A Paul Kane alumna has become the U of A’s female athlete of the year after a stellar year on the track.
Catharina Kluyts received the Bakewell Trophy April 23 to become the University of Alberta’s 2022 Female Athlete of the Year.
Kluyts, 23, is a former St. Albert resident and Paul Kane student now studying kinesiology at the U of A. She is a track athlete who specializes in the hurdles.
This is the first time in 26 years that a member of the U of A Pandas Track & Field program has won the Bakewell, said Christie Moerman, Kluyts’s coach.
Kluyts was undefeated in the hurdles this season and was declared the Canada West Female Track Athlete of the Year in March. She took gold in the 60-metre hurdles at the U SPORTS Track and Field Championships in New Brunswick on April 1, setting a new Pandas record of 8.21 seconds in the process.
Reached last week at a training camp in California, Kluyts said she went totally blank during that record-setting race, focused as she was on running really fast. The clock initially showed an incorrect time of 8.26 seconds, so she was a bit surprised when it changed to 8.21 and everyone started running up to congratulate her.
“I guess I was going so fast the clock couldn’t keep up!” she joked.
Speed and courage
Kluyts said she competed in a lot of sports when she was growing up in South Africa — swimming, horseback riding, field hockey, “everything under the sun” — but switched to track when her family moved to Alberta. She trained with the St. Albert Mustangs and was later recruited to join the U of A’s track team.
In addition to speed, power, strength, and co-ordination, Kluyts has the confidence needed to succeed on the track in hurdles, especially when the pressure is on at big tournaments, Moerman said.
“It is challenging to be ranked No. 1 in the nation going into nationals,” she said, as everyone’s eyes are upon you.
Kluyts said this was a challenging season, as most of her fellow athletes dropped out or graduated from track during the pandemic.
“When I came back, I was the only [female] hurdler at the U of A.”
While the hurdles require speed and flexibility, Kluyts said the real trick to them is courage — you have to be confident enough to charge up to, and potentially through, the hurdle so you don’t lose speed if you miss your jump.
Kluyts said she plans to keep building her skills with track next season, and hopes to attend some international events after she graduates. Her next challenge is to master the 400-metre hurdles.
“It’s one of the hardest events in track and field,” she said, as it has the power and energy requirements of a race twice as long due to all the jumps.
“‘Death race’ is what people call it.”
Kluyts said she has learned time management, discipline, and responsibility through track, and become a more rounded individual. She encouraged others to try track, noting that there is far more camaraderie and team support in it than one would expect.
“It takes a whole village to help you succeed.”
