Kate steeplechasing more OFSAA gold

Kate Knafelc didn’t go looking for the sport of steeplechase.

The Grade 12 student at E.L. Crossley took up the sport when encouraged to do so by Crossley track and field coach Maryann Mergl.

Mergl thought it would be a great fit for the talented teen.

“I knew she had the strength to do the distance and why not try something different,” she said. “I know running is not her favourite thing to do, but let’s put some fun in it and why not jump into water.”

Knafelc was more than willing to give it a try.

“I kind of do that distance — that was part of it — but also she thought it would be something different and something for me to try.”

It wasn’t necessarily love at first sight for the 17-year-old Fonthill resident.

“Grade 10 was a tough year,” she said. “I came 13th at OFSAA (Ontario Federation of Secondary Schools Associations track and field meet) and didn’t even make finals, but I decided to stick with it for Grade 11. Why not try it again?

Why not indeed?

That decision to stay with the discipline netted her an unexpected OFSAA gold medal in the open girls 1,500-metre steeplechase in 2018.

“I’m not sure what I was ranked going in, but I was surprised when I won my heat and going into the finals, I thought I would do the best I can,” Knafelc said.

She was in fifth place at the last water jump with about 150 metres to go in the final.

“I pretty much closed which was my plan for the whole race,” she said. “I left it a little bit late but it was a hard, come-from-behind finish.”

Crossing the finish line first is still firmly imprinted in her memory.

“It was a really good moment,” she said. “I just remember looking up to the stands and seeing my family, coaches and friends that I had spent the whole season with. It was great.”

Knafelc took another step towards repeating as OFSAA champion by winning the event Wednesday at the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association championships at the Niagara Olympic Club

“This year it is a different distance — it is 2,000 metres instead of 1,500 — so I don’t have much to compare my runs to,” she said. “I am just trying to run a faster time each week and go from there.”

In Wednesday’s race, she finished nearly 22 seconds ahead of the runner-up competitor.

“It was an OK race. I know that the winner each week will get the record because it’s a new event,” Knafelc said, with a laugh. “It’s something to shoot for.”

She is a fan of the discipline.

“I like the hurdle aspect of it and I think that’s why I have an advantage,” Knafelc said. “I do like the hurdles and I find myself easily getting over them and sometimes that may be the reason someone might not do steeplechase, but it’s kind of fun.

“The more I do it, the more I like it more and more.”

The four-time SOSSA cross country champion is not sure where her track and field pursuits will go after she graduates from Crossley this spring. She has signed to play scholarship soccer at the University of Guelph.

“I haven’t talked to the Guelph coach at all, but I will have to see,” she said. “Cross country is during the soccer season so I most likely won’t be participating in that, but there’s a chance I could do track.”

Mergl is confident Knafelc will be a success in whatever sport she plays.

“She is so amazing because of the eliteness and natural ability that she has,” Mergl said. “Anything that you put her in she will excel because she has that specialness that is hard to find in a lot of kids.”

In addition to primary high school sponsors. Johnny Rocco’s and Mick and Angelo’s, BPSN’s coverage of the track and field season is made possible with the support of the Niagara Olympic Club (https://nocrunners.com)