The Neumann track and field team will be kicking off their season at the Oscar Moore Invitational next Saturday, March 23rd. It’s the Knights’ final season competing in the Atlantic East Conference, so they’ll be looking to go out with a bang. The Seniors will be looking to make their mark and leave their name on some AEC hardware one final time.
Katie Baier is a Junior on the track and field team here at Neumann. Her events are the 800m, the 1500m, and this year she hopes to run the 5k as well. This year will be the first time that she tries to run the 5k during meets.
Katie Baier at an indoor meet during the 2023-24 season.
Baier hails from Baltimore, Maryland, where she attended The Catholic School of Baltimore. There, she didn’t just showcase athletic acumen on the track team, but also exceptional leadership prowess, acting as the Student Athletic Association President. She started with cross country her freshman year and has been dedicated to the sport ever since. Running has become a passion of hers. Baier runs every single day. “I try not to miss,” she says, “and I’ve been doing a pretty good job so far.”
Originally, Katie was a soccer girl. It wasn’t until the cross-country coach at her high school noticed her stride while she was out on the soccer field one day. They approached her and that was that. A short time after the conversation had taken place, she revealed to me that unfortunately she suffered a broken arm playing soccer. This injury kept her out for the rest of the season. After this injury was when she decided it was time to make the switch and give cross country a try.
Baier would go on to have a tremendous experience running track and field at The Catholic High School of Baltimore. While there, she was captain of her team, further proving her leadership skills. In her senior year, the team won the C Conference Championship for the first time in a decade. That same year, she won the Leader of the Pack award. A prestigious award, it is only given to one senior across the A, B, and C Conferences. Due to her success, she was recruited to York, McDaniel, and Stevenson, before finally landing on Neumann.
During Baier’s freshman year at Neumann, she wasn’t so sure that this was the school for her. Once she got acclimated and got a little closer with some of her teammates, though, she really found her stride. No pun intended.
While at Neumann, Baier has proven to be just as lethal in the classroom as she is out on the track. Last season, she was selected to the Atlantic East Conference All-Academic Team, and was named the Atlantic East Conference Track Athlete of the Week on April 22nd.
Finding places to practice has not been easy for the Knights. Considering we only have a small, indoor track here on campus, the track team gets to run all over. Their practices, if not at the Mirenda center, are on the tracks at high schools in the surrounding area, and sometimes at Widener.
Unfortunately, Katie will be running with a “frayed labrum” this season. The word frayed was her choice, not mine, just putting that out there. After deciding to press her a little further about the injury, I learned that it has been an ongoing issue since Freshman year. Although injuries can become nagging if not dealt with, Katie seemed sure this would not impede her running this season. She thinks she doesn’t need any surgery on it yet, so she’s ready to keep pushing.
Join me in wishing Katie and the rest of track and field Knights good luck this season!
