For a year, freshman Katja Goldring didn’t have a team.
She was one of the top cross-country runners in the nation, but she didn’t have anyone to run with.
She was of high-school age, but she didn’t go to a high school.
But now, more than a year after she passed out of high school and began her solo quest for a spot at UCLA, she has it all.
Maybe that’s why she gets so excited about the grueling training she endures and countless miles she runs every day.
“She has expressed how exciting it is for her to be on a team and come to practice every day; to have people run with her and push her,” coach Eric Peterson said. “She is as excited leaving a competition as she is at a practice.”
An abnormal path
Before entering UCLA, Goldring did not have what would be considered a normal athletic career.
The status quo for collegiate athletes is to attend high school, participate in the recruiting process, graduate and finally enroll in college. For Goldring, these standard elements came a little out of order.
“I left (high school) spring semester my junior year,” Goldring said. “I just really didn’t like high school, and I felt like I was kind of wasting my time there.”
Upon her departure from Hamilton Senior High School in Los Angeles after testing out, Goldring began attending classes at Santa Monica City College. She said her decision to leave Hamilton had nothing to do with athletics but was for academic reasons.
“I was scared when I left,” Goldring said. “I was younger than everyone, and I was taking classes that were above my head, but for the first time I was challenged instead of sitting in class doing nothing.”
While taking classes at community college, she began auditing classes at UCLA. Essentially, she would sit in and observe classes offered on campus without getting any credit as an official student.
For Goldring, who lives only six miles from UCLA, becoming a Bruin was one of her top priorities.
“I really like the combination of being able to do sports at a high level and academics at a high level,” Goldring said. “A lot of schools have one or the other, but I feel like here you can do both. That’s really what I was looking for.”
Upon establishing that she wanted to attend UCLA, Goldring then had to be cleared to participate in intercollegiate athletics. Because she did not fit the standard mold of NCAA’s explicit eligibility requirements, Goldring needed to complete a few extra steps in the enrollment process to become an official UCLA student.
“It wasn’t a problem, it was a process,” Peterson said. “It’s one that a person who stays at high school, with one transcript to submit to the NCAA, has no problems. You just have to take one or two more steps to be cleared. There is just more work than a typical student.”
Goldring credits her mother and the compliance office here at UCLA in helping her petition to enroll.
“I figured things would figure themselves out eventually,” Goldring said. “I just took one day at a time”
Excited and excelling
Goldring said she began running because she originally played soccer. Running became her main focus for practical reasons, as the cost of traveling too far cut soccer out.
Before giving up her eligibility in high school, she finished fourth in the 2006 California State Meet in the 3,200 meters.
Goldring had begun to set herself apart as a top runner, but it would be harder to monitor progress when she was not running against people her own age.
She continued training on her own with a private coach and in 2008 placed 11th at the USA Track and Field Junior National Cross Country Championships.
“When she placed 11th, I knew we were going to get someone who would step right in and take a place on our team,” Peterson said.
Goldring began to excel once she got her feet wet at UCLA and has been the top Bruin runner in the three meets of this season. For Goldring though, the top finishes are not what are important to her.
“I just like running, and when we race I try to run my race,” Goldring said. “I guess I came in first for our team so that’s pretty cool, but I could have just as easily come in second. I don’t really think about it that much, I just go and run.”
Coming from a high school that Goldring says did not really have a team, it thrills her to be part of the UCLA squad. As a result, Goldring’s philosophy has developed into a team-first attitude. She does not take her team for granted because she knows what it is like to not have one.
“Coming onto a team for the first time and having people to train with and race with, she’s expressed a lot of enthusiasm, and I think it’s infectious,” junior Lauren Jirges said. “Everyday she is excited and willing to do whatever. It rubs off on the rest of us and makes us more excited.”
Peterson agreed with this view. He said there might have been reservations about Goldring before she joined the team because she had such a unique situation. He did not know what to expect, but any doubts he had went out the door after the first day of practice.
He said that besides her running abilities, she has proven herself to be an asset to the team through her personality and other characteristics that are not as easily defined as finishing places and times.
“I am so pleased with the level of excitement and enthusiasm and positive feelings she has toward the other members of the team, being part of UCLA, being part of a team,” Peterson said. “I’ve been very pleased with her adaptability.”
Maybe one of the better examples of Goldring’s dedication and enthusiasm about running came over the summer.
Her family took a vacation to Italy, and rather than focusing on pasta, pizza and sightseeing, Goldring stuck to her training regiment.
She never took time off, even in Italy, because she wouldn’t accept falling behind.
To Goldring, Italy was just a beautiful new venue to practice her passion.
“It’s mountains and beautiful, so coming from here it’s just such a change,” Goldring said. “You can’t not run there; it makes you want to go out and run.”
With a new team and a full season ahead of her, Goldring has only begun to show what she can do. She lists making it to nationals as a team goal, and said that she would be content knowing she had helped contribute to the team goal.
“She just keeps pushing and just keeps moving,” Jirges said. “If she believes that she can really be up at the front, then she can lead our team to that goal. I think all of us really believe she can really break out.
“I think all of us are really excited for her, and we know she has so much more potential, which is pretty incredible.”