By Craig Ney
Special to the Kansan
This Friday, Katelyn Wilson of North Newton, wellness director for the Newton YMCA, will be vying for a VIII Sports Championship, a special event that was open to YMCA members and employees of the centers.
The event will be televised on ESPN2.
Athletes qualified from four regional locations including Wichita held on June 29; Crown Point, Indiana; Memphis, Tennessee; and Ft Mills, South Carolina. These competitors will converge on Rockwell, South Carolina, the site of the national championships, which are held yearly.
“The defending national championship winner will be trying to repeat her title this year and that is really cool.” Wilson said.
Wilson qualified in a unique way, different from the other contestants.
“One of the regional winners suffered a season ending injury and couldn’t compete in the championship,” Wilson said.
Wilson was selected to replace her.
“I placed second overall in the Wichita regional but because my score was the highest over all the non-qualifiers I was chosen to fill the last spot,” Wilson said.
Rachelle Rundy, the Senior program director of the Andover YMCA, won the regional and with Wilson will represent Kansas.
The VIII championships consist of eight different course stations. They include: putting a golf ball, hitting a softball toward a fence line, hitting a tennis ball in a targeted net, shooting a basketball, a football toss into a targeted net, a weighted medicine ball toss and a 40 meter sprint. Some of the stations measure accuracy from three staged distances, while others are set to evaluate skill and speed. Each section is timed and points are awarded accordingly.
There are some tasks that take more to learn than others.
“It was my husband Kyle who has helped me get ready for the football portion.” Wilson said.
When you ask Wilson what her favorite course station is her favorite, the sprinting portion wins hands down.
“I ran cross country and track and field collegiality at Bethel College and it’s something I can relate to,” Wilson said said.
The staff at the YMCA where Wilson has worked the past six years has been supportive of their colleagues’ quest to win a national championship.
“They (staff) have been hyping me up and giving me all kinds of advice,” Wilson said. The support she has received has included her boss Robert Palmer.
“He’s given me the days off to go compete,” Katelyn said.
Wilson has also felt the support from the city of Newton as well.
“It feels good that the community is supporting not only me as a physical trainer but me as a person too,” Wilson said.
She said she is “excited” to be competing in this unique showcase of her talent.
She has relied on the support from her friends she has made since moving to Newton from California.
“The staff at the YMCA have become my family since I don’t have family here in the Newton area. I feel super blessed.” Wilson said.
The local chapter of the YMCA will be hosting a watch party for Wilson beginning at noon.
Anyone can attend the watch party, membership is not required. The action from South Carolina will be televised on ESPN2.