WEST SUNBURY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Katelyn Reott wasn’t exactly sure how she was going to make the choice.
The decision seemed impossible. So, she put it off.
Finally, the Moniteau senior swimmer, famous for finishing fast in the pool, had run out of time.
(Pictured above, Katelyn Reott signs her national letter of intent recently to swim at Gannon. With her are, from left to right, her mother, Debbie, Father, Douglass, and Moniteau athletic director Luke Kunkel.)
“I was trying to decide between Gannon and Edinboro for probably a couple of months,” Reott said. “I was on my senior trip and the Gannon coach had texted me and said that she needed a decision because they were filling out the paperwork for next year and finalizing the roster.”
When Reott returned home, she and her father, Douglass, sat down and hashed it out.
Pros and cons of each school.
When all the factors were weighed, and then weighed again, Gannon came out on top.
“The next day I texted her and told her I was choosing Gannon,” Reott said. “And I also texted the Edinboro coach and thanked him for everything, for putting in the effort to try to get me to go there. He definitely did do a lot and I loved him as a coach.”
Reott, though, is content with her choice.
She believes Gannon is the best fit for her, both academically and athletically.
Reott plans on majoring in biology, pre-med. She wants to be a physician’s assistant in the field of dermatology.
It’s a six-year program at Gannon.
She’ll spend four of those years in the pool.
“I’m really excited,” Reott said. “When I went to visit again, I really liked the people on the team and the sprinting coach. I really liked the dorms and the area itself and the campus.”
Reott had an interesting high school swimming career.
Moniteau doesn’t have a swimming team, so Reott was a nomad, latching on where she could as an independent swimmer to get time in the water and places to compete.
Despite the adversity, Reott excelled.
She won eight District 9 gold medals in her career, snagging four in the 50-yard freestyle, three in the 100 breaststroke, and one in the 100 backstroke.
At the PIAA meet, she won a pair of fifth-place medals in the 50 free. She is the only Moniteau swimmer to place at the state meet.
Life as an independent swimmer was often lonely for Reott. At times, she felt isolated.
That’s one of the reasons why she looking forward to being on a team at the next level.
“I’m excited to have people there to support me because I didn’t have that in high school,” Reott said. “Even with my YMCA team (the Barracudas), a lot of them were younger. Everyone (at Gannon) is going to be around my age. It’s gonna be nice to have that type of support system that I haven’t had yet.”
Reott said she was fortunate to have support from programs around the area, like Slippery Rock, which welcomed her to their pools.
“I’m definitely lucky,” she said. “I’m thankful that I had those opportunities during my high school career because it made it kind of special.”
Reott is a sprinter at heart in the pool.
But she wants to branch out a bit at Gannon and add longer races to her docket.
To do that, she plans on working hard this summer to get stronger and build up her endurance.
She already has some big goals for her collegiate career.
“I’m hoping to swim on their A relay and help them out with that and maybe get some team records,” Reott said. “My first year, I want to just do well at the PSAC meet and help the whole team as much as I can.”
Reott is a sprinter not only in the pool.
This spring she ran a leg of Moniteau’s 4×100 relay team with Jenna Zendron, Rylee Long, and Allie Pry that set the school record, finished second by a whisker at the D9 meet, and qualified for the PIAA Track and Field Championships.
Reott also has school records in the pool.
“I was really happy about that,” Reott said. “Our record is on the board and leaving high school it will still be there. It feels good to have those records.”
