02-06-2025
Running and go-karts: Marion County Female Athlete of Year races on two types of tracks
Kaelina Matthews had a plenty of experience in racing, though it took her a little while to warm up to the idea of running in front of people.
When she was 3 or 4 years old, she lined up for the kids' race at the Drumstick Dash. 'She didn't realize everyone was going to watch her,' said her father, Brian Matthews. 'She was like, 'I want no part of this.''
Fast forward a few years later. Kaelina was a third grader, running her first cross country race with a fourth-grade friend. She started off slowly, chatting with her friend near the back of the pack.
'I said, 'You gotta run, Kaelina,' and she was like, 'OK,' and just took off,' Brian said. 'She ran everybody down and went from being like 12th to second by the by the time she finished. From that point on, she was like, 'I like racing, and I like winning. Let's do it.''
Matthews, now closing out her senior year of high school at North Central, has kept up the pace ever since, running cross-country and track for the Panthers. Matthews won the sectional and regional championships in the 800 meters (running a 2:14.82 in the latter) and will compete in the state track meet on her home track Saturday in that event and with North Central's 4x800 meter relay team.
She will go into that final high school meet with a new title: Marion County Female Athlete of the Year for 2024-25. Matthews was selected as the winner by a vote of athletic directors in Marion County. The honor dates to 1950 (it grew to include female athletes in 1979) and is regarded as one of the top recognition awards for Indianapolis-area senior high school athletes.
Other finalists for the award were Lawrence Central basketball star Jaylah Lampley and Lawrence North basketball and track and field standout Jamaya Thomas.
Matthews took to the long-distance races when she started running. But when she got to North Central, she found her favorite — and best — distance.
'For the longest time I tried to convince myself I was a cross-country kid,' Matthews said. 'Then I made it to high school and did my first season of track there, did the 800 for the first time and said, 'This is going to be my race.' I just love the 800 so much.'
The 800 is arguably the toughest race in track and field, requiring a blend of speed, endurance and mental toughness. 'Embrace the suck,' is what her father used to tell her. That mantra is repeated in her head 'every single race.'
'It's helped me in other aspects of my life and developing mental toughness to compete well in the 800,' she said. 'I feel like I've always embraced it, knowing it's always going to make me better in the end.'
Matthews has thrived in both cross-country and track and field. She was a three-time all-Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference performer in cross-country, winning the MIC meet as a senior. In track, she won the 800 and 1,600 meters in the MIC as a senior and was part of school records in the 4x800 and distance medley relay.
'I would say a lot of my confidence comes from running,' she said. 'Being able to support younger girls and see how fast everyone has gotten around me has been fun. To grow up around my parents who have been running their whole lives and see they are still doing it — this is a lifelong sport you can do. I'd definitely say running is what made me the person I am today.'
Kaelina's parents, Brian and Amy, knew plenty about running. Both have competed in multiple marathons. But a different type of racing piqued their daughter's interest one day when she watched a Formula 1 race. Kaelina, the National Honors Society student that she is, did her research. She did not want to just learn about racing — she wanted to do it herself.
'She has a love for adrenaline,' Amy said.
Kaelina found out she needed to get into go-kart racing as an entry point. She had a friend who raced at New Castle Motorsports Park and went out one weekend to check it out. While there, one of her friend's acquaintances told her they were selling a kart and told to her to come test it the next weekend.
'I went out and tested it and loved it,' she said. 'We ended up getting the kart.'
Kaelina was 16 at the time, a relatively late start in a sport where kids often start racing at age 6 or 7.
'I was all for it,' Brian said. 'I was happy to support her. I said, 'Here's an opportunity for you. If you are interested in it, you might as well pursue it.''
There are some similarities from running and racing, Kaelina said. There is the race strategy of 'when do I make my move?' and the supportive community within the sport. 'I wasn't expecting that,' she said. 'Especially knowing how cutthroat racing can be at the top levels.'
But the actual racing was only part of Kaelina's interest in getting involved at New Castle, where IndyCar drivers like Conor Daly and Josef Newgarden began their racing careers. She also saw it as an entry point into her goal of working as a mechanic for a top IndyCar team.
Kaelina plans to continue racing karts even as she gets into college at Marian University, where she plans to run cross-country and track and major in mechanical engineering. She has made some connections already and hopes to get an internship next year with Andretti Autosport or Chip Ganassi Racing.
'I'd love to work at being a mechanic and traveling around from race to race and doing whatever they need me to do,' Kaelina said. 'Once I get closer to graduating college, I'd like to get more specific with my internship and hopefully work more closely with the engineers.'
Kaelina said her interested in engineering goes back about 10 years. She originally thought about going into the Air Force and working on planes but pivoted away from that idea when she got interested in cars. Kaelina has already connected with a few women involved in the motorsports world.
'When she sets her mind to something, whether it's running, karting or other things, too, she is very driven and very capable,' Amy Matthews said.
Kaelina recently transitioned into shifter karts, which go about 80 to 100 miles per hour. After her first day with the shifter, she told her mom how much she loved it.
'She was over the moon about it,' Amy said. 'But I don't know that I had too many nerves because she's always liked adrenaline-related things. They do a good job at New Castle of catching the right things from a safety standpoint. That made me feel better that it was a good place to be racing, even as a new racer.'
Kaelina is goal-oriented, keeping a whiteboard in her room with a list of things she hopes to accomplish. One of those goals was winning the Marion County Female Athlete of the Year. But many of her goals in the spring track were in jeopardy when she got COVID in December. It was a rough recovery for Kaelina, who even considered not doing track at all because she had to take three months off from running.
'It really hit me during finals of the first semester,' she said. 'I couldn't breathe (deeply), was having heart issues and short-term memory issues. I kept trying to run but it just wasn't happening. Usually when I get an illness, I handle it pretty well. But this one took me out.'
She finally was able to return in March and eventually worked her way back in her conditioning. And now, she will be able to run a final race at the state meet at North Central.
'I'm so grateful for North Central,' she said. 'There was a time when I didn't know if it was going to be the right spot for me. But the lessons I've learned and the teams I've been on have just been incredible. I know everyone says not to take for granted the time that you have, but it's so true. I'd tell anyone to put in the work and don't sell yourself short.'
