Katie McHugh runs for the love of it. Her twin sister Grace runs because, well, her sister runs and she can’t stand to let her sister get the best of her.
"I don’t care what it is, we have to try to beat each other," Katie said. "We would rather beat each other than anyone else."
The McHugh sisters, freshmen twins at Bartow High School, finished 1-2 in the 3200 at their regional meet (3A-2) last month. Katie ran an 11:47.40 and Grace came in at 11:49.19. In that race, Katie had Grace well gapped until Grace due deep for a ferocious finishing kick that almost gave her the win. Both sisters will admit that Grace has the better finishing kick, but Katie had enough of a lead that she was able to hold on.
Grace got the best of it in the state meet at Winter Park when she finished 12th. Katie didn't finish the race after injuring her hip, but both said their best times are ahead of them.
"I think I am faster, but I always know Grace is right behind me," Katie said. "I can hear the way she breathes when she is behind me. I can tell by the way she breathes that she is ready to sprint."
Grace agreed that her sprinting is what keeps her close to the lead. She doesn't like being in the lead, she said. She would rather be in the back, ready to sit and wait for the last 100 meters.
Katie is the sister who looks forward to the spring and running track. Grace, meanwhile, much prefers cross country. Neither one has been running for very long, but they have both caught on quickly and want to pursue it for their next three years at Bartow.
"Katie enjoys running," Grace said. "I only run because Katie does it. I didn’t even run before I started doing this. All of a sudden I started realizing I was good at this and I wanted to keep it up."
Katie has to deal with her injured hip before cross country season starts up again this fall. There is some cartilage work to be done and she has been taking medication to aid in the recovery process, but she said that it shouldn’t be a problem by this fall.
Instead, Katie is cross-training--swimming and riding a bike--while she gets her hip heals. She and her sister are already talking about the times they'd like to run this cross country season.
"I am more competitive in just about everything," Katie said. "I have to win at everything, but Grace always gives me a challenge. I can't wait to run next year!"
The girls also played varsity soccer at Bartow. Grace said that is her favorite sport and the Yellow Jackets made it to the second round of regionals.
As for next year?
”We'll keep going after each other and trying to get better, but we still have three years to go," Katie said. "We keep an eye on each other and it’s as important to beat each other as it is to beat anyone else."