Athlete of the Week: Kratzberg on fire for Sailors
Newport Harbor High senior Emma Kratzberg must jump over hurdles during the track and field season, but one hurdle caused her problems for a while.
During the recruiting process, Colorado State told her they wanted her to run a sub-44 second time in the 300-meter hurdles. Easier said than done.
“I had been working on it week after week after week, continuously running 44s and so disappointed,” Kratzberg said.
She finally broke through on March 26 at the Beach Cities Invitational meet, completing the race in 43.38 seconds. The moment meant more to Kratzberg, not just because of the time ran but because of the people there.
Teammates like Paige Fults, Lauren Loucks, Holly Clemence, Helen Coyne and Lexi Johnson made sure to congratulate Kratzberg.
“As soon as I crossed the finish line, several members of my team came running across the field and attacked me with hugs,” she said. “It was probably the best moment ever, because I just knew that my team had my back and everyone had been rooting for me. They actually had a timer to see if I got the time or not. It was the best moment, because I love the team aspect of it. It made me smile to know that I have such cool people on my side.”
Things have been, well, cool for Kratzberg this spring. The Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week has now verbally committed to Colorado State, and plans to sign with the Rams on Wednesday. That time she ran, the 43.38? That’s currently the fourth-fastest time in the 300 hurdles in the state of California.
Eyes will be on Kratzberg on Saturday night at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational, where she’ll be one of nine runners to compete in the 300 hurdles invitational race at 7:26 p.m. Kratzberg is also competing in the 100 hurdles seeded race, which is scheduled for 6:20 p.m.
Rain is in the forecast for Saturday night. Kratzberg and Newport Harbor Coach Eric Tweit hope for good conditions.
“It’s all going to come down to timing,” Tweit said. “I’ll take from 6 o’clock to 7:25 [with no rain]. If it’s raining hard, the hurdles aren’t your safest race when there’s water on the track. The key thing for her is the safety factor. [Arcadia] is not that important. It’s very important, but the most important meets are the ones at the end of the season.”
Indeed, Kratzberg wants to make it to the CIF State Meet this season after her season ended last year at the CIF Southern Section Division 2 finals. She was close to moving on to the Masters Meet, finishing 11th in the 300 hurdles among all divisions when she needed a top-nine finish to advance.
Instead it was then-senior Hope Bender, who now runs at UC Santa Barbara, who made it all the way to state, finishing eighth in the 300 hurdles. Bender also set the Orange County record in the event at the Division 2 finals, a 42.51, lowering that to 42.18 at the CIF State preliminaries in Fresno.
It’s Kratzberg who now has the spotlight in her senior season, and she’s confident. She’s seen her own progress.
“I remember last season I was 11th in the county, and that was a huge thing for me,” she said. “So the fact that I’ve gone from 11th in the county to fourth in the state in a year, that’s honestly kind of mind-blowing, in my opinion. It makes me happy to think about. It’s definitely come with a lot of hard work; it wasn’t given to me free.”
But it’s not all hurdles all the time for Kratzberg. She’s also taken quite a liking to the 400 meters. She set the school record in that event last weekend at the Trabuco Hills Invitational, a 56.88 that was a personal-best by more than a second. She earned Girls’ Track Athlete of the Meet honors, also placing fourth in the 200, where she’s close to Bender’s school record of 25.40.
Kratzberg lowered that 400 school record on Wednesday in a Sunset League tri-meet at Los Alamitos High, running a 56.45. Still, she was just second place in that race behind Los Al standout Ashley Willingham, who is sixth in the state in the event. But Kratzberg didn’t mind. She liked that competition of racing against someone like Willingham, knowing that it could push her to another personal best.
An attitude like that is why Tweit, in his 37th year of coaching at Newport Harbor, loves having Kratzberg around. For the second straight year, she’s also an important member of the Sailors’ 4x400 team, which also includes fellow seniors Fults and Loucks as well as Coyne, a freshman. Last year, Bender, Kratzberg, Fults and Loucks set the school record in the event.
“In all the years I’ve coached we’ve never had anybody better — maybe a couple equal — as far as loving to compete and loving to practice,” Tweit said. “Emma’s always upbeat, she always wants to work hard. She loves to race. I mean, she’s just really excited about it.”
Kratzberg has reason to be excited in her senior season. It’s been a full one, unlike her junior year, when she had to miss the first 30 days after transferring from CdM.
The Sailors have been training at Corona del Mar High this season, since Newport Harbor’s Davidson Field is closed for renovations. One might think that would be awkward for Kratzberg, who used to attend CdM, but she said she’s been using it as positive and reconnecting with many of her CdM friends.
It makes sense. She has a warm personality, on and off the track, laughing often.
“I’m one of the people who at the starting line will be like, ‘Hey everybody, good luck!’” Kratzberg said. “I’m a team player in that sense. I’m not a huge rival person. I think that track is definitely a sport where you’re competing against everyone, but when it comes down to it, we’re all just track athletes trying to do our best.”
Kratzberg will continue trying to do that as she pushes for the CIF State Meet. Does she have a time goal for the 300 hurdles? Yes, but she’s not telling.
“I’m not going to say it,” she said. “I want to see what I can do on my own first, before I publish what I want to run. I definitely have a goal to drop my time a lot ... [but] I feel like I’ll jinx it if I say it out loud.”
She doesn’t have to say the time, just run it on the track.
It will be even better if her teammates are there to share the moment.
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Emma Kratzberg
Born: July 23, 1997
Hometown: Newport Beach
Height: 5-foot-6
Sport: Track and field
Year: Senior
Coach: Eric Tweit
Favorite food: Chicken tacos
Favorite movie: “Deadpool”
Favorite athletic moment: Running a personal-best 43.38 in the 300-meter hurdles at the Beach Cities Invitational this season.
Week in review: Kratzberg won the 400 in a school-record 56.88 seconds at the Trabuco Hills Invitational, and was fourth in the 200 in 25.78. She was named Girls’ Track Athlete of the Meet.
