Gustafson Wins Pentathlon

These are exciting times for 12-year-old Kendall Gustafson, who won a gold medal in the pentathlon at the USA Youth Outdoor Track & Field Championships July 4-8 in Lisle, Illinois. Gustafson will be a seventh-grader at Paul Revere Middle School in the fall, yet already she has begun to make a name for herself in an event that incorporates skills from a variety of sports. “Kendall is a talented young athlete physically, but perhaps her greatest asset is her mental talent,” said Chuck DeBus, owner of Velocity Sports Performance in West L.A., who trains Gustafson three to four hours a week. “She has an exceptional ability to learn technique, which permits her to execute under the pressure of competition.” Gustafson qualified for the USA Championships in four events: the pentathlon, high jump, long Jump and 80 meter hurdles after meeting performance standards throughout the track season. There were over 2,500 athletes competing in five age divisions at the Nationals. The pentathlon consists of five events in one day (80 meter hurdles, high jump, long jump, shot put and 800 meter run). Gustafson won despite being new to three of the five events, learning them all from Debus within the past year. Gustafson also finished fourth in high jump, third in the long jump and fifth in the 80 meter hurdles. Her best marks are 4′ 10″ in the high jump, 15′ 7″ in the long jump, 13.22 seconds in the hurdles and 2925 total points in the pentathlon. For the past two years, Gustafson has competed for the West Valley Eagles Track Club, one of 13 track teams in the Valley Youth Conference. This year, she won the Valley Conference in the long jump, high jump and 80 meter hurdles. Eagles alumni include sprinters Alison Felix and Marion Jones and Olympic marathoner Deena Kastor. Gustafson first competed at the Palisades YMCA/Optimist Track Meet, where she set a number of records, including 13′ 9″ in the long jump as a 10-year-old. She was encouraged by Revere teachers Paul and Stacey Foxson to compete in the pentathlon at their summer Sports Mania Camp. A strong overall athlete, Gustafson also played volleyball at Revere and played soccer for the Westside Breakers Soccer Club. Later this month, Gustafson will represent Southern California at the National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships, where she qualified in the same four events in head-to-head competition at local and regional JO track meets. Kendall’s running partner (and biggest fan) is her older sister Lauren, who played JV volleyball and ran for the varsity track team as a freshman at Palisades High in 2006-07.