Teen of the Week: Parkersburg High School senior finds calling after injury
VIENNA — Seventeen-year-old Kendal Domenick was born and raised in Vienna. She is a senior at Parkersburg High School and has a 4.25 GPA.
“I work hard for my grades and have taken college prep and dual credit classes to earn college credits while here at PHS,” Domenick, a member of the National Honor Society, said.
She volunteers in the community, in school and tutors students who need help. She volunteers outside of school with the Salvation Army, by helping with the holiday kettle drive. She also visits elementary schools to read to the students.
Domenick is a three-sport athlete. She is on the cheerleading, track and soccer teams.
She started gymnastics at the age of 3, which led her to cheerleading. Gymnastics helped her excel as a cheerleader, Domenick said.
“I love leading the cheers for football and basketball on the sidelines,” she said. “I also love tumbling and performing and representing the Big Reds.”
Domenick became interested in track in grade school at Neale Elementary. She enjoys hurdles, sprints and relay races.
“Track is a team sport, but so much of it is individual,” she said. “When we won the state championship this past spring, we were all so happy for all the hard work we put in.”
This year, Domenick is the captain of the Big Reds Girls Soccer team. She started playing soccer when she was 2.
“I was honored to be chosen captain of the soccer team. I take the duties seriously and want to be there for my teammates,” she said.
“Being a leader is really important to me and I want to represent my team and PHS on and off the field the best that I can.”
On Sept. 3, 2019, Domenick tore her ACL. She was playing in a soccer game against Riverside at PHS.
“I was defending a girl who had the ball, and my right leg was locked out when I planted my foot to stop the ball,” she said. “She hit my left shoulder and my knee popped to the outside and I fell to the ground.”
Domenick said that she had to sit out for a few minutes to make sure she was healthy enough to play and she eventually went back in the game.
“After 10 minutes or so of being in the game, I knew something wasn’t right and I went to shoot the ball with my left foot, with my right foot as my plant foot,” she said. “I collapsed immediately to the ground as my knee gave out once again.”
The next morning, she had an MRI taken of her knee, this confirmed that she had a fully torn ACL, partially torn meniscus and a grade one MCL tear.
