Spectators who turned out to watch Cherokee’s cross country teams at the Cherokee Challenge on Sept. 12 got to see a future Chief run away with a win in her hometown.
Kate Rathman, an eighth grader from DeMasi Middle School, won the Cherokee Challenge’s middle school girls’ division for a second consecutive year. Rathman bested second-place Gabby Carbonara of Franklinville to win the event. There were a lot of expectations for Rathman entering the 2015 Cherokee Challenge. As a seventh grader in 2014, Rathman won the event with a time of 8:32. She became the first Marlton runner to win the event in the girls’ middle school division.
“I was very surprised and I was really happy that I was the first one,” she said.
Rathman is only in her third year in cross-country, but she has lots of experience running. She has run track for the Marlton Rec team since third grade and added cross country to her resume when the recreation council formed a team two years ago.
Running cross-country for the first time in sixth grade was an adjustment for Rathman. Unlike running on a track, cross country involves running on uneven surfaces and up and down hills.
“At first, I was having trouble with running up hills,” Rathman said. “But after lots of practice, I’ve gotten better at it. I’ve figured out lots of strategies on how to run lines.”
Rathman credited her coach Bill Shea with helping her grasp cross country quickly and helping to pave the way for her first Cherokee Challenge win in 2014.
“Strategy and pacing myself has helped me improve a lot,” Rathman said.
After last year’s win, Rathman said she felt pressure to repeat her performance. One advantage she had was her knowledge of the 2,400-meter course.
To prepare for the meet and the season, Rathman doubled up on her workouts during the summer.
“I bumped up my workouts with my dad,” she said. “I tried to think of different scenarios, like if it happened during the race, what would I do.”
Rathman didn’t lead during the entire race, but she did run close to the front. Most of the second half of the race had her going back and forth with Carbonara for the lead. Rathman said she was just waiting for an opening.
“Up the final hill, I sprinted right past her,” Rathman said. “And then I ran down the hill and kept sprinting.”
Rathman sprinted all the way to the finish line for the win. After winning last season’s race by less than a second, Rathman finished seven seconds ahead of the second place Carbonara this year.
“I was very relieved,” Rathman said. “I felt like it wasn’t even real. I was happy I got it over with and I achieved.”
Rathman’s win at the Cherokee Challenge was just the beginning for the eighth grader. The following weekend at Rowan College at Gloucester County, Rathman won the South Jersey Shootout by more than 10 seconds, helping Marlton to a team victory.
With back-to-back middle school Cherokee Challenge titles under her belt, Rathman hopes to add more titles to her resume. She plans to run for Cherokee as a freshman next year and hopes to be the first Chief to win the freshman division of the race.
Spectators who turned out to watch Cherokee’s cross country teams at the Cherokee Challenge on Sept. 12 got to see a future Chief run away with a win in her hometown.
Kate Rathman, an eighth grader from DeMasi Middle School, won the Cherokee Challenge’s middle school girls’ division for a second consecutive year. Rathman bested second-place Gabby Carbonara of Franklinville to win the event. There were a lot of expectations for Rathman entering the 2015 Cherokee Challenge. As a seventh grader in 2014, Rathman won the event with a time of 8:32. She became the first Marlton runner to win the event in the girls’ middle school division.
“I was very surprised and I was really happy that I was the first one,” she said.
Rathman is only in her third year in cross-country, but she has lots of experience running. She has run track for the Marlton Rec team since third grade and added cross country to her resume when the recreation council formed a team two years ago.
Running cross-country for the first time in sixth grade was an adjustment for Rathman. Unlike running on a track, cross country involves running on uneven surfaces and up and down hills.
“At first, I was having trouble with running up hills,” Rathman said. “But after lots of practice, I’ve gotten better at it. I’ve figured out lots of strategies on how to run lines.”
Rathman credited her coach Bill Shea with helping her grasp cross country quickly and helping to pave the way for her first Cherokee Challenge win in 2014.
“Strategy and pacing myself has helped me improve a lot,” Rathman said.
After last year’s win, Rathman said she felt pressure to repeat her performance. One advantage she had was her knowledge of the 2,400-meter course.
To prepare for the meet and the season, Rathman doubled up on her workouts during the summer.
“I bumped up my workouts with my dad,” she said. “I tried to think of different scenarios, like if it happened during the race, what would I do.”
Rathman didn’t lead during the entire race, but she did run close to the front. Most of the second half of the race had her going back and forth with Carbonara for the lead. Rathman said she was just waiting for an opening.
“Up the final hill, I sprinted right past her,” Rathman said. “And then I ran down the hill and kept sprinting.”
Rathman sprinted all the way to the finish line for the win. After winning last season’s race by less than a second, Rathman finished seven seconds ahead of the second place Carbonara this year.
“I was very relieved,” Rathman said. “I felt like it wasn’t even real. I was happy I got it over with and I achieved.”
Rathman’s win at the Cherokee Challenge was just the beginning for the eighth grader. The following weekend at Rowan College at Gloucester County, Rathman won the South Jersey Shootout by more than 10 seconds, helping Marlton to a team victory.
With back-to-back middle school Cherokee Challenge titles under her belt, Rathman hopes to add more titles to her resume. She plans to run for Cherokee as a freshman next year and hopes to be the first Chief to win the freshman division of the race.
