Kidder County's Harter opens senior season at future home

Mar. 31—STEELE, N.D. — When Kidder County/Napoleon/Gackle-Streeter's Kennedy Harter walked into the Shelly Ellig Indoor Track and Field Facility on the North Dakota State University campus on March 25 to participate in the first meet of her senior season, she did so in front of many of her future teammates and coaches.

"I had a few of my future teammates there, they were running the meet, so I got to see them, they got to watch me jump and then my jumps coach (Clayton Pritchard) was there, he was also running it, so he got to see me a little bit," Harter said. " ... I met some of them and we already knew each other from my visit, seeing familiar faces was kind of more relaxing knowing that they were all there."

On March 22, Harter became the first athlete ever from Kidder County to commit to an NCAA Division I school by committing to jump for the Bison. She said she chose the Bison because of the coaching staff and how the step up in competition will help her improve. Harter chose the Bison over the University of Mary (ND), the University of North Dakota and Iowa State University.

Wolves head coach Kasey Kallenbach said a few of his underclassmen have the possibility to follow in Harter's footsteps and go to the highest collegiate level.

Harter's advice to her teammates who might want to be Division I athletes is to continue to work hard and pay attention to all the tiny details.

"It is pretty special, that's not something that happens for coaches on a regular basis," Kallenbach said. "So, to have an athlete who I've had since seventh grade coming up through the program when I started I didn't ever really think that would be something that would happen. But to see her work hard and grow with her as an athlete, as a coach, it's pretty special."

In her first meet of the season, the State Indoor Meet at NDSU, Harter finished second in the long jump and triple jump. Harter said she will compete in the triple jump, long jump and high jump at NDSU.

In her career, Harter has won three consecutive state titles in the outdoor triple jump. In the 2022 NDHSAA State B Track and Field Meet, Harter's triple jump of 37 feet, 3.75 inches. Her personal record is 37 feet, 7 inches.

Kallenbach said he knew Harter was a special talent when she won the state title when she was in eighth grade.

"She ended up winning state and the light bulb clicked in my brain and after visiting with some coaches, like hey if this girl can keep it up she can really do some good things and she's got a special career ahead of her," Kallenbach said. "Luckily for us, she's one of those kids that's willing to work hard, she's willing to put in the time, she's willing to put in the effort and we like to think we helped her a little bit along the way but she's a kid that has done a lot of work to get where she's at."

As Harter's senior season continues, she said she expects more eyeballs to be on her than ever before as a result of her heading to NDSU next year.

"I'm very excited but it puts a little bit more pressure on me because everyone expects me to do amazing all the time," Harter said. "It's kind of scary when I know there's more pressure and I can't mess up."

Kallenbach said Harter will not be dealing with that pressure alone as he and his coaching staff are there to help her. Kallenbach said he will be encouraging her to not overextend herself because she is going to be a Division I athlete.

"We're trying to keep things for her as normal as possible," Kallenbach said. "We're going to do a lot of the same things we've always done. We're not going to try to change anything, just because she's signed on. She's gotta be held to the same things that everybody else in practice does, she's still gotta do the same drills. She's still gotta do the same things that we've always done, try to keep things as routine as we can for her."

When she looks toward next year, Harter is ready to no longer be one of the best leapers among her competitors but is looking forward to learning from her future teammates and competitors.

"I think having them help me and pushing to get as good as them or even better someday will help me drive myself," Harter said. "I always want to strive for the best."

Harter said her goals as she looks toward the rest of the season are to continue to improve using the techniques she was taught by her future coaches at NDSU.

"I'm hoping to get my four-peat in triple (jump) and then long (jump) and high (jump), just improve my marks and my form," Harter said.