As the 2025-2026 school year enters its spring sports season, senior athletes are preparing for their last chance to represent Kennedy High School. Two prominent athletes are senior track runners Kayla Langerman and Dawson Dougherty.
Throughout their time at Kennedy, both Langerman and Dougherty have participated in multiple activities. However, track has been the stand-out sport for both of them.
“I participated in football as well as track, but I dealt with an injury that caused me to miss a few games,” Dougherty said. “Since then, I’ve really been focusing on training and preparing my body for this upcoming track season.”
Dougherty started track in eighth grade after being influenced by family members. After realizing that track gave him a way to compete at a higher level, he fell in love with the sport.
“I first started in 8th grade. Both my brother and cousin did track and they were people I looked up to, so that definitely influenced me to go out,” Dougherty said. “I’ve always been competitive and once I started progressing and realizing I had potential, I fell in love with it and started taking it seriously.”
Along with Dougherty, Langerman also started in eighth grade. She started with hurdles and after seeing her success, she continued to pursue the sport.
“I tried track in 8th grade, and I started with hurdles because it was interesting and not a lot of people did it,” Langerman said. “I found that I was pretty decent and I kept doing it.”
Track can be a mentally draining sport. So, having people that support and encourage you is important.
“Who and what pushes me to be better are my teammates, coaches, and honestly my own goals,” Dougherty said. “I know what I’m capable of, and that definitely keeps me focused and disciplined.”
Langerman has always looked to family for her support. Her mom, Lisa, keeps her focused and on top of her responsibilities.
“Someone that really pushes me is my mom. She pays for a lot of the training before the season,” Langerman said. “She is always encouraging me and keeping me on top of my responsibilities. She makes sure I eat right, get good sleep, and train right.”
Last season, Dougherty had an outstanding season breaking records and qualifying for both Drake Relays, and the 5A state meet.
“My biggest achievement was running 10.47 seconds in the 100m, breaking the school record and is the 6th fastest time in Iowa history. It was definitely a huge milestone for me so far,” Dougherty said. “My goals for this season are to break the Iowa 100m record of 10.33 seconds and to help our team to a high seeded finish at the state meet.”
Langerman qualified for state last year, obtaining a new personal record (PR), cutting off two seconds. Langerman is looking to continue shaving down her PR and qualify for state along with Drake.
“My biggest accomplishment so far has been qualifying individually for state in hurdles last year, along with PRing in my race. The week before the race I was running 2 seconds slower, but during qualifying it was like magic. I was so excited and I still can’t believe it,” Langerman said. “My hope for this season is that I am consistently three stepping, and I hope I can drop another second. I also really hope I qualify individually for state and Drake.”
After graduation, Langerman plans to run hurdles at Mount Mercy while pursuing a major in elementary school education.
“If you are a freshman, don’t expect to be the best right away, it takes work and time to become good,” Langerman said. “My freshman year compared to now, I would have never guessed I’d be here. But I kept putting in the effort even when I felt like I wanted to give up the most, and it paid off.”
After high school, Dougherty plans to run track at South Dakota State, while studying sports management and kinesiology.
“The advice I can give to the younger athletes is to trust your own journey and embrace every part of it, even the days that are hard. Progress isn’t always visible, it’s putting in the work when no one else is around, the early mornings, doing stuff when you don’t feel like doing it, and getting out of your comfort zone,” Dougherty said. “My biggest piece of advice is don’t ever compare yourself to others. The only person you should aim to beat is your old self. Injuries and setbacks will come but don’t let it define you. Stay disciplined, stay humble and push yourself everyday. Be a leader and set an example for others.”
