Center Grove junior Kate Henselmeier was a sectional and regional champion last spring in the 400-meter dash.
Daily Journal file photo
Kate Henselmeier’s to-do list for her track and field season includes seven items — two of which share top billing.
Achieving one would almost certainly lead to the other.
Henselmeier, a Center Grove junior who last spring won the 400-meter dash at sectional and regional, has her sights locked on bigger things in the weeks ahead.
Mainly, she wants times in the 55- or 56-second range, which not only would establish a new school record in the 400 but likely position Henselmeier at or near the top of the awards podium at the state meet in June.
Unable to display her potential as a freshman in 2020 since all spring sports were canceled due to COVID-19, Henselmeier made up for lost time by gradually improving as the 2021 season progressed.
“As soon as I won sectional and regional and qualified for state, I realized my potential,” Henselmeier said. “In my sophomore season, I just kept dropping time.”
As a middle schooler, Henselmeier consistently completed laps in the 65-second range.
Last season, she won her specialty at sectional in 1 minute and 15 hundredths of a second, posted a personal-best time of 58.89 seconds to capture the regional and took 16th at state in 1:00.17.
Center Grove’s current standard in the 400 remains property of 2015 graduate Tori Long, who ran a time of 57.13 while finishing seventh at state as a senior.
The 400-meter dash is, to put mildly, unforgiving. There can’t be so much as the slightest hint of let-up from the time an athlete exits the blocks to the instant he or she leans forward at the finish line.
“The No. 1 thing is you have to have guts,” Trojans coach Wes Dodson said. “It’s definitely going to hurt. You have to go all out for a minute, and hopefully, a little less.”
Henselmeier began running the 400 in the seventh grade.
“Before that, I was convinced I was going to be a sprinter running the 100 and 200,” Henselmeier said. “It was mainly because in middle school, no one wanted to run the 400. I had nothing to lose, and was like, ‘If I’m bad at it, I’m bad at it.’”
Only she wasn’t.
As time has gone on, it’s become Henselmeier’s calling card. She also leads off Center Grove’s 4×400 relay, which returns sophomore Lara Phipps, junior Molly Tapak and senior anchor Bella Hodges — a grouping that won sectional.
Should Dodson also choose to utilize Henselmeier in the 200, she’s capable.
During the offseason, the junior worked in the offseason to strengthen her hamstrings and glutes. At 5-foot-9, she possesses a longer stride than the majority of her competitors.
“I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily (just) my stride, but a lot of my skill is the amount of time I’ve put into my form and building muscle,” she said.
Henselmeier had to wait a year to make her varsity debut, but made a definite impression once given her chance. Now, with Center Grove scheduled to open the outdoor track season at Pike on April 5 and at the Columbus North Invitational on April 9, she wants more.
“I think I knew that Kate was going to be pretty good, but she definitely was way better than expected,” Dodson said. “She’s a pretty talented young lady, and she’s very determined, too.”
