For the Kellners, running is a family affair. The family of four, from Haverford Road in West Windsor, all ran together in the ETS Firecracker 5K on Tuesday, June 27. One daughter is already known for her fleet feet, and now the other is hot on her heels.##M:[more]##
Katie, 15, who just finished her freshman year at South, made waves throughout the county in her first season of high school cross country and in outdoor track. She’s the reigning Mercer County champion in the 3,”200 meters, and her final race of the season was a 14th place finish at the state Meet of Champions. She set a personal best in the 3,200 meters that day, and missed setting a new school record by less than a second. She placed second in the field of women at Firecracker 5K, finishing at 20:53.
By the time she’s a senior, it appears she’ll be joined on the team by Caroline, 12, who just finished her first year on the Grover Middle
School cross country and track teams. Earlier this summer, she won the Diana Run 5K, with a time
of 15:11. She finished fifth among women at ETS, coming in at 22:08.
Their father, Steve, is a portfolio manager for Prudential Investments. A graduate of Villanova, he was always a weekend warrior on the basketball courts and the golf course, but never had much interest in running until his daughter took up the sport. He is a regular runner now, and says he started when he saw it as a way to spend time with his daughters. “When they were younger, they always seemed to be running everywhere. They took to it so easily.”
Steve says he can’t keep up with Katie anymore, but he was side by side with Caroline when she was the first female across the line at the DianaRun 5K. He knows it’s inevitable that Caroline, too, will be pass him on the track, but says, “I’m not looking forward to it.”
Their mother, Anne, who met Steve when they were both students at Villanova, says its not her genes that give the girls their speed, but since races became a family outing, she’s taken it up as well, and now laces up her track shoes twice a week.
When the sisters speak about running, they reveal a competitive streak that has spurred them to continually improve. Caroline beat 78 other women Diana Run competitors and a great many men as well.
“It feels good when I pass people and I know they’re older than me,” she says. “That encourages me and helps me run even faster.”
The difference in their age and closeness of their family are great enough that the competition between them is eclipsed by their support for one another. Says Caroline, “We’re a bit competitive, but we just want to see each other get better.”
Katie says that although her times are at this point better than Caroline’s, “She’s faster than I was when I was her age.”
Katie prefers the autumn’s team-oriented cross country course to the individual achievements on the outdoor track oval. She plans to again skip competing in winter’s indoor track season. She will likely practice with the team on occasion
to stay in shape, but likes having that time to spend skiing, studying, or just being a teen.
Like a lot of teens, she isn’t looking too far into the future. She acknowledges the possibility of being recruited to run in college, but for now, she enjoys the sport for the sport’s sake.
She does look forward to having Caroline as a teammate. “It should be fun. We’ll be a good team that year. There are a lot of good people in her grade.”
Caroline looks forward to keeping pace with her sister at the next level. “I think she’ll be a lot better than me by then,” says Carolyn of her future freshman year. “I think we’ll both improve, and what really helps us to improve is that we enjoy enjoy each others company.”
Their mother, Anne, praised the coaches at both South and Grover Middle School, for not only helping their daughters improve, but making sure they take proper care of themselves, don’t burn out, and don’t get injured.
Anne says South’s outdoor track coach Todd Smith is a great motivator, while the cross country coach Melinda Neff and long distance coach Kurt Weighton have used their own experience as runners to guide Katie to run faster, better, and smarter.
Katie did not participate in the Diana Run because her coaches suggested she take two full weeks off from running following the track season. Neff advised against track camps and private training because they’ve seen other runners get hurt when being instructed by someone who doesn’t know them or their history as well as their in seasoncoaches do.
Or for that matter, as well as their family does. Says Caroline: “It’s a fun experience running with the people you love. It makes everyone feel good.”
