Starkville is a far cry from Katherine Badham’s hometown of Auckland, New Zealand. The sophomore elementary education major had quite the compelling journey to becoming a Mississippi State University cross country runner.
Growing up, Badham showed great athletic potential and excelled in multiple sports, including gymnastics and field hockey. In high school, she began competing in triathlons and had great success in the sport, traveling to the U.S., Mexico, Japan and Fiji to compete internationally.
Additionally, she earned six national medals in cycling. Badham said she never dreamed of being a cross country runner, and thought she would do field hockey or gymnastics her whole life. However, she changed running coaches junior year of high school, a choice that completely altered her trajectory in life, ultimately leading to where she is now. A college career in running suddenly entered the realm of possibilities when the high school nationals came to her hometown senior year and she decided to compete.
“I’d never done it before, I was like, ‘I’ll just go do it, get a good time,'” Badham said. “I won. I don’t know how, no one knows how. I don’t know how.”
From there, her name got out in the running world, and a few colleges contacted her. She said the idea of going to college in the U.S. never crossed her mind until a fellow runner mentioned the idea. Badham sent out emails to several universities and woke up the next morning to an inbox full of messages from interested coaches. Badham barely had any time to choose, as she started looking in March of her senior year and had to decide by April. In the meantime, she had to scramble to take the proper college entrance exams, as well as apply for a visa and fill out the necessary paperwork.
Badham chose MSU for the cross country head coach Houston Franks. Being so far from home, she said having a this leader in her life was very important in her decision on where to attend for college.
“I just really connected with coach Franks the best,” Badham said. “I just felt so comfortable, and he helped me with the whole entire process, even before I said I was going to come here and I thought, ‘Well, if I was going to spend four years of my life somewhere without my family, I may as well go somewhere with a coach I can be comfortable with.'”
Badham said she also loves the small college town aspect of MSU, something she did not really have back home, as Auckland has a population of over a million and a half people.
“I wanted to go somewhere that was going to be totally different than I could get at home,” Badham said. “I didn’t want to go to a city-centered university, I wanted to go to a college town because you don’t have those in New Zealand at all. I wanted to go somewhere where I could get a really full experience.”
An elementary education major, Badham does not yet have any definite plans for after graduation. Going to college in the U.S. opened a lot of doors, and she plans to keep her options open to see what opportunities arise. Being a student athlete, though challenging, has not been an issue for Badham, due in a large part to the great academic athletic support MSU provides.
Badham set a personal best at the Memphis Twilight Classic earlier this month and is having a great 2018 season, as she also finished 12th in the Falcon Classic two weeks ago. She said her personal goals for the season are to keep improving and to maintain her position in the top five to score points for her team. She also thinks the team is capable of making it to nationals this year.
“I want to stay in the top five in our team, I want to score, I want to score well,” Badham said. “I obviously want to keep progressing, and I want our team to get to nationals for sure. We have a really good chance at it this year.”
Franks praised Badham’s talent and value as a member of the team, despite her being one of the younger, less experienced members.
“She’s going to be a key part to how well we do in cross this year, and at an SEC school, that’s a lot for a sophomore to take on,” Franks said.
One of the unique things about Badham’s running career is how new she is to the sport compared to other runners. The fact she began running cross country toward the end of high school, and now, just a few years later she is a top-five runner at a division one SEC school is testament to her incredible natural skill, though it did pose a few problems to work through.
Franks said recruiting Badham was a bit of a risk due to her lack of running background, but they knew “the engine was there,” and she was very talented. Franks said last season was about Badham’s development and learning how to manage more sustained training.
“(This year) she’s had to take on a little bit higher pressure role, and that’s hard for a sophomore, but I think she’s ready for it,” said Franks.
For Badham, the best part of cross country is the team aspect. Despite the fact cross country is technically an individual sport, the dynamic of the team really impact performance.
“(Cross country) helps us build a really unique relationship with each other,” Badham said. “Cross workouts are so hard. Everyone’s in the same boat, everyone helps each other through it. Some days, people are feeling really really bad and other people are feeling good, and then it all flips around. It’s definitely character building and team building.”
MSU runs at the Greater Louisville Classic this Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky, before going to College Station, Texas, to run in the Arturo Barrios Invitational on Oct. 13.
The Bulldogs are currently a month away from the SEC cross country championships on Oct. 29 in Auburn, Alabama.
