Athlete of the Week - Arabella Knudson, Kasson-Mantorville Track and Field

KASSON, Minn. (KTTC) – The girl’s 100-meter race was the first school record Arabella Knudson broke in 12.58 seconds. With the record, it fueled Knudson through the rest of the meet.

“So once I found out that I hit that 12.58 mark, I was just like all the energy was just back into me,” said Knudson. “I wasn’t tired anymore, like, I could probably run a mile after that.”

It only took 300 more meters to break two more records. The next was a relay event: the 4x100. Anchoring the relay, her focus wasn’t fully on this record.

“Get my team in a good spot,” stated Arabella. “Like just push, try to get through it, and just try to be there for them and try and end it good for all of us.”

Two records were already in her name, and the third came in an event she’s only run twice this season: the 200-meter. She still wasn’t tired.

“I feel like I wasn’t even that gassed just because I had broken two records previous,” recalled Knudson. “I was like don’t expect yourself to beat this one. I mean, you are close but don’t expect yourself to break it. Just P-R, just P-R. You’re good. I ran it. I felt good, and when my coach, Ally, told me, all the energy back into me.”

Knudson’s coach sees a high ceiling in the future.

“If she pushes herself to what she could push herself to and work as hard as she can work, the sky is the limit,” claimed Komets Track and Field Head Coach, Ally Schlaeger. “She could go... She could go D-1.”

Knudson missed all of her sophomore track season but is putting in work to turn a dream into reality.

“Maybe I can do this, and I’ve done a lot of college research,” mentioned Knudson. “I do a lot of pros and cons lists, and it just really settled in like at the beginning of the season, when I started getting those like times that actually could qualify. I was like maybe I can... Maybe I can get those dreams that I’ve always thought of.

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