Katelyn Henderson’s pet peeve is looking back. The Olpe distance runner prefers to just look forward and run as fast as she can to finish a race. Her past experiences at the state meet, though, sometimes leave her tempted to start looking over her shoulder.
Henderson, a Pittsburg State signee, will see her senior season come to an end this weekend as she competes in the 3,200-meter run, 1,600-meter run, 800-meter run and 4x800-meter relay at the state meet today and Saturday at Cessna Stadium in Wichita. Henderson’s Class 1A 3,200-meter race was scheduled for 7:45 a.m. today.
Last season, Chase County’s Kaylee Engle caught Henderson down the stretch in the 3,200-meter run, claiming first place just before the finish line. Henderson’s lead down the stretch was large enough that the public address announcer at Cessna Stadium announced she would win before the race ended.
She had already been a 3,200-meter state champion her freshman and sophomore years, and the announcer thought Henderson would repeat. Instead, she had to rebound and prepare for the rest of her events.
As it will be this season, the 3,200 was run on the first day of the state meet last season, with other distance events the following day. Olpe coach Tom Camien said he hoped the second-place finish would motivate her, but wasn’t sure what exactly to expect. Henderson won the state titles in the 1,600 meters and 800 meters the following day. Those wins helped propel Olpe to a Class 2A team title.
She had been close in the 1,600 in previous years. She finished second in both her freshman and sophomore years, losing late in a similar fashion to last season’s 3,200-meter run. With all those disappointments in her history, Henderson said it sometimes calls into question her commitment to not looking back.
“I’ll probably be a little more paranoid this year, knowing what happened last,” she said. “But it’s hard because I want those team points too, that’s the main goal right now.”
Having won all three of her individual events at different points in her state track career, Henderson will be going for the trifecta this season.
“The stars just have to align,” she said. “I’ve done all I could throughout the season, Mr. Camien’s helped me get prepared enough, I’ve just got to go have everything happen just right.”
With this season’s classification changes, Henderson and Engle won’t race against each other, with Olpe now a 1A school and Chase County remaining in 2A. Henderson said she would like to race Engle again, but isn’t overly disappointed about the change.
“Can’t really compare times, but we’re good friends, no bad blood,” she said. “It would be nice to have a rematch.”