Katie Miale is January 2022 co-Athlete of the Month

Katie Miale of the New England Walkers is the USATF New England co-Ahlete of the Month for January 2022. The race walker, who moved to the Boston area in 2021 after graduating from Marist College, had a busy and successful month of competition.  In the two USATF-NE open meets held at Wheaton College, Katie raced at 1 mile and 3000 meters, and qualified for the 2022 Millrose Games which hosted the USATF Indoor 3000m Race Walk Championship race.  In the USATF championship on January 29 at the New York City Armory, Katie placed 6th in 14:38.49, just several seconds off her Personal Best.
USATF-NE talked with Katie about race walking and her compeititions.

USATF-New England:  How were you introduced to the sport of track as well as race walking? Have you always enjoyed great success?
Katie Miale:  I grew up in New York where we’re fortunate to have the walk as a high school event, which is how I first got exposed to it. I wasn’t the fastest runner as a freshman and I really wanted to qualify for the County Championships, so I decided to try out the racewalk. I ended up being the only race walker on my team to not qualify that year, but I stuck with it and improved a lot the following years!

USATF-NE:  Walk (no pun intended) us through your race at the Millrose Games which was also the USATF 300m Championships. What was it like attending and competing at such a high level meet?
KM:  This was my fifth Millrose Games and fourth USA Indoor Championships and it was really exciting to have the two combined this year; the Armory has always felt like my home track after racing there all throughout high school and much of college!  I struggled for a really long time at these high caliber meets to feel like I really belonged, but I feel I'm finally starting to hit my stride and come into my own.

USATF-NE:  How different was it for you to compete at a meet at Wheaton College in comparison to with professionals at the big meets?
KM:  The meets at Wheaton College this year have been a blast! Since they’re earlier in the season and a little more low-key, they gave me the ability to take chances with race strategy that I probably wouldn’t at a championship level meet. I actually raced my 3000 meter PR at the second Wheaton meet (Note: she bettered that time again at the USATF-NE championship in Providence on February 20). With Covid, opportunities for indoor races the past few years have been scarce, so I was grateful to have these races to tune up and go into USAs feeling more prepared.

USATF-NE:  Describe how you've become a high level competitor in race walking. Who helped you reach where you are today, and how do you like representing a club after college?
KM:  I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by extremely hard working, talented girls at both Monroe-Woodbury High School and Marist College. I knew that when I showed up to practice each day, they were going to give it their all, and I owed it to them as a teammate to match that same energy. I definitely struggled not having that team structure immediately after college, so it’s been great having a group in Boston to train with!

USATF-NE:  Beyond race walking, what takes up the most of your time?
KM:  Outside of track, I work full time as a Senior Allocation Analyst at The TJX Companies! I actually just relocated to Boston in September, so I love going out with friends and exploring the city!