No two races are ever the same for Chesterton’s Kieran Barnewall.
That may be what the junior hurdler enjoys the most about his chosen events.
“There’s an opportunity for anything to happen in hurdles,” Barnewall said. “In one race, you can hit a hurdle and stumble. Then in the next race, you can piece it all together and run smoothly and see tenths of seconds or even whole seconds disappear from your time.”
A state qualifier last year, Barnewall is on the road toward another appearance this season as he prepares for the Valparaiso Regional on Thursday. He swept the two hurdles events at the Portage Sectional on May 16, winning the 110 meters in 14.42 seconds and the 300 in 38.78.
Barnewall’s success this season stems from his commitment to the sport, according to Chesterton coach Bryan Nallenweg.
“It’s not that he’s never taken track seriously. He always has,” Nallenweg said. “But every year, he’s taken a jump in his maturity — not just in physical maturity, but maturity as far as doing all of the little things more seriously.”
Barnewall actually started running track in eighth grade as a means of staying in shape for football season. By the end of his freshman year, however, he realized track could be more than just a conditioning tool.
“After my freshman year, I saw that I had a lot of potential to be really good at hurdles,” he said. “I noticed that and told myself that I needed to focus on everything else that goes into this.”
Barnewall hasn’t looked back. He credited both Nallenweg and Chris Holth, the longtime hurdles coach at Chesterton, for providing crucial advice that helped him reach the state meet as a sophomore and break the school records in the 110 and 300 hurdles this season.
“My sophomore year is when I learned how to hurdle,” Barnewall said. “It’s when I learned how to get off the ground and get back on the ground. The biggest key in hurdling is minimizing the amount of time you’re in the air over the hurdles. You’re not really jumping — it’s more like an extension of a stride — and you have to be violent over the hurdle.”
Barnewall has time to explain all the nuances because he’s always on the track, according to sophomore sprinter Devin Throw.
“His work ethic really stands out,” Throw said. “Sometimes he stays after practice. Sometimes he’s here before it starts. Sometimes he’ll even come here when practice isn’t even occurring that day. He’s always here.”
Nallenweg said Barnewall is no less dedicated when he’s away from the track.
“He’s eating better, and he’s sleeping better,” Nallenweg said. “He’s doing all of those little things that he knows are part of being successful on top of all of the things that we do out on the track.”
Barnewall will need every bit of that preparation for the regional meet, where a loaded field awaits him in the 110 hurdles. Andrean junior Jimmy Finley and Merrillville junior John Peters, who finished first and second, respectively, at the Crown Point Sectional with identical times of 14.37, will be among the runners vying for a ticket to state.
But that level of competition just increases Barnewall’s desire to dive a little deeper into the sport that has become his primary passion.
“It’s excitement,” he said. “It’s motivation. I’ll need to have a good, good race. I’ll have to push myself every day at practice this week. I believe in myself that I can do it, but they believe in themselves too. It’ll come down to who performs on that day.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter.
