Pilgrim High School cross country star Keaney Bayha is running toward her destiny

WARWICK — This standout career Keaney Bayha has created as a Pilgrim distance runner carries what feels like a hint of destiny.

Her parents, Scott and Amy, started coaching track and field before she was born. Her uncle, Todd, is a longtime Interscholastic League official who can be found near the finish line at the outdoor state meet. Her grandfather, Bob, has an indoor division named in his honor thanks to a Hall of Fame career as a coach and administrator.

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Cross country this fall marks the start of Bayha’s final year with the Patriots, and she enters among the favorites to bring home an individual state crown on the covered bridge course at Ponaganset. It would seem a fitting conclusion for someone who remembers attending meets with her parents from the time she was a toddler.

“I’ve tried a lot of other sports,” Bayha said after a Tuesday night track workout under the lights at Morry Field. “I got to running and it just clicked. And it wasn’t even the running that clicked — it was the people.”

Bayha tagged along with her parents while they led programs at the old Warwick Veterans High. She’s also on the field hockey and swimming teams at Pilgrim, but it’s as a runner where she’s made an athletic mark to date. Anonymity isn’t something she was able to enjoy even from her debut in 2021.

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“I get to high school and there are officials looking at my name, looking at me, looking at my name, looking at me,” Bayha said. “And then my uncle will actually walk by. And then my grandfather is the one announcing.

“I feel like there is a different level. I have sort of a different connection.”

Bayha was a breakout star as a freshman before encountering some challenges as a sophomore. A change to a mostly vegetarian diet left her short on ferritin, the critical protein that releases iron into the blood. She also battled a hip injury throughout the majority of that academic year before making some adjustments and recovering her form as a junior.

“My freshman year I was pretty good, and then I kind of went from stud to complete dud,” Bayha said. “For my junior year, it was so mental. Like, I’ve got this — I can still do this.

“It was almost like confirmation. This is what I love and this is what I’m going to continue to do.”

Bayha closed third at the cross country state meet behind graduated seniors Rory Sullivan and Erin vonHousen. She brought home three medals from the indoor state meet, including silver in the 1,500 meters. Bayha followed with another strong effort at the outdoor state meet, setting new personal bests in the 800 and 1,500 while posting a pair of top-4 finishes.

Bayha has done all this largely while competing for Scott, who also teaches physical education at Pilgrim. She said he makes a weekly confession to his cross country teams at practice — they're not always going to love him, but he's going to push his runners with workouts designed for them to steadily improve. The two relationships they share — father-daughter and coach-athlete — are both strong.

“Every issue I’ve had, he’s looking at podcasts,” Bayha said. “He teaches himself so much about running. Every single summer, we’ve done different training because I think my dad is so into the research part.

“He wants to be better for me. I have that greater appreciation for him.”

How much more is left to come? College coaches from Amherst, Brown, Davidson and the University of Rhode Island are willing to find out. Those four schools are Bayha’s current short list in terms of recruiting, and the Rams, who wear the school color for which she is named, could prove difficult to beat.

“I think it is a lot of pressure at times,” Bayha said. “But I think it comes with anything. And I feel like I’ve found my way to embrace it.”

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On X: @BillKoch25

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Pilgrim High School cross country star Keaney Bayha is running toward her destiny