GOLDEN GIRL SPRINTS INTO
FOXES’ HISTORY BOOKS
T
his is Kate Carnevale’s
“Golden Year,” or, as she
explains it, the year when
her age matches the date
of her birth. She commemorated
it with a family trip out West, but
her celebration has continued into
the 2019 track season, which also is
turning into a golden year for her –
gold, as in gold medals.
Kate, a senior, has set a total of six new
school records (two individual in indoor
track and two individual in outdoor
track); one as part of the Foxes’
1,600-meter indoor relay team; and one
as part of the Foxes’ 4 x 400 outdoor
relay team.
To fully appreciate the significance of
Kate’s gilded athletic career, and how
she came to set all of those records,
you have to look back two years when
she was a sophomore and decided to
compete in track. With no training
and barely any competitive experience,
the former basketball player burst
onto the scene with blazing speed
that awed her coaches and teammates.
That initial year, the Davidson College
recruit broke the school’s outdoor track
records in the 100-meter dash (12.46)
and then promptly broke the 200
again (25.56).
Never before had the Fox Chapel
Area track team seen the likes of a
speedier sprinter. She recently broke
her own previous records in the 100
(12.36) and the 200 (25.50) for the third
time, and at the 55th Annual Butler
Invitational, a meet that drew more
than 1,600 athletes from 72 schools,
Kate was named the female track MVP.
In individual competition, Kate also
earned a gold medal in the 100, was
second in the 200, fourth in the 400,
and added a fourth medal for her role in
the 4 x 400 relay team that placed third.
All of that was a follow up to her
maiden year running indoor track, in
which she set records in the 60-meters
(7.77) and 200-meters (25.66), and in
the 4 x 400 relay (4.27.32).
“Kate had already set the 100 and 200
records in indoor,” says Assistant Sprint
Coach Shawn Mawhinney, who is a
former Foxes’ runner himself. “She
never ran the 400 in indoor before, but
she told me, ‘I want that record too!’
That’s the kind of thing that makes
Kate special.”
She’s a Natural
“I do believe that Kate is the best
female sprinter in school history,” says
Sprint Coach Justin Patterson. “Those
records previously belonged to three
different sprinters over many years, and
now she has them all.”
Kate comes by her athleticism
naturally. Both of her parents played
college basketball, but what Kate has
accomplished in a very short time is
all about her and her dedication to
excellence.
“When I started running as a
sophomore, I had no idea of what I was
doing,” she says of her auspicious start.
“I was just running because it was fun
and my friends
were doing it. I
have always been
fast, and even
when I was young,
I’d always beat the
older girls. When I
started doing well
in high school,
I really didn’t
realize what a big
deal it was.”
That year, she
went on to place
second in the
26
FOX CHAPEL AREA
200 at her first WPIAL championship,
and placed fourth in the 100. She
advanced to states and made it to the
semifinals in the 200. Last year was a
roller coaster ride for her, as she tried
to run through severe shin splints. She
missed qualifying for the 2018 PIAA
championships by 0.01 of a second in
both events.
Still in the Running
Kate has several goals before she
concludes her high school career. “I
want to make it to states in the 100,
200, and the 4 x 400,” she says. I’m
hoping to get WPIAL gold in the 200
and just be on the podium at states in
any of my events. Our 4 x 400 relay
team is good, too.”
Keeping motivated is never a problem
for Kate, so maintaining momentum
into the postseason shouldn’t be a
problem. She says, “I love training,
I love lifting weights, and I love
competing. I coach basketball, and I
always tell my middle school girls that
hard work really does pay off. But you
have to love what you do, do it with
passion, and always stay positive.”
And that’s golden advice.