Senior Katie Sharp ran against STA team at Rim Rock race | by MOLLIE POINTER

On Sept. 26, STA and Shawnee Mission East High School competed at the Rim Rock race, a distance of 2k.  Crossing the finish line, senior Katie Sharp found herself racing against the girls she once called teammates. Sharp placed 26th individually while East finished 3rd in the c-team division and STA came in 4th.

Sharp transferred last year from STA to East in the middle of her junior year.  Sharp participated in the State meet her freshman year and ran at the varsity level all three years at STA. According to teammates and coaches, Sharp was a vital part of the varsity team and a leader for everyone.

‘It was a huge loss to not have [Sharp] run for us this year,’ STA cross country coach Karen Moran said. “More importantly than her status as a varsity runner, however, Katie was a leader to her teammates through her work ethic and enthusiasm for running.”

According to Sharp, upon entering East, she knew next to no one and feels that participating on the cross-country team has helped her gain a sense of comfort within the East community.

“[Cross country] has made things a lot easier for me at school,” Sharp said. “I actually know people in my classes now.”

The size of East”s team is a vast difference for Sharp, having about 200 runners compared to STA’s 68. As a result of the bigger team, Sharp now mainly runs JV instead of varsity like she once did at STA.  She has also found that these larger numbers make forming close relationships with her coaches and teammates more difficult.

“I don”t know [the coaches] and they don”t know me,” Sharp said. “They probably still think I”m the freak kid who cried on the first day. The first week was pretty rough.”

Former varsity teammate senior Grace Krause supports Sharp”s decision to continue running at the competitive level and feels that she has become no less a part of the STA team.

“Katie will text me every morning before a race, wishing me good luck,” Krause said. “She hasn”t completely left the team.”

Moran feels the same way in that Sharp has continued to stay a part of the team through conditioning with the girls during the summer and coming to practices when East has a day off.

“[Sharp] came into our team tent [at the Rim Rock] race too, something we would never allow an athlete from another school to do,” Moran said.  “I still consider [Sharp] to be a member of our team, even though she no longer attends STA.”
Though she no longer walks the halls at STA, Sharp hopes she will be able to hold onto her relationships as well as be willing to let new ones form.
“I love my new team, I love my teammates and I love STA,” Sharp said.