proud of. I ran 10.63 while at UCI, which was on the all-time Top 10 list when I graduated.

2. How did you get into coaching, and have you coached at other schools outside of St. Ignatius?

Like many new graduates, I moved back home after graduation in 2014 and needed to figure out what was next. I studied biology at UCI and was contemplating the Medical School route. The application process takes a full year, so I knew I’d have some time in the Spring. Long story short, I did a part-time coaching year at SI in the spring of 2015 before diving in fully in 2016. Even in 2015, I learned very quickly that seeing athletes progress and get better is an addictive feeling. I knew from those early days that I wanted to continue coaching. I haven’t coached outside of SI at this point. I’ve been fortunate to receive a couple of college inquiries over the last few years, but haven’t jumped on them yet. It’s been rewarding building something special at my alma mater while also progressing in my professional biotech career.

3. Who were your coaches during your athletic career, and what did you learn from them? Who have been your coaching mentors during your coaching career?

I’ve had many coaches over the years and have taken bits and pieces from each of them. For starters, my dad and godfather coached me most of my childhood in almost every sport I played. I’d say being the son of the coach prepares you in a more regimented way than other athletes. I think those were the first moments that shaped me from an athletic perspective. Moving into high school, I had mentors who altered my life by simply believing in me. Coach Lisa Kinimaka was the first to do so and was the one who pushed me to long jump. Her upbeat, positive nature made track fun and made us want to work hard for her. Football was another area that I grew both mentally and physically. Coaches Steve Bluford and John Regalia were adamant about attention to detail. That focus is vital in what I do on a day-to-day basis. Lastly, Coach Jeff Perkins was my coach at UCI. Seeing the organization and leadership of a D1 team was key for my understanding in how a proper team should be run. 

4. What are the qualifications for a good jumper? How do you go about selecting the athletes that might excel in any of the jump events?

Oh man, this is such a loaded question. I’ll start by saying most of the athletes I coach have never done track before. They come to SI and have an interest in track, and they go through the tryout process of finding an event. As high school coaches, we usually don’t get everything we want when it comes to the perfect athlete. Or when we do have the textbook athlete, they usually can be good at a multitude of events, and we have to figure out the exact balance. When it comes to jumping, there are a variety of ways to be successful in my eyes. There are speed jumpers, there are bouncy jumpers, and in ideal cases, there are jumpers who have both. In high school, we don’t have the luxury of only taking perfect athletes, so my job is all about maximizing what each athlete needs to be good with their specific skillset.

5. What does a typical training week look like for your athletes? What else are they doing aside from their work on the track?

It’s variable depending on a few different factors: who is the athlete, what part of the season are we in, and what meets do we have coming up? For an elite sprinter-jumper earlier in the season, we’ll be doing more sprint work, both from a base perspective but also mechanically. Similarly, all of my athletes will do more weight room work earlier in the cycle. For a pure jumper with no sprint events, bounding and plyos are a big focus early on. For all jumpers, jump drills are crucial to understanding positions and movements. Some level of our various jump drills are worked in every week for consistency. As we move toward championship season, the focus shifts to more fine-tuning and runway approach management. 

6. What are some of the biggest mistakes that you usually have to correct as a jumps coach?

Having athletes who have never done track before has its pros and cons. The major pro is that I usually don’t have horrible habits to break. But there have definitely been cases where things have to be undone and restarted. I’d say the approach is probably 90% of where problems lie. If you aren’t sprinting correctly into takeoff, it is almost impossible to be successful in any jumping event. Having a sprint background is helpful in that regard, as I can identify when things are not correct. Once the sprint mechanics and posture are sorted, the rest becomes relatively straightforward to teach and/or fix.

7. During your time at St. Ignatius, what are some of your biggest highlights and proudest accomplishments by your athletes?

I’ve been so fortunate over the years to have moments that I will never forget. As you’ll see, my jumpers have a trend of waiting until their last jumps to make things happen, which often times makes the moment unforgettable. I’m leaving out countless fond memories, but happy to name a handful of highlights. Kaela Lee was my first 18-footer and Arcadia night meet jumper. Her PR jump of 18’ 5.75” at CCS Finals in 2016 to qualify for State was my first overwhelming coaching moment. 2018 was an all-timer as SI was the first school in CCS history to win both CCS male and female long jumps in the same year. Alex Enos (25’ 0”) and Megan Ronan (19’ 6.5”) took me on the ride of a lifetime that year, placing 2nd and 5th at State respectively and shattering our school records at CCS Top 8. Megan won CCS on her final jump that year going 19’ 3” to steal the win. We also had 4 boys jump 21’8” or further that year, which will be tough to duplicate. Similarly, in 2022, we had 7 different girls jump further than 16’ 5”, which was pretty cool. That year, Kate Walsh went from 8th to 2nd on her final jump at CCS Finals PRing half a foot to qualify for State. We’ve had a female long jumper qualify for State every year since 2016, and that streak wouldn’t be alive today if it weren’t for Kate’s clutch jump. In 2023, Monroe Barnum and Mariel Rocca both broke 30-year-old School Records in the Triple Jump. Monroe qualified for State on his last jump at CCS Finals that year as well. Also in 2023, Ellie McCuskey-Hay won the CCS LJ and PR’d half a foot on her final jump at State Finals to break Megan’s school record, going 19‘ 7.25”. 15 minutes later she ran a giant 100m PR finishing 2nd at State Finals in 11.52 – it was a mind-blowing sequence of events. A year later in 2024, Suraya Newman and Noah Gonzalez broke those Triple Jump School Records again. Ellie and Suraya went 1-3 in CCS LJ for the second straight year and Noah won SI’s first CCS TJ title on his final jump, PRing by almost a foot going 46’ 11” to shatter the school record. Both Ellie and Noah went on to medal at State Finals. I also want to mention the amount of pride I had in our boys’ team winning the CCS team title last year. It was a decade’s worth of work culminating in a tight-knit team coming together to win our first team title in 30-plus years.

8. What would be your advice for other jump coaches on how they could help their athletes reach their potential?

To me, connecting with the athletes is the most important part of any coach’s job. It doesn’t matter how much knowledge a coach has; if the athlete doesn’t buy in and trust you, it is so difficult to have lasting success. Beyond that, a desire to get better is critical. Observing how other coaches work, seeing how elite athletes move, taking courses on event mastery, testing what does and doesn’t work, etc. – any and all ways to improve yourself as a coach will ultimately help your athletes. I’d also say being honest is a critical factor. Athletes can tell when you’re not being genuine. The coach is obviously the final decision maker, but the coach-athlete relationship truly is a partnership.

9. From your competitor days to now, what do you feel has changed, and what has remained a constant?

I’ll start by saying so much has changed in the last 10-15 years. I think people’s access to information and the general athlete’s temperament are entirely different than when even I was competing. Because of the increased access to information, most of my athletes follow all their favorite college and pro track athletes and ask about what they see from their posted workouts and results. It helps them catch the ‘track bug’ and get invested in the sport, which is a cool thing to see. I’d say that ability is relatively new and allows them to engage in the sport in a new way. 

The constant is that each athlete is different and it’s the coach’s job to try and find the sweet spot for each of them. This can obviously be very difficult as us coaches manage so many different personality types. But I think there’s something to be said for meeting individuals where they are while bringing them together as a unit.

10. How have you changed as a coach from your first year? What have you learned the most during that span?

I remember coming into my first SI practices in 2015 and having this D1 background and thinking I had this grand plan to implement. I learned very quickly it’s not that simple, and working with 14-18-year-olds is a whole different ballgame. Because of that, I have evolved immensely over the last decade, as each year is filled with different athletes and challenges. I tell people I feel like I could write a book just based on the experiences and stories that have arisen over the years. And I’m sure many coaches can relate. Being a coach is far more than having a set plan and sticking with it through everything. Based on my experiences over the years, I now view myself as being whatever is needed to whomever may need it at any point in time; whether it be a mentor, a teacher, a psychologist, an older brother, a cheerleader, or even an authoritative figure. But the one thing that has not changed over the years is the absolute thrill it is seeing an athlete buy in and progress and do things they didn’t think were even possible. Seeing their excitement and their confidence grow is beyond rewarding.

11. Anything else you would like to add?

I’ll just end by saying I feel very fortunate to be involved in the track community over these last 20 years as both an athlete and coach. Most of my fondest adolescent memories were sports-related, so it’s fulfilling being able to pay it forward. I appreciate all the coaches out there doing the same as well as media members like yourself that shine a light on all the work going on behind the scenes. Thank you again!