Cayla Kalinowski: Ursuline Academy
When I look back on Cayla's high school career the first thing that will always come to my mind is how she EARNED the honor of being a Catholic Conference All Star during Cross Country. It's the kind of simple success story one never grows tired of hearing about. It's a story about hard work being rewarded. Cayla's summer training log was full of consistent daily runs for the entire summer. As a result the team was able to rely on her to consistently give quality performance after quality performance throughout the entire season. There were times when other runners were injured or sick but no matter what happened to the other runners on the team I knew we could always rely on Cayla to come through. As a result she was one of our strong Captains that led Ursuline Academy to their first CCL title and first ever appearance at the All State meet. Needless to say I'm confident I will be talking about Cayla for years to come. I will be using her example to help impress upon younger runners the value summer training and hard work can have on your success in running and life. Finally it is only fitting that her final race in an Ursuline uniform was a tough gutsy battle from start to finish with her pr twin Emma Lugten. She finished her high school career the same way she ran it for as long as I have known her; with character, grit and pride. Thank you Cayla for all that you have given to Ursuline's track and xc programs. We will miss you! - CoachTShaw
What do you enjoy doing outside of your running?
Outside of running I enjoy going skiing, kayaking, biking, playing tennis and going to the beach with friends and family.
What are you going to miss most about your high school running career?
I will miss running with my team the most. After going on countless long runs and doing repeats together I got to know each one of my team members more. We became a family after all the running seasons and I’m going to miss all of them. Belonging to a team was awesome, but becoming one big family was even greater and I am going to miss being part of such an amazing team.
What was your most memorable race?
My most memorable race was the Cross Country Catholic Conference Championship race where we won for the first time. I will never forget all of our expressions and how excited we were to have won. All our work paid off and it was the best race of all times.
Out of all your high school running accomplishments, what stands out the most?
My last year of cross country was my best season of all. I had improved a lot compared to my previous years. Out of all my high school accomplishments going to cross country Allstates with my team stood out the most. It was the first time we got to go to Allstates as a team and was a great experience.
What was the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome?
The most difficult obstacles I had to overcome were to never say “I can’t do this, it’s too much” and then slow down. In races I just had to push myself to keep going and to PR. Even though I had never ran a certain time, when Coach TShaw gave me an estimated time for each race I had to stay positive, any negativity wouldn’t help me in races. When I finished faster or just about the time TShaw gave me, I surprised myself then realized I can do this, I can go faster. I just had to overcome the sense of doubt.
Do you have any advice for younger runners?
My advice for younger runners is keep doing what you love and practice, practice, practice. Never say you can’t because anything is possible and you may surprise yourself with the abilities you have and the things you can accomplish.
If you were to change anything about your high school running career.....what would you change?
If I could change something about my running career, I would have started running more and trying harder a lot sooner. I wish I focused on getting faster times at the beginning of my high school career.
What are your college plans?
I will be attending Providence College in the fall and studying biology.
Who would you like to say thank you to?
I would like to say thank you to my coach, TShaw, without him I would not have become the runner I am today and improved my times as much as I did. Because of him I learned anything is possible if you work hard to accomplish your goals. The seasons with himwere some of the best running seasons we had thanks to TShaw. I would also like to thank one of my friends Emma who has been my running twin and ran almost every single race by my side. She is a great person and has made running so much fun. I’m so glad to have run PRs with her. Lastly I want to thank my friend Annalisa for helping me become more competitive. We forced each other to run faster and set goals to accomplish. All my running friends made XC and track of senior year one of the most memorable and best years ever so I want to thank them for that. It was a great note to end on and I am going to miss everyone and I wish them the best of luck in the future seasons. GO UA!