Go ahead and add Katie Rainsberger’s name to the top of the list of candidates for the 2016 Mile High Sports High School Athlete of the Year; after her latest award, she may have lined up our top preps honor and several other awards to follow.
The competition for the 2015 Mile High Sports High School Athlete of the Year was fierce. No less than three of the candidates had nabbed Gatorade Player of the Year Honors in Colorado for their respective sports, not to mention all-conference, all-state, individual state titles and state records. The award that tilted the decision, though, was the Gatorade National Player of the Year honor bestowed upon Mallory Pugh of Mountain Vista. Pugh, a senior, is a soccer phenom who’s already a part of the defending World Cup champion US Women’s National Team development program.
In January, Rainsberger was named the Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year for 2015-16. Now that Rainsberger has adder her own Gatorade national award, Pugh may be looking over her shoulder.
That’s something that Rainsberger’s cross country competition hasn’t been able to do much. They were more often watching her distance herself from the pack.
Colorado’s returning Gatorade Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year, Rainsberger was unbeaten against all distance competition in 2015. The 5-foot-9 senior won the Class 4A individual state championship with a course-record time of 17:39, leading the Kadets to the state title as a team. Rainsberger also won the NXN Southwest Regional championship and put a cap on her outstanding year with a national title at the Nike Cross Nationals Final this past season.
Rainsberger excels in the classroom as well, carrying a weighted 4.49 GPA as a member of the National Honor Society. She’s also the editor of the school paper (something that sits very well with us) and participates in charity races and volunteer work.
Unfortunately for Colorado sports fans, they won’t get to see Rainsberger continue her excellent career here in the Centennial State. Rainsberger has committed to the University of Oregon, one of the nation’s top programs and a chief rival to the University of Colorado in the Pac-12 and nationally. The Ducks boast nine men’s and women’s cross country national championships. The Buffs claim seven, finishing just short of tying Oregon this year. The Buffs nabbed runner-up honors in 2015 in both men’s and women’s cross country.
The 2016 Mile High Sports Awards won’t be doled out for another year, but with a high school track and field season still to come, there’s a good chance that Rainsberger will add to her credentials and further distance herself from the competition. By now, it’s probably something she’s used to.
