GALLERY | THE INSIDE TRACK

MOSCOW, Idaho – The University of Idaho Track and Field program is thrilled to announce the signing of Katja Pattis of A.S.D. Suedtirol Team Club and Realgymnasium schools in Bolzano, Italy.

Katja is a five-time National Champion in Italy. She has twice won the Italian National Mountain Running Championships, 2016 in the under-16 division and 2018 in the U18 division. She also is a talent in the steeple­chase on the track. She has won two National titles in the steeplechase, 2017 in U16 and 2020 in U20. She has a personal best of 6:48.58 in the 2000m steeplechase and 10:51.79 in the 3000m steeplechase. She also has a personal best of 10:09.00 in the flat 3000m.

Katja is also a national champion in cross country, winning the U18 race in 2019. She also has a pair of run­ner-up finishes at the national level in the 2019 Italian Mountain Running Championships and in 2019 in the U18 2000m steeplechase.

Competing at the international level has brought a vast amount of success for Katja as well. She won the World Mountain Running Association U18 Internation­al Mountain Running Cup in 2019, the equivalency of a World Championship race, leading the Italian team to a first-place finish. She also finished fifth in the same In­ternational Cup in 2018, where her team won again.

She has also won several regional races in both track and field and cross country.

"It is exciting having Katja join the team. She brings a lot of national and international experience and with her work in the classroom she is going to find a great home here in the Vandal family," said Tim Cawley, Director of Track and Field/Cross Country.