Female Athlete of the Week

Name: Kari Hedderick Year: Sophomore Sport: Track Major: … Name: Kari Hedderick Year: Sophomore Sport: Track Major: Physical therapy Favorite Food: Mashed potatoes Favorite TV Show: “Grey’s Anatomy” Favorite Movie: “Remember the Titans”

Pitt track star Kari Hedderick’s running career has turned 180 degrees in a mere two years.

In her very first college meet, Hedderick made a rookie mistake which led her to finishing last in the event. That mistake – running in the wrong lane – would be the base of her ever-growing mountain of track feats.

Fast forward to the indoor season last year, when Hedderick finished in fifth place in the 500-meter race with a time of 1:14.09 at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Indoor Championships.

Now entering this year’s indoor season, Hedderick last week finished in second place in the 500 meters at the Penn State Open, just narrowly missing first place by a fraction of a second with a time of 1:14.65. Still, she thought she could have won.

“I was surprised. I didn’t even see her,” Hedderick said of the girl who took first, Morgan State’s Tanisha Kendrick. “She just came up from behind me at the end and passed me.”

With this rapid development, Hedderick, a former walk-on out of Fort Lebouf High School in Erie, could be positioning herself for even greater heights.

“By the time she’s a senior,” Pitt track coach Alonzo Webb said, “I could see her competing in the NCAA qualifiers.”

Hedderick, an avid beach volleyball player during the offseason, lettered in volleyball, basketball and track in high school.

She carried that athleticism to Pitt, a school near home, near where her aunt lives and eventually where she caught Webb’s eye.

The next stop in Hedderick’s development will be featured next weekend when the Panthers travel back to State College, Pa., for the Penn State Indoor National Open.