Glenbrook North junior Kelly Pearson is a talented track and field athlete who competes in the triple jump and 4×400-meter relay. She’s also an honor-role student who possesses a 4.8 GPA on a 4.0 scale. But nothing garners quite as much attention as one of her other pursuits.
“The other day I was on the track (for practice), and a girl (who had joined the team this season) said to me, ‘You’re the girl who plays football, right?'” Pearson said. “I said, ‘Yes.’ (Being known as a football player) is just part of who I am.”
Pearson spent the 2016 season as the backup kicker and a scout team defensive back on the Glenbrook North varsity squad. She hit all three of her extra-point attempts. She also kicked for the JV, making 10-of-13 PATs and a 32-yard field goal, and she played some wide receiver on the JV, though she didn’t catch a pass.
With starting kicker Tommy Gertner set to graduate, Glenbrook North football coach Bob Pieper said Pearson has a chance to earn the starting kicker spot in the fall. If that happens, she will become the third girl to kick at Glenbrook North in Pieper’s 18 seasons, joining Sarah Stockslager (2002-03) and Montana Paley (2011-12).
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“She’s in the mix,” Pieper said of Pearson. “If she’s the best, she’s the kicker.”
Pearson, who is 5-foot-5, said her father Chris, a freshman coach at New Trier, was instrumental in her developing a love for the sport.
“I would go to (New Trier freshman) games all the time when I was in middle school,” Kelly Pearson said. “I would be on the sidelines and take down stats, and that made me want to play. I remember standing there and having this realization that, ‘I want to get in the game.'”
Kelly Pearson said she has been fully accepted by the football team. She refers to her teammates as her brothers. Other than changing in a separate locker room, Kelly Pearson does not get any special treatment, according to Pieper, and he said Kelly Pearson is fine with that.
“She doesn’t back down from any workout in the offseason,” Pieper said. “She’s right here doing everything the team is doing. She doesn’t shy away from work, ever.”
Glenbrook North girls track and field coach Justin Cooper said Kelly Pearson brings that drive with her to track, where she is one of the hardest workers on the team, especially in the weight room.
“(The football work ethic) has translated into all aspects of how she approaches track practice and track meets. She has a great attitude,” Cooper said. “She’s made a huge improvement in the last 12 months with regard to track.”
At the CSL North girls indoor track and field championship on March 16 in Northbrook, Kelly Pearson finished fifth in the triple jump with a personal-best jump of 30-6 1/4. Her best jumps last season were 26-9 indoors and 27-2 1/2 outdoors.
Kelly Pearson also ran the third leg of a 4×400-meter relay team that finished second (4 minutes, 30.01 seconds). The relay also included senior Katherine Doyle, senior Danielle Sokol and junior Grace Sullivan.
Though Glenbrook North does not have captains, Cooper said Kelly Pearson and senior Hannah Wilson, who finished fifth in the 100 and sixth in the 200 at the 2016 Class 3A state meet, are two of the main leaders.
Kelly Pearson said football has played a crucial role in developing her drive and determination, traits she hopes will rub off on track teammates.
“Football teaches you discipline,” Kelly Pearson said. “If you’re not lifting or not running hard every time (in football), you get called out. I’m taking that (attitude) to track and it makes me want to work hard every day to get better.”
She added: “If I can go as hard as I can and push myself (in track), then I think I can push the other runners. If I say, ‘Hey, do you want to run with me? Do you want to lift with me? I can make them better, while making myself better.”
Glenbrook North junior Lucia Bosacoma said Kelly Pearson’s work ethic is on display every day in practice, but she remembered one instance when Kelly Pearson brought her dedication to a new level.
At a practice in the spring of 2016, Kelly Pearson was hobbled by shin splints in both legs and was told by coaches to sit out of acceleration drills.
“But she didn’t want to rest,” said Bosacoma, who lives in Northbrook. “(Kelly Pearson) not only got back up and did exactly what the team had done, but she did a little extra. That is the kind of person she is.”
Bosacoma added: “On the team, we kind of joke that Kelly is the perfect human being. Not only is she a hard worker, she’s amazingly kind, is super smart and has a lot of friends. She’s on the football team, and you’ve (rarely ever) heard of a girl being on the football team. In every single way possible, Kelly excels.”
Dan Shalin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press