Katie Clute Details Race Win At Seneca East


(Image via MileSplit Ohio reporter David Nguyen)


What goes down as one of the country's top individual performances in the early portion of the 2022 cross country season was the 5k clinic displayed by Katie Clute Saturday evening at Attica during Seneca East's Stars, Stripes and Lights

Clute, a senior from Olmsted Falls, won the featured Division I race handily by well over a minute for what represented her third victory in as many starts this late-summer stretch.

The outstanding 17:02.68 mark she clocked under the lights resides currently as a state No. 1 by a significant margin and the No. 11 time produced nation-wide this XC campaign. 

For some historical context on Clute's showing, her 17:02.68 is the third fastest 5k run by an Ohioan over the past decade and it stations her in truly elite company. During that time-span, she trails only a pair of the state's all-timers, Taylor Ewert (16:57.9 at GWOC in 2018) and Grace Hartman (17:01.03 at last year's edition of RunningLane).

We were eager to gain a more first-hand perspective about the run, so we requested that Clute provide us with a race summary. The humble, team-first competitor was quick to credit meet organizers for providing the athletes with an outstanding experience and she also highlighted the progression demonstrated by many of her teammates. 

Race Report

"My team and I were super excited going into this meet fast. It's great racing under the lights and it's always such a fun, well run meet so it's one we've been looking forward to."

"Going into this meet I really just wanted to work hard and try to win and run fast. It was awesome to see some people on the team come out with new PRs after working hard together every day."

"Training wise, I really just trust my coach and do what she tells me to."

-- Katie Clute

Seneca East Meet Coverage

Results I Photos