Livingston jumping into her future

Kenya Livingston had a freshman season she will never forget for the Rocky River track team.

In March, she won a national championship in the high jump at the New Balance Nationals in New York City. Then she earned 4A N.C. state runner-up honors in the same event in May.

While the 14-year old enjoyed every minute of first her high school season, she says she isn’t even close to satisfied.

Livingston’s success includes the state’s best high jump this outdoor season at 5-8, tying High Point Central sophomore, Kayla Nesbitt and Avery County senior, Kylie Posgrove.

“I’ve always had a lot of confidence in myself, but I was a little surprised at how well I jumped this year, I didn’t realize it would all happen so soon,” said Livingston, who has been jumping since seventh grade. Last summer she won the 2014 National AAU championship in the high jump at Disney World. But she didn’t start training in the event until this year.

“To have the No. 1 jump in the state (5-8) is great, but I want to keep going higher and higher. Coming so close at states makes me even more motivated. To know one little mistake messed me up and prevented me from winning a state championship makes me want to work harder.”

Rocky River track coach, Antoine Sidberry, who has coached Livingston since sixth grade, says she’s just starting to live up to her potential.

“Kenya is just scratching the surface of how good she can be,” Sidberry said. “If you combine her talent with the fact that she ... hates to lose at anything and I believe she has big-time potential. It’s rare to find young women with that kind of talent, competitive drive and will to win at age 14.”

At the state meet, Livingston cleared the state championship winning jump of 5-6, made by Durham Jordan High’s Jordyn Brown. But Livingston missed on two of her jumps at 5-4, while Brown, the four-time, defending 4A state champion, only missed once.

“Now that I know just what I am capable of doing, without a lot of practice or training, it makes me really excited about the future,” said Livingston, who also finished sixth at the 4A state indoor meet in February. “I’m already ready to get back to work now.”

Livingston has a busy schedule in the next month, first in the S.C. Runners’ Meet of Champions on May 23 at Winthrop University, followed by the N.C./S.C. Runners’ Elite Tune-up at Marvin Ridge, June 6.

Livingston has shown off her versatility as an athlete on the track this spring.

She finished as Southwestern 4A (SW4A) conference runner-up in the 300-meter hurdles, third in the league in the 200-meter dash, and she anchored the 4X400-meter relay team to a conference title. Livingston also was Southwestern 4A conference high jump champion and 4A West Regional runner-up in both the high jump and with her 4X400-relay team.

While Livingston has had a lot of success, she’s also had a lot of near misses.

“Obviously, you always want to win any competition you are in, but sometimes you have to have those near losses to really grow,” Sidberry said. “Our joke is that a lot of other girls are wearing her (Livingston’s) gold medals. We believe she will start winning those battles and getting those gold medals for herself.”

Livingston’s goals are lofty she wants to win championships and gold medals, and set records in the process.

One of her goals is to beat the 2015 national high jump record of 6-4.25, held Bishop Gorman (Nev.) junior, Vashti Cunningham.

Livingston, who often trains without knowing what height Coach Sidberry set the bar at, knows it going to take a lot of hard work. But she is willing to put in the work, and college also is on her mind.

“I’ve had a lot of people come up to me after a jump and say ‘Are you a senior?’ and of course I tell them ‘No, I’m just a freshman,’” Livingston said. “But to know that college coaches are already watching me and interested in me is great. ... But what really drives me is that I hate to lose, and I love to win.”

This story was originally published May 13, 2015 at 7:55 PM with the headline "Livingston jumping into her future."