Erin Kolenda '22 Recruiting Profile

I just finished my Junior year at St. Dominic Savio Catholic HS and have run varsity track since I was a freshman.  I started running a little later than many people. I was recruited to run for the Leander Spartans Track Club and in 8th grade (Spring 2018) I started running for the Spartans during summer track season.   Of course, that led to running indoor track, high school track then summer track again.  I think there's a pattern here...   I love all sprinting events up to and including the 4x400 relay.  

I believe in setting high goals and working hard to achieve them.   My HS 4x100 relay team set a State Meet Record in the 2021 TAPPS 6A State Track Meet with a time of 48.28.   My current PR for 100H is 14.91.   Our 2020 HS season was cut short, and my goal for the 100H for the 2021 AAU Jr Olympics is 14.25.  

That's a huge goal and I'm doing what it takes to get there.  Am I guaranteed to reach my goal if I work really hard and really smart?  Nope, but my belief is that if I put in the work and miss my goal, I'll still be so much better off than if I set a goal that is relatively easily achieved.  If I make my goal, then that puts me even further ahead.   

My mom and my hurdle coach video every race and every run at practice.  After each run, we review the video, time my splits, and then our process is...How did it look and feel...how can I improve my split time....now go run it again with the improvements.    I continue to stay focused on my goal and do what I need to do to reach it.  

Not only do I love sprinting, but I'm also a hurdler.  What I've come to realize over these last few years is that hurdlers are kind of "different".  Apparently, most people don't have an uncontrollable desire to sprint as fast as they can and hurdle inanimate objects.  :))  Hurdling has become part of my DNA and I can't imagine life without it.  

As our final school project freshman year, all freshmen had to give a 10-minute Powerpoint presentation on any topic of their choice.  My topic was "Life Lessons from Hurdling".  There are so many life lessons to be learned from hurdling, and just a few of them are:  that you can't be afraid to fall (or fail), confidence is super important, keep focused on your goal, and don't let mistakes derail you. 

This summer will be only my fourth full year of running summer track and my longer-term goal is to run in college and win the NCAA's.   I'm a firm believer in "if you believe it you can achieve it."