Valley Christian cousins headed for state track meet

Valley Christian cousins qualify for state track

By BRIAN DZENIS | bdzenis@vindy.com

Valley Christian’s first male athlete to qualify for state in track is described by his father as “beautifully strange.”

Kenneth Donaldson Jr. is heading to Columbus to chase a medal in the 110 hurdles along with his cousin, India Snyder, who is competing in the long jump.

That makes three athletes in school history to make it and they all come from the same family. Destiny Snyder, India’s older sister, qualified in 2013.

Kenneth Jr. and India both qualified for state in last week’s Division III regional at Navarre Fairless High School.

They form an athletic family. Kenneth Sr. made state in three events as a senior at The Rayen School and is now an assistant coach at Valley Christian. His son carries on the tradition, but he has other goals.

“I hate to say he’s odd, but he’s so different from his peers,” Kenneth Sr. said. “He loves to write, loves to read and when you love to read the type of books that he likes to read, he’s very creative.”

Kenneth Jr. is an aspiring fantasy novelist. He has three books planned for his “The Tales Series,” which have been in the works for four years.

“I like to read and a lot of what I enjoy is based off of mythology. The comics I’ve read inspired me to write these stories,” Kenneth Jr. said. “It’s the action. I can’t stand non-fiction books.

“Real life is boring,” he joked.

Kenneth Jr.’s inspiration for his books comes from Rick Riordan, New York Times best-selling author well-known for the “Percy Jackson & the Olympians” series. His own books contributed to his qualifying. And, he sings a song, “Hope,” which he wrote to go with his novels, prior to every competition.

“It was a song I made up and it happens to calm me down,” Kenneth Jr. said.

The junior finished in fifth place in the regional meet both his freshman and sophomore years. His father said he had to get past a mental block to get to state.

“It was more over-trying. In hurdles, if you tighten up, your body won’t do what you want it to do,” Kenneth Sr. said. “He was so intense that he was kind of resisting himself.”

The son pushed himself because Destiny had previously done the feat.

“I was like, ‘Aw crap,’ she got there first,” Kenneth Jr. said.

India isn’t quite as intense about track as her older sister and cousin.

“Basketball is my primary sport. It’s my favorite sport,” she said.

Snyder was an third team all-state selection in girls basketball this winter. She enjoys racing against her peers at schools more known for athletic prowess, like fellow parochial schools Cardinal Mooney or Ursuline.

“I like competing against those schools,” Snyder said. “They all have fast people and I enjoy the competition.”

Valley Christian head coach Monica Perkins also has the same mentality.

“I think we do, which is good because the hype can get to their head,” Perkins said.

Having two Valley Christian athletes make state has been a boon for the six-year-old program and for Perkins, a first-year head coach.

“This track season has been huge for the school,” she said. “It’s something that I know we’ll build on and we’ll probably have more athletes next season.”

Kenneth Sr. and his wife have embraced his son’s literary ambitions. They both would like to have the novels sent to a publisher before his senior year, so Kenneth Jr. can use it as a boost to get into college.

Going to state with a year left in high school has done nothing to temper Kenneth Jr.’s intensity.

“I don’t care how many years I have left. I’m going to try my hardest no matter what,” Kenneth Jr. said. “I’m going to be angry when I lose and I’ll be really happy if I take first.”