Sept. 10, 2009
By Stephanie Hayes
UCFAthletics.com
For twin sisters Kathia and Katrina Skinner, cross country is more than just a sport. At the risk of sounding cliché, it truly is a way of life for the girls. Between summer training for cross country and the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons , there really is little time for a break, but these two aren't complaining.
The sisters have been running together competitively since eighth grade, quickly coming to realize their talent for cross-country. As twins competing in the same sport, it is a natural assumption that the two would experience the stereotypical sibling rivalry that would accompany such a situation. Kathia and Katrina nevertheless use this competitive nature to their advantage by applying it in a positive way to benefit both runners.
In Katrina's words, "We're competitive against each other in the sense that we know we have the same potential so we wouldn't want one of us to outdo the other one in practice. It's not a negative competition, it's `Now I know what I'm capable of, I'm not going to accept anything less.'"
"We train together so we try to pace with each other in workouts," said Kathia. "There's no reason in a race that she should be up in front and I should be in back, so we're competitive in that we want to be with each other."
The Skinners did not always plan on attending college together, but when the time to make a decision came around, they found that coming to UCF together was the best option. And though they attend the same school, and have trained together their entire careers, the twins do differ in terms of their strength within the sport.
"I have a little bit more foot speed than her," said Kathia, "but she's mentally better when it comes to longer distances. I think it's mental for both of us. It's not that I'm physically better at shorter distances and she's not physically better at long distances."
Katrina agreed, saying "I can just mentally put myself through longer distances." The sisters do not only share a passion for running. Kathia and Katrina, like most twins, have many qualities in common. Outside of cross-country, both girls enjoy singing, dancing and writing poetry. Having grown up together, the two also share the same morals and values.
Prepped for the 2009-2010 season, Kathia and Katrina have both set individual goals to push themselves to become stronger competitors.
"I would like to break my personal record," said Katrina, "Try to go under 18 and be in the high 17's. I would just like to have a more positive season."
Kathia has similar goals. "For time, I would say about the same thing (as Katrina)," Kathia said. "I would like to be able to push through the hardest parts of the race and that pain barrier. I would just like to be more positive and motivated towards that."
The next chance to see the Skinners in action is this Saturday, Sept. 12 when UCF hosts the Black and Gold Invitational at 9 a.m. at the UCF campus.