MANY INCREDIBLE students are on Coffee County High School’s (CCHS) track and cross-country teams, but one particular member has really excelled this year. Junior Kailee Rossman recently broke the CCHS 3200-meter record and went to the state championship in cross-country this past year, along with sophomore Fletcher Barnard, for her third time. Previously, she qualified in cross-country as a team in 2021 and in track on the 4×800 relay team in 2022.
Track and cross-country aren’t recent hobbies. Kailee has been running since fourth grade, eventually joining both the track and cross-country teams in high school. Kailee said she enjoys running so much because of the sense of achievement that follows a race.
“It feels so good just to know that you just did that and know that you worked so hard for that,” Kailee said.
However, enjoyment and experience alone aren’t all that have made her excel. Her coach and father, Matt Rossman, said her success comes from a lot of hard work, a desire to succeed, and especially older teammates who showed her how to take the sport seriously.
“Obviously, anyone at that level… they have to have a certain level of talent,” Matt said. “She was fortunate enough to have some people that graduated before her that are in college now that really kind of paved the way for her and really showed her how to train and how to just get better at her sport.”
Kailee said one particular teammate, Patricia Barrera, mentored her in middle school and again in high school, keeping her on track with training.
“[She] always encouraged me and kept me accountable and just pushed me to do my best,” Kailee said. “Last year, I started catching up with her, so it was just good to have a running buddy and a racing buddy to push me in my races.”
Kailee said the most important thing she has learned is that consistency in running is key. For Kailee, practice is something you have to commit to every day, even on weekends and over breaks. That intentional, consistent work, she said, is what has made her faster.
“It’s definitely a lot of work that you have to put in outside of practice,” Kailee said. “A lot of people don’t understand that you get out what you put in.”
Kailee doesn’t plan for her achievements to end this year. For her senior year, she hopes to break the school cross-country record, as well as several track records. After she graduates, Kailee intends to continue running in college.
“I’m one second away from the 1600-meter school record, and I would really like to break that and possibly the 800-meter school record,” Kailee said. “I’m a little bit further from that, but I think if I put in the work, I think I could do that.”
While those goals are important, Matt said, there are other things he would like her to work toward as well. The girls team is young this year, and he wants Kailee to be an example to the others.
“She’ll be a senior next year. As a coach, I want her to kind of be a leader on the team,” Matt said. “I want her to be a leader that others can look up to like she looked up to others before her.”
While Matt has goals for her as a coach, he said as a father, he simply wants to see her happy.
“I want to see her enjoy the sport and love it,” Matt said. “She’s wanting to run in college and has had a few college scholarship offers, so [for her] just to be able to not see it as a job and something you have to do, but something that she really enjoys and is passionate about. And I think as a dad, that’s the most important thing.” GN
