Cross Country, Track & Field
Favorite athlete: Usain Bolt
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: Without a doubt my favorite moment would be the state meet sophomore year, where our 4x400 relay went from the 16th seed to getting 4th place finish, just finishing a millisecond off from third place.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Freshman year, I was hanging out with some of the juniors during the Abington Invitational XC meet, and our coach comes over asking where we put the box that he had given us earlier. We had no idea where we put it and we tried thinking of where we put it before realizing we were sitting on the box. To this day we still talk about the missing box and the way our coach asked us where the box was.
Music on mobile device: Country
Future plans: Major in Sports Management at Saint Joseph's University and walk on to their track team.
Words to live by: “Worrying gets you nowhere. If you turn up worrying about how you’re going to perform, you’ve already lost. Train hard, turn up, run your best and the rest will take care of itself.” Usain Bolt
One goal before turning 30: Have a successful job within the sports industry
One thing people don’t know about me: I am a superstitious guy, and before every race I'm always doing the same things. Going through the same motions before a race lessens my nerves and gets me in the zone. I also hate talking to people before I race even though it is a force of habit talking to others.
By Ed Marrone
Bill Neely laughed when he was asked if it was a realistic ambition for one of his track runners to walk on to the team next season at Saint Joseph’s University.
“Most of my athletes have the capability of walking on (to college programs),” Neely said. “One thing I’ve realized is that once they walk on, they come back to Abington to do my workouts.”
The Abington head track coach’s point was clear: running in this program prepares you for what comes next. It creates structure and discipline within you, something that sticks with you for the long haul.
It sure has for Kevin Dennin, and he’s still running for Neely, enduring the legendary coach’s grueling workouts.
“Track has become such a huge part of my life,” Dennin said. “I couldn’t even imagine how different everything would be without it. The practices are college-level, one of the hardest across the entire state. It’s unparalleled, and I’ll miss that feeling. I hope I am able to walk on, because it’s been a huge part of my life the last four years.”
Dennin started running competitively around the fourth grade, although he says he didn’t really take it seriously until he got to high school. He was mostly a short-distance runner in middle school and junior high, and Dennin said the first time he met Neely was at summer workouts before his freshman year. Welcome to cross country, Dennin said Neely told him.
“I said, ‘What’s cross country?’” Dennin recalls with a laugh. “But I got my distance up, fell right in with the guys and ever since then I’ve been full-on competitive.”
It took Dennin his entire freshman campaign to allow his body to catch up to Neely’s rigorous training schedule. Dennin said after ninth grade he realized he didn’t have “the straight, pure speed that those at the top have,” so he started transitioning into some of the mid-distance races during indoor track season of his sophomore season, namely the 400m individual and the 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams.
Dennin ran the 4x400 with three seniors most of the season. The team qualified for states, but Dennin came down with the flu before the race and ended up going as an alternate.
Once outdoor season came calling, Dennin was determined in a way he’d never been before. “I’ve got to get back on this relay time,” he said. “It’s time to get to work.”
Despite battling injuries, illnesses and some seriously inclement weather at races down the stretch, the Abington 4x400 relay team qualified for states, seeded 16th out of a possible 16 teams. Determined to “shock the world,” Dennin and company did just that, finishing in fourth place, mere milliseconds from a top-three finish. Dennin dedicated his state medal to his uncle who had recently passed away.
“We should have gotten third, and it still bothers me to this day,” he said. “But it’s still one of my favorite memories, getting a fourth-place medal at states.”
Abington had to replace two legs of that relay team going into Dennin’s junior year, and although the team ran well at times, it was the first time in 27 years that Neely didn’t end up taking a team to the state meet, which left Dennin even more fiercely determined heading into his senior year.
During cross country season, Dennin said he lowered his personal record time slightly, getting his final year off to a strong start. Not long after that, an aunt who Dennin was close to passed away, sending him into a two-to-three week stretch where he admitted he was “not thinking straight.”
But he’s started to get his mojo back during the current indoor season. Dennin is ranked around 20th in the state in the 400m, while the 4x400 relay team is ranked sixth and the 4x800 is seventh. He said he hopes to lower his individual 400 time in the coming weeks so that he could qualify for states himself, but if not, both relay teams are well-positioned with about a month to go in the season.
“I want to bring home a state medal for my aunt just like I was able to bring one home for my uncle my sophomore year,” Dennin said. “These upcoming practices are very important to set ourselves up for states, especially the 4x400. We have to get our times down, but I know with the talent on our team we are a state-contending group. It just comes down to whether or not we run the race that we need to run.”
As for the outdoor season still to come, Dennin said he wants to go out with a bang.
“If we could get a state outdoor medal, it would mean a whole lot, especially after missing it the year prior,” he said. “It would show how good of a team we have, and I want to leave team showing the younger guys what it takes to get there. That’s what the seniors left for me, and I want to leave it on these kids what a state-level mindset is and how to achieve that result.”
As a student Dennin said he’s in the top 15th percentile of his class, and although he desires to study Sports Management in college, he said his go-to classes aren’t necessarily ones involving numbers. Dennin is cerebral and he loves to talk about anything, so it’s no surprise he said he enjoys his Social Studies classes the most, calling Psychology his “bread and butter.”
“The more interesting conversations happen in those classes,” he said. “School has always been a strong suit for me. When my older sister learned how to read, I took it on myself to learn how to read too. It’s part of the competition in me. I used to correct teachers in middle school just because. I don’t do that as much now because I know I’m not the smartest one, but my friends and I still compete with each other over test scores. As busy and stressful as school is, it keeps me focused on the big picture.”
The big picture for Dennin is most likely to attend Saint Joseph’s University, study Sports Management and walk on to their track team. He said he hasn’t financially committed to the university yet, but barring some last-minute, full-scholarship offer from some other school, that is most likely where the next few years of his life will unfold. Dennin is ecstatic about this fact, saying he fell in love with the campus — and its food selection on a visit; he is, after all, a runner who can eat a lot.
Dennin keeps himself busy when he’s not running or studying. He has a job at the local Coldstone, and said he still volunteers with a club he first joined in junior high, Teens Against Drugs and Alcohol. He also has helped raise money for Alex’s Lemonade Stand with the Lemon Club and is a member of the National Honor Society.
Dennin said he isn’t sure what job within the sports industry he wants to chase just yet. He likes the idea of being a sports agent, or going to work in a professional sports team’s front office in hopes of rising all the way up to general manager.
“Whatever I do, it will keep me tied into the sports world,” he said. “I’d love the opportunity to go work with athletes and a team. I’ve loved building these track teams from the ground up, so if I can do that in real life and win a championship through a team, that would be an amazing thing for myself.”
Neely has coached a lot of runners over the years, and he firmly believes Dennin is poised for future success, and not just because the senior is able to get through Neely’s workouts.
“Not only does he work hard and do whatever I ask him to do, but he asks questions about how he did,” Neely said. “Most kids don’t usually do that; they just run. He’s a hard worker interested in how he can get better, and certain things you just can’t deny: if I had four of him on a relay team, we’d be really good. He communicates and he keeps the team together. We’ll miss his commitment, participation and general attitude toward running.”
When Dennin was asked what he’ll miss most about Abington, he got on a roll and didn’t stop speaking for several minutes. Like an Oscar winner on stage desperately racking his/her brain during an acceptance speech, Dennin didn’t want to forget anyone or anything about this experience that has become so special to him.
“There’s nothing I’m not going to miss,” he said. “It’s been my home since I’ve been born. It’s been the best four year … the best eight years of my life. I’ll miss all aspects. It’s something I’ll cherish forever, and I can’t imagine doing it at any other school. I’ll miss every single part of it, and I just hope I can get that same experience with a new cast of guys and competition at Saint Joseph’s University.”
