Editor’s note: The profile on Katie Almeter was written by Evening Sun Sports Editor Patrick Newell, a 1985 Norwich High School graduate. This is the seventh in a series of articles on the inaugural Norwich Sports Hall of Fame class. The induction ceremony is Saturday, June 18 at Canasawacta Country Club. Please contact the Norwich High School athletics office for more details on the banquet.

Katherine Jean Almeter, “Katie,” was fast from the time she learned to walk. Her parents, Betsy and Bob, said she was moving so fast because she was always trying to catch up to her big brother Jeff. She was in constant motion as a young child, and possessed relentless energy and dogged determination. “It was a workout for us as parents to keep up with her,” Bob and Betsy Almeter said.

Katie’s first taste of competition came in the fourth grade.. She ran a lap around the soccer field in physical education class so fast against the girls, that the Physical Education teacher asked her to run against the fastest boy – and she beat him, too.

Before embarking on what would become a legendary track and field career, Katie tried her hand at softball in the seventh grade. “She never hit the ball very far, but she always got on base because she could outrun the throw to first,” Bob and Betsy said. “But softball didn’t have enough action for her – there was still too much sitting.”