BUFFALO, N.Y. — Henry Peterson, a rising City Honors freshman is making waves in the youth ranks of USA Track & Field.
The 14-year-old Peterson recently qualified and won one of his two events at the USA Track and Field National Junior Olympic Championship at the University of Oregon in Eugene.
“For most people it’s a big achievement just to qualify. I definitely wanted to place well; I wasn’t expecting to win necessarily.”
Peterson won the 3000-meter race, besting 74 other kids with a time of 9:03.56 on July 29.
24 hours later, on July 30, he raced again in the 1500-meter and placed second, missing the gold medal by just 0.12 seconds.
Peterson’s success on the track started with humble beginnings and a 5k race with his mom just 4 years ago.
“My mom asked if I wanted to sign up for a for a 5K, so we both started running.”
“I work at the Niagara County Community College, and they have a 5k. ‘Why don’t we sign up and do it?’” Henry’s mom Rebekah Keaton said. “From there on, he’s been running like crazy.”
Peterson stuck with his passion and has continued to run at a pace his family never expected.
“Not quite to this extent, but we always knew he loved to run,” Keaton said. “[When he was younger], at recess, he’d get all the other kids to run around.”
Now just four years later, he has raced on the same University of Oregon track that several USA and world track and field stars have too.
“It was really cool since I’ve watched all those pro races and seen lots of pros on that track,” Peterson said.
Now, Henry’s goals move on to his freshman year at City Honors, where he has run for their high school varsity team since he was in 7th grade.
“Right now, I’m hoping to run under 16 minutes in the 5k.”
And then maybe find a career in running soon after that.
“I want to stay competitive throughout high school, also I want to run D1 in in college.”
“Run as long as he loves it, simple as that,” Keaton said. “I remember when Henry was 10, he said he was going to be in the Olympics someday.”
There’s no offseason for Henry, his next high school meet will be on September 13.
