Katie Burnett never thought she would become a world class athlete.
She joined the track team in middle school not to compete, but to build connections to classmates she rarely knew for longer than a few months. But somewhere along the way, Burnett found that each helped maintain the other.
During her youth, environment was far from a constant for Burnett. She spent her elementary years at six different schools in Washington, Oregon and Arizona and moved three times during her freshman year of high school alone. After spending time at Newport, Skyline and Kentlake, Burnett and her family moved back to Arizona for her final two years of high school.
“It was a lot easier in elementary school,” she said. “In high school you have made more of those deep connections and that makes it a lot harder.”
With her life in a seemingly constant state of change, track and field became one of the few reliable outlets for Burnett. It also offered a chance to connect with peers and her father in a way little else could.
She initially raced in more traditional sprints and distance events, but after being introduced to race walking by a teammate, Burnett found her niche.
“I was trying everything,” Burnett said. “For the first few years, I just hopped in and competed.”
Two basic rules define the sport of competitive race walking and establish a clear break from running, according to the USATF.
“The walker makes contact with the ground so that no visible (to the human eye) loss of contact occurs,” and “the advancing leg must be straightened (with no bend at the knee) from the moment of first contact with the ground until in the vertical upright position.”
As she grew more comfortable with a sport that is often overlooked by mainstream media and fans, Burnett also found herself achieving at greater levels than she ever had. Wins at local meets turned into regional and national appearances and eventually a spot on the University of Arizona’s team in the javelin throw.
But after a year in Tucson, it was clear the chemistry was lacking. In the course of researching potential spots for a transfer, Burnett remembered a friend and teammate from high school that was at William Penn University, an NAIA classified school in Oskaloosa, Iowa.
As she qualified for nationals and earned honors throughout the indoor and outdoor seasons for the Statesmen in virtually every field event including pole vault, heptathlon, javelin and high jump, triple jump and discus, Burnett realized race walking could be her ticket to something even bigger.
“At first, when I said I was going after this goal of the Olympic Trials and the Olympic team, everyone kind of said, ‘whatever’,” Burnett said. “But now I think they are starting to realize there could be some opportunities.”
No longer the inexperienced seventh-grader joining the team to meet friends and score a quick trip to nationals, Burnett finished fourth in the IAAF Race Walking Cup Trials in April and earned a spot in the World Race Walking Cup in Saransk, Russia. She trains by walking around 70 miles per week, breaking up those sessions with running or mixed intervals.
While her goal has long been qualifying for the 2016 Olympics, Burnett will be in the field in Eugene on July 1 to try and qualify four years ahead of schedule. A spot on the team headed to London would be another unexpected accomplishment and put Burnett at the top of the nation’s race walking’s tightly knit community. But whether or not she makes the standard, there will be another opportunity in 2016. More importantly, there is the companionship and community she sought all along.
“We’re kind of like a dysfunctional family,” Burnett said. “We always support each other and we are all good friends. They are the people I can always go back to.”
Josh Suman can be reached at 425-453-5045 or jsuman@bellevuereporter.com
