Kellner ended career with finest season
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Katie Kellner put together some jaw-dropping results in her first three cross country seasons, but nothing that could compare to her final scholastic season.
”It was a combination of coaching and experience,” Kellner said. “My coaches had their minds set on my senior year. They made everything so I would get better as time went on and I wouldn’t burn out too soon. Experience, at the (regional) meet and state meets, it’s so helpful to have experience. You know who the girls you’re racing against are and the courses. It helps so much.”
Kellner actually started her senior year at West Windsor-Plainsboro High South slow by her standards. She was seventh in the senior girls’ race at the Cherokee Challenge.
”It was one the first races of the season,” Kellner said. “That was probably the worst race I had all season.”
Placing higher in that early race is the only way that Kellner thinks that her season could have been any better. Every subsequent race after the Cherokee Challenge was better and more impressive.
”This year, she just seems a lot more focused,” said Pirates head coach Josh Siegel. “She seems eager to be out there and to be up in the front of the pack. It just seemed this entire season that she was always ready to run.”
Never had Kellner ran faster. Just a few days before the Cherokee Challenge, she had led the Pirates to a huge dual meet win over Mercer County rival Hopewell Valley. Two weeks after the Cherokee Challenge, Kellner proved she belonged among the top runners in the state as she won the Varsity C race at the Shore Coaches Invitational in a personal record 18:35 at Holmdel Park.
Kellner next made her mark on the region when she won the Varsity B race at the Manhattan Invitational. She didn’t let up there. She finished October by winning the Mercer County Championship for the second time in her career and led the Pirates to their first team title since 2005. Making her win all the more impressive was her 31-second victory over the rest of the field.
Kellner won the Central Jersey Group IV championship for the first time. The next week, she won her first Group IV state meet when she pulled away from pre-race favorite Jillian Smith over the final mile for a new personal-best 18:18.39 at Holmdel. She advanced to the Meet of Champions, where she placed a career-high third. It was the fourth straight year she had improved her placement at the MOC.
She finished sixth at the Foot Locker Cross County Championships Northeast Regional at Van Cortlandt Park in New York City on Saturday to earn her first berth in the Foot Locker Nationals that will be run Dec. 13 in San Diego.
Katie Kellner is the Princeton Packet Girls’ Runner of the Year.
”It’s amazing,” Kellner said. “Everything that’s happened this year, starting with being Mercer County champion as an individual and team, then group champion, third at Meet of Champs, then going to nationals, I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Kellner has continued to show improvement since the start of the season. After finishing more than 40 seconds behind MOC winner Melanie Thompson and 27 seconds behind MOC runner-up Chelsea Ley, Kellner closed the gaps to 4- and 1-second respectively at the regionals.
”We’ve been training the entire season for now — the Meet of Champions and these big races at the end of the season,” Siegel said. “We did fewer races at the beginning and focused on her training. That’s what’s paying off now.
”Katie is an extremely talented young lady,” he added. “To be third at the Meet of Champions and sixth at Foot Locker Regionals, it’s just incredible. She’s an incredible young lady who’s worked hard for all she’s had.”
Kellner came to the Pirates with talent. It was obvious as she was second at the Mercer County Championships and the sectionals as a freshman. But she had to change something to make the jump to being an elite national runner. That change came junior year when her weekly mileage increased dramatically.
”My junior year was a building year,” Kellner explained. “Everything I did my junior year helped me this year. My training got a lot harder and I wasn’t used to it. I was tired, which is why I was not improved as much. Senior year, then I was able to handle the training and it paid off in the races.”
Added Siegel: “I think she wasn’t used to being put under such intense mileage and working so hard. It was a transition period. This year, she was well prepared.”
From start to finish, Kellner was a more confident runner because of the base she had under her. Even in the biggest races, she had greater faith in herself.
”I definitely felt a lot more confident coming into Foot Locker this year than last year,” she said. “Last year I was really surprised I got 24th. It was the last medal spot and I was extremely happy. This year, I had more confidence. I was a more experienced girl. I came in with a goal of wanting to go to nationals. I never had that goal before.
”I definitely always dreamed of it,” she continued. “This whole week, I looked up results and looked at them. I thought I had a shot. I got out there and put everything I had into that race.”
She will do the same at nationals. She is the first Pirate girl to compete in the race.
”I’m going to run my hardest out there,” Kellner said. “I’m thrilled to be going and taking in that race. I remember watching Foot Lockers. It’s an amazing feeling, fulfilling one of your biggest dreams.”
She will fulfill another goal when she matriculates to Cornell University to continue her running career next year. The Big Red are thrilled to be getting one of the top 40 runners in the country.
”I’m just hoping that it’ll be as successful as these least four years,” Kellner said. “Throughout high school, I’ve improved each year. I’m hoping to improve each year in college.”
Kellner certainly will be missed at WW-P South. She is the most accomplished Pirate runner ever. For all of Kellner’s running accomplishments, it may be her contributions as a teammate that will be toughest to replace.
”The way Katie handles the team, the entire team is constantly looking up to her,” Siegel said. “Her talent and stamina and her jovial attitude, I think that plays a big factor in the team attitude. She just has such a great attitude about running. I think that’s contagious for the rest of the team.
”She’s such a personality and such an engaging perspective on the sport. It drew the other kids to it. Her sister and the rest of the team have large shoes to fill.”
Caroline Kellner and future Pirate runners have quite an example to follow in Katie Kellner. For three years, she was a consistently outstanding performer, and in her fourth year, she found a way to top it all off.
”I don’t think this year could have been much better,” Katie Kellner said. “I’m happy with my success.”