Kate Benade '23 Recruiting Profile

Competing in Cross Country and Track throughout my 4 years of high school has without a doubt been life changing. After stopping my 10-year Irish Dancing career and choosing a high school sport, I thought running would be fun. My freshman year, my team and I made it all the way to the California State Championships where we placed 7th. The following year, the entire world shut down for covid. Once we were out of the depths, I was fortunate enough to get a few races in my sophomore track season. Then came junior year cross country season where I was named MVP and had a very successful season. Once junior year track rolled around, I was in a boot for 6 weeks with a stress fracture and didn't get the chance to compete. This was one of the hardest feats I had to overcome both mentally and physically. However, I am proud to say it has made me a stronger runner and overall human. I look forward to my last year of running in high school and am even more excited for the next four years running in college. The opportunity to compete in college, wherever that may be, would be amazing and I intend to do anything and everything necessary to get me there. I am confident that my discipline, hardwork, and absolute love of this sport will bring me to places I never thought I could go.