Kennedy Jones’ Career Jump Comes Just in Time
Few athletes can relate to Bob Beamon’s miraculous long jump at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. But Kennedy Jones is someone who can.
In her final meet competing for Castro Valley High in 2015, Jones was leading the State Meet triple jump competition until two competitors passed her on their fifth of six jumps. Jones knew just what to do: talk to her coach, who happened to be her dad, Dooney.
“It was a scary, surreal moment,” recalls Jones, who had just one jump left. “My dad was saying, ‘Take some time. Do what you came here to do.’ My dad was really good at staying calm, not letting my anxiousness get in the way of performing.”
Finally, it was Jones’ turn. This was it. A hurdler known for her speed, Jones sped down the runway, then – as they used to say in the triple jump – “hopped.” So far, so good. Next came the “skip.”
“I could sense it,” she says. “I knew I was farther than ever.” Finally, the “jump” … 2 1/2 (two and a half) feet beyond where she’d ever gone before. “You can feel where your body is,” she insists. “I absolutely knew it. I started cheering and the number wasn’t even on the board yet.”
She was Bob Beamon, 47 years later.
“Absolutely my Number 1 moment in sports,” she claims. “All the hard work, and it came together in my last track meet in high school.”
Jones did more than just win a state championship in her athletic career. For her entire body of work, which began as a soccer, volleyball, basketball, and softball player, she has been selected to the 2024 class of the Castro Valley Sports Hall of Fame.
She credits her dad (track and football), mom Susan (softball), older sister Teiler (basketball and soccer) and younger sister Bailey (basketball and track). Kennedy hung on to soccer until it was clear her future was on the track.
And clear it was. Highly recruited after the State Meet success, Jones made trips to Hawaii, BYU, Oklahoma, Boston University and New Mexico. She chose Boston, where as a senior in 2019, she was the Patriot League indoor and outdoor champion in triple jump, as well as a participant in the Terriers’ first-place finish in a hurdles relay at the prestigious Penn Relays.
Mom and dad not only coached her to much of her career success, or cheered her on when they couldn’t, but also helped in many of her athletic decisions. A tough one, she says, was giving up soccer to focus on track in high school.
“We had some pretty serious conversations: What are my goals in college? It was a super-tough choice,” she recalls.
“They’re super-passionate people. I say that in the nicest way. They were really good at highlighting: whatever you put into it; you’re going to get out of it. My mom instilled that in me at a very young age. My dad … he built me piece by piece, giving me the mental understanding of what was expected out of me.”
Jones returned to Castro Valley after college graduation and completed a three-year master’s program in Forensics Psychology and Counseling at Holy Names College in Oakland. She now works at Eden Counseling near Castro Valley High. The clinic works with students and families in the Castro Valley Unified School District, allowing her to reconnect with old friends and those to whom she’d like to say, “Thank you.”
“This is a great community,” she assures. “Everybody’s uplifting, helping kids pursue our dreams. It’s nice to have that. It’s nice to know people are watching that they care.”
This is the 10th in a series of 16 articles profiling the 2024 inductees into the Castro Valley Sports Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame ceremonies and banquet will be held on Sunday, April 21, at Redwood Canyon Golf Course. For tickets, go to castrovalleysportsfoundation.org and click on “Events, Hall of Fame Banquet.”