Northern Lehigh’s Katelynn Barthold recently announced that she will be attending Lafayette College to continue her career in track and field while also majoring in biochemistry.

“I went and visited the college because their coach (Anthony Dentino) had reached out to me on Instagram,” she said. “He’s newer there, and a bunch of the girls said they really liked him and that he’s a really good coach. He showed me a lot of interest, which to me was like a very good sign. He wanted me a part of the team.

“And then the girls on the team also share the same major as me and also succeed in it and have the same goals as I do. So that was just another bonus that they’re able to succeed academically and athletically. It’s just an amazing feeling that someone wants you to basically become a part of their family and their team. And to me, it was just a very big thing for me that they showed so much interest.”

Along with her sister Dekota, who will be attending Delaware Valley University to pursue soccer and track/field, Katelynn has been involved in athletics since her early childhood. Both sisters grew up in a family with a heavily experienced background involving sports.

“I grew up playing soccer; I started when I was four or five,” said Katelynn. “Basketball I started in second grade. Then I played softball actually before COVID happened, and then I eventually stopped playing because it was just not for me. My family actually is a softball/baseball family, and my pop played hockey and football. So growing up I always played 3-4 sports at a time.

“I never really grew up playing travel. Sometimes I would go to camps for all the different sports, but I eventually only played two or three years for club soccer. In middle school I started running track, and I just fell in love with it.”

The well-rounded senior athlete has put her mark on Northern Lehigh during her high school career, which includes becoming a 1,000-point scorer in girls basketball, and breaking the school’s goal record in girls soccer.

But what made Katelynn decide to continue pursuing track over other sports?

“Going through Northern Lehigh, we have had a lot of injuries; ACL, meniscus, concussions, all of that,” she said. “Then those people obviously have to sit out and your other athletes are left, and you have to pick up more of the work. So then it’s just more workload on you, and you kind of have to show (up) for it.

“In track, you don’t really have that problem because it’s more individual. I run the relay, so I have to depend on three others, but it’s less depending on others and more of an individual sport. So that’s why I chose track honestly, and it just feels good to have the relays, but then also be able to do individual (competition) at the same time.”

Amidst the adversity she has experienced during her high school career, Barthold believes that playing through these types of situations will provide significant benefits to her development as a collegiate athlete.

“I feel like being under that stress really allows a good player or runner to show through,” she said. “Same thing with basketball; it’s a smaller team but we still suffered injuries there too. And then it just allows you to shine more and develop more individual play and skill to make yourself better for your team.

“Coach Dentino actually mentioned to me he likes my mindset of playing with the team and aggression because he feels like it’s a good mindset for the 800, which is what I run. So him telling me that just kind of showed me that this mindset’s going to help. This is what this coach is looking for, and I have that.”

Despite her family’s rich background in sports, Barthold has reached an athletic level that no one else in her family has accomplished before. She now becomes the first member of the Barthold household to reach the Division 1 level of collegiate sports; a feat that her supporters have shown great support.

“Academically, they were all really happy (I’m going to Lafayette) ... it’s such a good school for academics, which really made me happy,” she said. “Then I feel like, athletically, no one was really surprised I was going at that high of a level for athletics. Everyone was so super proud of me, especially (NL head track) coach (Michael) Lehtonen and my family.”