This 10-year-old Orono girl won a national youth race walking event

A few years ago, Dr. Carolyn Lex wanted her daughter, Katie Kent, to participate in the Orono summer track program. Katie was given the option of choosing an event.

“I chose race walking. I really don’t know why,” said Katie.

Her first season was a forgettable one.

She was disqualified in every race.

“It was frustrating. I really wanted to win,” said Katie.

She never gave up on the technical event and proved to be a fast learner.

On Friday morning, Katie Kent captured the 1,500-meter race walk for 9-10 year-olds at the USA Track and Field Youth Outdoor Track Championships at Icahn Stadium in Manhattan.

The 10-year-old girl posted a time of 10:06:03 to edge her friend, Sage Brackley from Auburn, by a mere .44 seconds. Brackley finished in 10:06.47.

“I went all out for three laps but I was getting really tired on the last lap. Sage came up to my side, I pulled ahead a little more, but she passed me. Then I passed her two times,” said Kent. “We went from her beating me to me beating her.”

She called the win “very special” and said racing in New York City was “very exciting.”

Kent and Brackley were not only the fastest finishers in the 9-10 year-old group, the fastest girl in the 11-12 year-old group finished in 11:43.42.

Kent’s time was her personal best and it shattered her previous mark of 10:18 she set the previous week in winning the Junior Olympic qualifier in Brewer.

Kent’s mother has run marathons and when the family goes out for morning walks at the Orono High School track or, in case of inclement weather, the New Balance fieldhouse at the University of Maine, her mother walks at a brisk pace.

Her father, Mark Kent, said his wife offered to help Katie with her race walking career and a younger daughter, 7-year-old Maisie, has also begun her career and won the Maine indoor race walking event in the 8-under category.

Their youngest daughter, 4-year-old Laura, will begin her track career this summer.

It is an athletic family.

In addition to Carolyn Lex, Mark played lacrosse and hockey at Elmira College.

Mark Kent said two of the people who have been inspirations to his daughters have been the White sisters, Ruth and Clara, who coach them in the summer.

Ruth White is an All-American distance runner from Orono High and a three-time Maine Gatorade Cross Country Girls Player of the Year. Younger sister Clara is also among the state’s top distance runners.

Katie has also benefited from spending the past year race walking for Abby Smith and the Maine Race Walkers club based in southern Maine.

They would work out in malls during the winter season and head to southern Maine once every three or four weeks during the season.

“I love it,” said Katie.

Maisie has also started working out with the Maine Race Walkers.

Katie said the thing she enjoys most about race walking is the competition.

“And I love to win,” said Kent, who will be a fifth grader at Asa Adams Elementary School in Orono this fall.