Katelynn Brunt always enjoyed running and taking part in the local fun runs in her home town of Hopedale, but when she got the opportunity to run for the high school team when she entered seventh grade she jumped at the chance.
“I was not really interested in other sports, but I did enjoy running,” she said. “When the posters started showing up on the walls at school I went to the captain’s practice to see what it was like. I made so many friends through running and decided to keep it up.”
Not only did she make a lot of new friends, she found that everyone on the team was totally invested in the sport and being a competitive individual she found it to be gratifying.
Although thoroughly passionate about running her very first race was somewhat unnerving to the then seventh grader.
“I was a nervous wreck thrown into my first varsity race as a seventh grader,” Brunt said. “However, once the race started, it was super enjoyable and a rush. It felt good to be a 12 year old running against these older girls and keeping pace.”
Not too long after that inaugural race Brunt realized that she had a special talent when she started to out run some of the older girls on her team. When she placed highly at the Ocean State Invitational (top 20) and received an award she knew that she was good at this and running became her passion.
As a seventh grader running cross country with the varsity team Brunt posted her best ever time of 19:58 for the 5K event. Unfortunately she has not been able to lower that time and last fall she was forced off the course about a month into the season when she tore her calf muscle.
“During practice I felt something that wasn’t right, but I pushed through it any way,” the now sophomore said. “Afterward I received the news that it was a torn calf muscle and I was done for the season as well as participating in winter track. That news broke me, running revolves around my life and everything that I do.”
Come the spring, she was able to get back onto the tennis courts and compete with her teammates as they captured yet another Division 3 Central Championship.
While the spring season was a joyous one, the fall cross country season was one that Brunt hopes she has to never to endure again.
“Being on the sideline was very difficult for me and I beat myself up constantly for not being able to run with my teammates,” Brunt said. “Although I couldn’t run I was always there cheering them on using my energy to cheer them on instead of running.”
Coming into this year’s season the sophomore will be a co-captain along with Isabelle Doran. Despite losing out on the majority of last season due to her injury Cross Country Coach Tim Maguire is looking on the bright side.
“Although she wasn’t part of last year’s championship team because of her injury, I am very optimistic for her this upcoming season,” the Hopedale Coach said. “I know that she’ll be limited because of her injuries but she’s working hard and is a very talented runner.”
While her torn calf muscle is healed, she is having difficulty with her knee through the early parts of the tryouts. Brunt is planning on giving it her all and knows that her times will be down because of her knee. At his point she plans on not pushing herself as hard during practices and will save all her energy for actual races.
As the season gets underway Brunt is hoping that she will be able to finish her races strong without giving up mentally while trying to best her personal time she set three years ago. As for her coach, he is hoping that his sophomore runner can earn league All Star status once again (Brunt was selected to the Dual Valley Conference All Stars as a seventh and eighth grader) and if she stays healthy he believes that she can potentially make it to the States.
Issue Date:
October, 2018
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