By Jacob Bigley
Katelyn Breitschwerdt, a Monrovia native, has earned herself a full ride Cross Country scholarship to the University of Pacific starting in the fall of 2015. Katelyn’s journey began when she was just six years old. Her father introduced her to the sport by running a nearby wash in Arcadia. Katelyn learned early on that she “absolutely had a knack for running. From the very first day, I was in love with it and knew that running was what I wanted to do.”
Katelyn ran at St. Lucy’s High School, but found a well-known family bond with a local trail racing team known as “The Arrogant Bastards.” “I’ve been running with the Arrogant Bastards Trail Racing Team for four years now. Everyone on the team has truly become like family to me. They push me to train hard and never give up.”
This summer, Katelyn has begun training for her new Career at The University of the Pacific. She explained her regimen: “I’ve been running 5-7 mile days five times a week. Wednesdays are swim days where I spend about an hour aqua jogging and treading water. Sundays I don’t run but I still do my core workout. I also have either a strength or core workout I do on days I run as well.”
To keep up this demanding regimen, Katelyn credits the support she constantly receives from her family. “My parents definitely push me to be the best I can be and they’re the most supportive. They attend 99% of my races and the rare times they miss one, I always get a ‘good luck’ and a ‘how’d it go?’ call before and after the race.”
Although her favorite place to run is her “cabin in the Sierra Nevada Mountains,” Katelyn has run all throughout the San Gabriel Valley Mountains. In fact, one of her proudest performances took place in her hometown’s backyard at the “Fountain to the Falls” race. She explained, “I’ve won that race twice and hold the female course record. I think I’m the most proud of it because it’s my hometown race.”
Looking towards this fall, Katelyn expressed why she chose University of the Pacific, where she plans to study biology, by saying, “They (U of P) made a great first impression. Last December, I went for a recruit trip and immediately felt so welcomed. The girls on the team were so sweet, I felt very comfortable, the campus was beautiful and I knew they had a great pre-med program. But once I got the scholarship offer my decision was made. An offer from a D1 school; I knew I couldn’t pass that up.”
Coming from a D4 high school program, Katelyn is “terrified of running D1 collegiate cross county.” However, she stated, “All I can hope for is to improve my speed and score points for my team. I certainly don’t plan on winning races but I’m looking forward to doing my best each race.”
After college, Katelyn talked about her future by saying, “I’ve been fascinated with Ultra running. A huge goal of mine is to be the youngest female Angeles Crest 100 finisher. Eventually I would like to run the entire Pacific Crest Trail. Starting in Mexico and ending in Canada. Also, a more secret dream of mine is to run the marathon in the 2020 Olympics.”
Katelyn will attend University of the Pacific in the fall. She added, “I’m ready to experience life on my own and in the grown-up world. I always hear how college is a great experience and how much people enjoy their college days. So, I’m ready for my own college experience. I’m excited to see how life at a D1 school is.”
