Hinsdale South senior Kennedy Ruff’s best sports have always been soccer and track.
That both are spring sports hasn’t been a problem for Ruff, who is a fourth-year starter in both.
“She’s just so phenomenal of an athlete in both that she’s able to do it without a lot of practice for either,” Hinsdale South girls soccer coach Jen Belmonte said. “She’s played club soccer her whole life, so the soccer comes naturally.
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“She does practice her skills in track more now that she’s been working toward the track scholarship the last couple years.”
Ruff, who has helped the Hornets win three consecutive regional titles in soccer, recently committed to compete in track at Arizona. She holds school records in several events, including the 300-meter hurdles, in which she is a two-time state medalist and finished second in Class 3A last season.
“I played soccer my whole life, and I kind of grew up thinking that was my priority,” Ruff said. “But coming to high school, doing well my freshman year, I realized that my heart was in track. So sophomore year, I fully transitioned to making track my priority, but I still didn’t want to give up soccer.”
So Ruff didn’t.
“The biggest thing is my coaches are really flexible on both sides,” she said. “They’re super willing to work with me. Obviously, I have to miss practice all the time for both.
“Competitions are definitely prioritized. If I have a game or a track meet, I will prioritize that over practice, but I still try to be wherever I can as much as I can to be there for my team and to show up.”
Indeed, it’s not like Ruff never practices.
“On some days, I’ll have two practices a day,” she said. “I’ll go to track and then soccer just to make sure I make time for both teams and I’m getting all the work in and making sure I’m prepared.”
Belmonte doesn’t have a problem with Ruff missing practice, and neither do her teammates.
“We’re pretty much to the point in soccer where we know she’s going to be at the games, and we’re lucky to get her at practices,” Belmonte said. “Track is her priority, so she’s got to do it, and she just shows up to our games and dominates.”
Hinsdale South junior forward Brynn Diedrich, a Utah commit who will graduate early, appreciates Ruff’s leadership.
“She’s a great teammate,” Diedrich said. “She keeps the energy high. That’s pretty awesome that she does amazing in both track and soccer. Obviously, she goes to track most, but it’s nice that she comes and plays soccer with us.”
Ruff, who said she has a 5.2 weighted GPA, brings her “A” game to every soccer match. Only a fractured wrist, which sidelined her for a couple of weeks this season, has slowed her down. She has five goals and two assists for the Hornets (9-2-2, 3-1), who are in second place in the West Suburban Conference Gold Division.
Belmonte marvels at Ruff’s versatility and compares her prowess in the air to that of retired U.S. soccer star Abby Wambach.
“She’s incredible,” Belmonte said. “The last two years, we’ve had her play literally every single position except goalie — center back, forward, outside, defensive and offensive center mid. She’s just good at everything. She understands the role and what we ask her to do and never complains.”
That’s true even when the task is unfamiliar. During a game against conference rival Morton, Belmonte moved Ruff to forward alongside Diedrich to boost the offense. Both recorded hat tricks in the Hornets’ 6-1 win.
“She was like, ‘This is weird, I’ve never been up here,’” Belmonte said. “But she got up there and scored three goals. It’s unheard of. I tell her all the time, but I don’t think she realizes that she would have had a really good run at being at a smaller DI school for soccer.”
But Ruff said that once she started putting more energy into track, she realized she wanted to run in college. After a short recruiting process, she accepted an offer from Arizona.
“In Arizona, it felt like home when I stepped on the campus,” she said. “The coaches made me feel super welcome. The atmosphere, the weather, just everything about it was great, and I could totally see myself there the next four years. Arizona for track is ideal because we can train outdoors all year round, which is nice.”
In the meantime, Ruff is savoring the final weeks of her high school career and her last go-round as a dual-sport competitor. Her busiest time will come in May, when she will miss the first postseason game in soccer in order to compete at sectional and state meets in track.
“That’s the week where I have to go full track mode, but after that I’m full back to soccer,” Ruff said. “Usually (the soccer team) is good for the first round of regionals, they do well without me, and then I can come back for the last half of regionals and sectionals and contribute.”
Ruff, who expects to compete in the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles and a relay in track, got a thrill in March when she met Olympic speedskater Sarah Warren. A 2014 Hinsdale South graduate, Warren held the school record in the 400-meter run until Ruff broke it.
Like Ruff, Warren also competed in track and soccer, playing club soccer until joining the Hornets for her senior season, when she led them to their only state trophy, a fourth-place finish in Class 2A.
Warren then played soccer at Illinois before she became a speedskater. She competed in the Winter Olympics in February and returned to Hinsdale South to talk to students.
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“She had a lot of great things to say,” Ruff said. “The biggest thing I kind of took away is she’s just a really positive person.
“We talked a lot about track and soccer and kind of what life looks like after high school, too, and even how she transitioned from a track and soccer player to speedskating, which is even more impressive.”
Warren left a lasting impression on Ruff.
“She was congratulating me,” Ruff said. “She was so sweet, so encouraging and supportive.
“Obviously, she’s an Olympian. The fact that I have that to look up to is great. That’s pretty great to know that your school has produced some pretty cool athletes like that. I was so happy I got to meet her.”
Ruff is happy she got to pursue all of her sports passions in high school. She will graduate with 10 varsity letters, having also played wide receiver, linebacker and corner back for the flag football team.
“She was dominant at that too,” Belmonte said. “She would go up to catch the ball with one hand and go over two defenders to just snag one.
“She was an offensive kid, but then the defensive coach, who was a boys football coach, had her playing both ways in the playoffs.”
Although Ruff’s days as a multisport athlete are numbered, she said she will never be done with sports. She’s undecided on a major but is pondering sports broadcasting or sports marketing.
“Even besides track and soccer, I love football, basketball, baseball,” she said. “I watch everything. Staying involved in sports would definitely be cool.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.