Have you ever seen something and thought to yourself, "my god, did I just witness history?" Well, the last day of May in 2019 fits the bill.
One of my favorite meets to cover for MileSplit has always been Magis Miles at St. Ignatius High School in Chicago since its premiere in 2015. And since the first opportunity, I have had to cover Katelynne Hart, she has always been one of my favorite athletes to cover.
The University of Michigan-bound superstar from Glenbard West holds the 3A record 1600m and 3200m at the IHSA Girls Track & Field state series. Hart also holds the Illinois all-time record with her performance at last year's Magis Miles competition. And of the 26 fastest times from the IHSA girls cross country state series - across any class - she holds four. Don't believe me? Just "Command + F" her name and you'll see how definitive Hart is Illinois running.
With scheduling and balancing school and work, I have only been fortunate to cover Hart a handful of times, almost always featuring a win by Katelynne. Last year's Magis Miles was nothing short of a win for Hart, and the State of Illinois.
This race felt like one of the fastest that I had ever seen, and I had a hard time finding time to adequately document the feat of fast feet zipping past as I was awestruck with the race. Nevertheless, the race went on and I did my best to photograph the phenomenal athletes.
Before you knew it, 4:38.00 had passed since the gun went off and the field of
athletes took off on the black track. At that moment, Hart, a junior in high
school then, was crossing the line. She had an almost 12-second lead. And now
she had a meet and state all-time record all to herself!
This job is a blessing. You meet and report on the future of one of the most fascinating sports in the world. You get to witness history, and you get the privilege of sharing the history with equally delighted fans, family and spectators. That balmy night at St. Ignatius is no exception. Great work, Katelynne! Cheers to your next chapter of adventure.
Watch Katelynne demonstrate a clinic on a dynamite field where the last-place finisher raced a very good 5:02!
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