Freshman cross country runner and track and field distance runner Katie Mona helped the indoor track medley relay team set a conference record.

“I wanted to know what time I had finished with,” Mona said. “When coach had told us we got the record that was really exciting and it is neat to be a part of that.”

Track and field head coach David Harris is proud of Mona’s accomplishments.

“She is one of our freshmen that has been really successful this year,” Harris said. “You hope that every freshman can make a contribution like she has.”

Harris said that, despite being a freshman, Mona has taken a position of leadership on the team.

“She is a very talented distance runner,” Harris said. “She pushes herself in practice and she has become a leader.”

Mona is an 18-year-old elementary education major.

“I like to be around children,” Mona said. “I like the creative side of the profession.”

Mona was born in Huston, Texas where she lived for a short time. She moved to Illinois where she lived until the eighth grade, when she moved to Kansas.

“I was younger when we moved around,” Mona said. “It was kind of hard to move from Illinois to Kansas because that was where I had made a lot friends and the place I had grown up.”

Mona said that athletics was not her reason for attending Emporia State.

“I chose to attend Emporia State because of the teaching program,” Mona said. “Sports had nothing to do with my decision.”

Mona said that her greatest achievement is working hard every day.

“Being able to push myself because I know that is hard,” Mona said. “Our coach helps us with that during practice.”

But despite all of her recent accomplishments, Mona remains grounded in the reality that her performance is sometimes a work-in-progress.

“Sometimes I am disappointed with how I performed,” Mona said. “At the end of the indoor season I kept finishing slower and I was getting tired.”

Regardless of her performance from one week to the next, Harris appreciates her contributions to the team as a whole.

“She adds a sense of confidence to the rest of the squad,” Harris said. “She is the anchor of the distance medley team in which she helped set a conference record.”

Mona said that her teammates have helped her be successful at the college level.

“I like my teammates because we have really connected,” Mona said. ““We help each other out.”

But sometimes, the pressure to perform in track and field can become overwhelming, even for the best athletes.

“There is pressure to do better at each meet,” Mona said. “There is always pressure to come out and compete.”

For Mona, a dedicated group of family and friends does a lot to ease any negative aspects of competition.

“My parents are always at all of the meets,” Mona said. “They are very supportive and loving… I am quiet but I am very competitive. I always push myself to do the best I can.”

Matthew Pierce/The Bulletin

Send article as PDF to