Adams: Running, studying, serving at McNicholas
MOUNT WASHINGTON – Catch her if you can.
McNicholas High School senior Catherine Adams makes the most of her time. Not only is she one of the better distance runners for the Rockets track team, she’s also top 10 in her class academically and is part of the Century Club as one who has performed more than 100 hours of community service.
“It forces me to time manage well,” Adams said. “When I’m not in a sport, my grades go down because I have time to goof around. It’s all how you manage your time. There’s enough hours in the day to do everything if you use them right.”
Hours on the track turn into mere minutes for Adams, whose personal best in the 1,600-meter run is 5:34. She said her goal is to run a 5:20 before she graduates. (McNick freshman Megan Rack had the fastest time in the Girls Greater Catholic League Coed so far this season, but broke her foot and will miss the rest of the season.)
Adams is also part of a McNick 4x800 relay that owns the best time in the GGCL Coed so far this season at 10:31.40.
“She’s a great runner,” McNick head coach Kyle Jepson said. “She was a district champion in cross country this fall in only her second season. She was late starting, but she has great endurance and great speed. I think once she saw the success she had, she really took to it and has gotten even better.”
Adams played basketball as a freshman and sophomore, but saw no future for herself in it. She started running with fellow senior Megan Schaefer “kind of on a whim” after her sophomore year just to stay in shape. There is some running in her blood, as her uncle once held the school record in the mile at Upper Arlington High School near Columbus .
Adams and Schaefer - who anchors McNick’s sprint corps with Hannah Wagner - have grown into team leaders despite the fact Adams doesn’t particularly enjoy the competitive aspect of the running.
“I like the practices more than the meets,” Adams said. “I used to ask if I could just run in practice and skip the meets. I think it’s the community of people (more than the competition). I had other friends who didn’t run, but the the people who do run all are pretty good people. They’re fun to be around.”
Jepson likes that kind of dedication.
“Just in terms of the work ethic and discipline, it’s great to have somebody like her on the team,” he said. “We have somebody the younger runners can look up to, and not just on the track. These students can aspire to be more than just great athletes. We hope the other runners model themselves after her.”
Adams does most of her volunteer work at her home parish, St. Peter’s Church in New Richmond, where parents Richard and Carol Adams are also heavily involved. She’s logged close to 200 volunteer hours teaching Sunday School, helping with Lenten fish fries and the parish picnic, as well as serving as a Eucharistic minister.
She plans to attend Ohio State University - where she will be in the honors program - and study mechanical engineering. She’s taking AP Calculus and AP Physics this year to help get prepared.