Track & Field
Favorite athlete: Allyson Felix
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: Breaking the Pennsylvania All-Time 4x200m relay record while placing third at the 2014 New Balance Indoor Nationals with a final ranking of U.S. #3
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: “While playing in a flag football game, my opponent went for my flag and accidentally ripped off my shorts. Thank goodness I was wearing compression shorts too!
Music on iPod: My top three favorite artists are Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar and One Direction.
Future plans: After college, I'd like to live out West, near the beach, and be a marine biologist.
Words to live by: "Good better best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best." - Tim Duncan This saying was taught to me at Glenside Elementary, and I continue to follow it.
One goal before turning 30: To beat my mom's 100-meter dash personal best.
One thing no one knows about me: I'm a dog person!
By GORDON GLANTZ
When Katelyn Jackson was younger, she joined the crowd.
She played soccer.
Her coach called her “gazelle girl,” and with good reason.
“I was faster than all the other kids on the team,” she recalled.
From there, she chose the road – or sport – less traveled. Jackson began competing with the famed Ambler Olympic Club and embarked on a track career that has been so successful that the Cheltenham senior will formally sign on the dotted line this week to accept a scholarship offer at UCLA.
For Jackson, it is a “dream come true” to follow in the footsteps of her mother, Amy, also an alumnus of UCLA who initially walked onto the track team that included Jackie Joyner and Gail Devers and was coached by Bob Kersee but eventually chose to write sports for the Daily Bruin.
“The fact that my daughter has been offered a scholarship to run for a school that has such an incredible program and monumental reputation has been a thrill,” said Amy Jackson.
For Katelyn, her eyes were always on the left coast.
“It was the only school I really wanted to go to,” said Jackson, who said she did have some solid fallback offers. “My grandma lives in LA. I got to visit there in eighth grade and I fell in love with the place.”
When Jackson met Cheltenham coach Kelly Jensen for the first time, she shared her dream.
“I told my coach my freshman year, but I knew I had to work hard,” she added.
Jensen remembers it well.
“Katelyn has set some lofty goals for herself,” the Lady Panthers’ coach said. “One of the first conversations I had with her as a freshman was that she wanted to run for UCLA. She knew it would take a lot of work, but she has achieved that goal. Her goal was to be a state champion, and she has achieved that goal, three times, and a team championship -- all while maintaining a focus on her goals and the team. She has a vision and is pushing to exceed those expectations.”
Something Bruin
UCLA, in addition to being a top school, boasts a premier track program. The Bruins have runners from all 50 states, and several countries, all chasing the same dream.
She got herself onto the radar of Bruin coach John Henry Johnson by taking the proverbial bull by the horns.
“I e-mailed him and asked him to meet with me,” she said. “But he wasn’t that impressed with me.”
After a stellar indoor season this past winter, all that changed.
“He called and said he had a scholarship,” said Jackson, who had applied to UCLA but was not yet accepted. “I slept on it for one day, and then I said, ‘Ok, I’ll sign.’”
Striving for More
Achieving the UCLA goal was a classic case of hard work paying off for Jackson, who spent three days a week in the summer working one-on-one with sprinting guru Milton Williams, the Norristown Area High School track coach, saying the experience had a “huge impact” on her development.
“Katelyn has learned commitment and a strong work ethic over the past two years,” said Jensen. “With her success as a state champion at 200 meters last year (in winter track), she has thrived off that success, realizing that she wants to continue on that path.”
Jackson – also involved in black scholars, cheerleading and spirit committee -- credits her mother for inspiring her to excel.
“My mom always inspired me to work hard,” she said. “We just had a conversation about that. I said, ‘you know, I’m already set now, I have a scholarship to UCLA.’ She said, ‘Katelyn, you can always do better.’ She has been a huge inspiration for me.”
Leadership Role
Although track is an individual sport in many ways, Jackson is as excellent a teammate and leader as she is a runner good enough for UCLA.
Her dedication is contagious and her selection as one of the Panthers four team captains was an easy one for Jensen.
“She has a strong desire to succeed and is learning that you succeed by doing the right thing and working hard in your preparation,” said Jensen. “Other team members see this commitment, and love of the sport, and they follow her example. We tend to have a strong work ethic on our team, and the girls feed off each other. We had three second-place finishes at the state championships and a state championship over the past five years. Katelyn has been a large part of that success due to the example she sets.
“Katelyn is one of our team captains. It has inspired her to become more vocal, and is a positive voice on our team. Her team members listen to her because they respect her. She has earned this role and is developing further in the role. I expect team captains to be an extension of the coaches and keep us informed of team needs. She is a mature and excellent communicator, learning how to step out more each day.”
Jackson said her motivation is simple to explain.
“I always have that drive, because I love to win my races,” she said. “There are not a lot of seniors out there this year, and I’m not going to let an underclassman beat me.
“I also want Cheltenham to succeed. It’s on the captains’ shoulders. It’s on you to set an example.”
And Jackson has set the bar high for her team. She wants to continue the tradition of taking the league meet and making noise at the district and state levels.
She has particularly high hopes for the 4X100 relay team, where she is the only senior among the quartet that includes freshman Channel Brisset and juniors Cierra Leonard and Nicole Burke.
During the winter season, the fab four won the state title – setting a state record – and placed third in the national meet in the 4x200.
“I definitely want to go out with a bang,” she said.
Back to the Future
When Jackson goes from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, she plans pick up where she left off, with an eye toward the future beyond running.
Jackson is planning to major in something science-related at UCLA but also wants to become a track coach. In that pursuit, she has a leg up from coaching youth between the ages of eight and 12 at the same Ambler Olympic Club where “gazelle girl” got her start.
“Hopefully, when I’m out of college, I will have a team of my own to coach,” she said, adding that her experience with the AOC has already taught her some valuable lessons in bringing out the best in her charges.
“Every runner is different,” she said. “They have strengths and weaknesses. You have to develop the strengths and improve on the weaknesses.”
Like her desire to run for UCLA, her goal to coach is a dream she has shared with Jensen.
“She has mentioned several times that she wants to be a coach,” said Jensen. “I can certainly see her succeeding at coaching because she has the empathy to understand others and read what their needs are to improve.
“We are going to miss Katelyn next year. Her love of the sport and her commitment to succeed has continued a strong legacy of success at Cheltenham High School.”
