Some may not be able to pronounce it, but Quitman High School senior Katie DeGorostiza is making a name for herself locally and beyond for her excellence in cross country and track.

After coming off injuries to represent QHS at district and regional competition, DeGorostiza decided to join the East Texas Infinity Track Club of Longview to continue competing this summer. 

DeGorostiza represented East Texas Infinity at the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU)’s Southwestern District Championship in early June, placing 6th in the 800-meter competition and 1st in the 1500-meter competition. Her team placed 2nd in the 4x400 relays.

DeGorostiza then represented the club at the AAU Regional Qualifier event at the end of June. She placed 4th in the 800-meters and 1st again in the 1500-meters.

Her victories at regional made her eligible to participate in the AAU Junior Olympics in Greensboro, N.C. July 29 through Aug. 3.

DeGorostiza said that she was excited to be going to North Carolina and to run at a much bigger stadium. DeGorostiza will be participating in both events, but is most excited about the 1500-meters, where her current times rank her around 6th in the standings. 

As much as DeGorostiza loves running now, that has not always been the case.

Coach Michael Scott recruited Katie to run cross country when she was in 7th grade. DeGorostiza quickly said yes but admitted, “I really didn’t know what I was getting into.”

DeGorostiza’s first cross country meet as a 7th grader resulted in her passing out. She said, “I was a terrible runner. I aways came in crying.”

But instead of giving up, DeGorostiza continued working on her form and started training more. She began placing at contests when she was in the 8th grade, and by her own admission, “actually started getting good” in the 9th grade.

Unfortunately, after placing first at the district cross country competition her freshman year, she fell the next day and broke her arm. DeGorostiza tried to run at first with the broken arm but suffered from heat rashes, and the rod in her arm was moving out of place.

Katie, with advisement from her doctors and family, finally decided to allow herself time to heal and did not return to running for nine months. 

When DeGorostiza finally received word that she was fully released, she went out and ran a mile – in 13 minutes.

“I don’t think I can do it,” were the words that first ran through her head after that initial run. But once again, instead of giving up and quitting, Katie doubled down and trained even harder.

She ran for QHS’s junior varsity squad her sophomore year and breezily ran to first place finishes in her events. That next summer, Katie was more determined than ever to improve and continued working on strength training and form to shave seconds off her time.

Katie’s junior year started slowly, working through minor injuries. She placed 10th at the regional cross-country meet. By the spring semester, DeGorostiza’s hard work really started to pay off when she achieved a personal best time in her 3200-meter and 1600-meter races, beating the school’s prior records for both events. Her personal best was enough to earn her the title of “District Champion” in both events. She went on to place 1st at both events at area contest. She ended her junior season placing 4th at Regionals in both races. 

In May, DeGorostiza was named the female recipient of the “Heart of a Bulldog” award, which is given to student athletes who show perseverance and grit and have a heart for their sport and representing the Quitman Bulldogs. DeGorostiza feels like she was given the award because she works hard and is continually trying to improve. 

In addition to cross-country and track, DeGorostiza also plays volleyball. A typical school day for Katie begins at 5:30 a.m. at home where she gets up and gets ready to run cross-country at 6:30 a.m. before school. After school, she attends volleyball practice.

Katie is spending the summer attending volunteer summer workouts for cross country and volleyball when she’s not training with the Infinity Club and competing. In addition, DeGorostiza is working with an online coach on specialized strength training and spending additional time at the gym aside from volunteer summer workouts.

DeGorostiza said that she works so hard because she hopes to compete at the collegiate level, but she also hopes to be a lifelong runner. She also feels she has something to prove.

Because of her bad start in junior high, DeGorostiza feels that “it’s my desire to be better and to prove everyone wrong. I had a lot of doubts when I was in middle school because people said I was too small, and no one believed in me. Then I had to come back from all these injuries.” Katie added that “after I broke my arm, I figured out that I do like running. I took my ability for granted.” After Katie realized just how much she enjoyed running, she decided “I might as well just work really hard because I do enjoy it. I do find it fun.” 

DeGorostiza also credits her parents’s support for her success. “No matter if I’m coming in last place, they’ll be the one clapping in the stands for me. They believe in me no matter what. I feel like no matter if I’m the last place or first place finisher, they will always be there supporting me.”

When DeGorostiza isn’t running, she can be found participating in FFA and in her church’s youth group.

DeGorostiza will travel to North Carolina on July 29 for the AAU Junior Olympics and participate in preliminary rounds beginning July 30.