Northside Christian senior Katelyn Greenleaf is one of the top runners in 1A. Last year Greenleaf finished 9th at the state meet and is looking to improve on that finish in 2011. See how her season is going so far, what it's like running with younger sister Gabby, and much more in this Cross Country Q&A.
How is the season going so far?
The season is going pretty good so far. I have beaten my previous years’ personal best twice now. One was at the Mitchell meet and once at flrunners so I am very happy with my season so far. Hopefully at Pre-State I will have another fast time.
Last year you placed ninth at state. What do you expect from yourself this year with the state meet in just over a month?
I’m really hoping for another drop in time. My goal for the later season meets is that I'll be under 18 minutes. I also hope that I can help my team place higher at states than last year because we are looking pretty good this season.
What is one thing that very few people know about you?
Well a few people know this about me already, but an interesting fact about me is that the most important thing to me in the whole world is my relationship with God. I really love being involved in my youth group and stuff like that.
Your sister Gabby is a sophomore. What is it like running with her?
I absolutely love running with my sister. We are really close so it’s really great to have her on the team with me. We are pretty much best friends .
You go to a small school in Northside Christian. What is the bond like with your team?
Our whole team is very close with each other and we always do a lot of fun team bonding activities all the time. Every bus ride to a cross country meet we play all of these team bonding games.
There is not a whole lot of competition on a daily basis until you get to the districts, regionals, and states. Do you look forward to those races a little more?
Yes, I race a lot better against tougher competition. For me, it is very hard to run fast and push yourself when you are out in the lead by yourself or running alone. I also get a lot more pumped up for the bigger races and I usually train up to state so I like the championship part of the season the best.
What motivates you to keep going?
It all depends on the race. If I know that it will end up being close between our team and another team we are trying to beat, then the thought of helping the team usually helps me to push through. Also when I start to feel tired or like I just want to quit, I will say a quick prayer in the middle of my race and that usually helps me to keep pushing through until the end.
What is one of your favorite memories from cross country?
Well I have had many fun memories from cross country especially with my team, but one memory that is sticking out is before regionals last year we traveled up to the course the night before to have a look at where we would be running that next day, and we just all goofed off together and had a photo shoot in our matching team socks.
What plans do you have for running after high school?
Well I don’t know exactly where I want to run after high school, but right now I have visits that were scheduled for UF, Auburn, and Alabama.
Personal Bests
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1600 Meter Run5:06.09 -
3200 Meter Run11:07.93
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5000 Meter Run18:25.80
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800 Meter Run2:18.63
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