For senior Kitty Gechlik and her younger brother Jacob, a junior, being physically active and competing in sports runs deep in their veins and connects them as siblings.
Since 2012, Jacob and Kitty have consistently gone on family ski trips every winter, February and spring break.
The siblings enrolled in ski school together and were also mentored by their dad, a longtime expert skier. Their dad followed a rigorous approach to teaching, even taking the siblings down a highly demanding Black Diamond slope on their first day. Not long after, both siblings were comfortably going down double Black Diamonds.
Over the years, both siblings have found a love for these family ski trips. While Jacob and Kitty both enjoy solo runs, skiing as a family has allowed them to bond with their father and also strengthened their connection as siblings.
Jacob poses in front of the mountains while Kitty takes his picture.
“It’s a lot of exploration,” Kitty said. “It’s better to have someone to ski with because it’s a really time-consuming sport and people don’t realize how much it can take a toll on your body, so if you don’t have someone to push you to do another run you’ll feel unmotivated to go.”
Over time, Jacob has found as he grows with skiing, his competitiveness with sports in general has decreased healthily.
“Skiing with her has allowed me to abandon my insecurities and just enjoy the experience,” Jacob said. “For instance, at ages three to seven, I cared a lot about falling on the slopes because I thought it made me a bad skier and I wanted to surpass Kitty. But, over the years skiing with her, I’ve learned to care a lot less because everyone either forgets about or understands your mishaps on slopes, which aren’t worth stressing over.”
Courtesy of Kitty Gechlik
Jacob jumps off a ramp to start his descent down the mountain as Kitty cheers him on.
In addition to skiing, the Gechliks pursued a variety of sports when they were younger, including karate, tennis, swimming and track, but ultimately decided to focus their efforts exclusively on track and skiing.
Although the two sports are vastly different in some ways, the two have found that skills they’ve picked up from skiing have directly translated to their running skills as well.
“Skiing so much over the years has really developed my sense of balance and my leg power,” Kitty said. “When I’m going down complicated slopes at high speeds I have to think about how to synchronize my arms and my body, which is similar to how you have to control pumping your arms when sprinting. I’d say [both sports] are extremely dynamic and require you to focus on not just your legs but your entire body.”
Courtesy of Kitty Gechlik
Kitty tucks in her poles as she accelerates down the slope.
Kitty began competitive running in sixth grade and attended county finals that same year. She continued running through seventh and eighth grade, but her training was significantly limited due to COVID-19 restrictions. She resumed running in freshman year, serving as an alternate for varsity relays and focusing on short-distance sprinting.
Kitty maintained track all through high school and is currently serving her second year as a captain, which she achieved in her junior year. Outside of school track, she helps train the Redwood Middle School track team. During the spring, training and coaching combined take up four hours each day, which remains a huge time commitment for Kitty.
Influenced by his sister, Jacob also began running in sixth grade. In freshman year, he first took on cross country and continued his running pursuits in track. He focuses on long-distance events in track, running the 800m, 1600m and 3200m races.
While Kitty focuses on sprinting and Jacob targets long-distance, the siblings have a similar training schedule and heavily rely on each other for support.
“You always have someone who understands what you’re going through in terms of time management,” she said. “Without someone who understands, it would’ve been much harder because training and coaching is a huge time commitment.”
Outside of school, the duo occasionally runs or goes to the gym together, working around their different running distances. Having run on the same team since sophomore year, both siblings attend the same track practices, making it convenient to coordinate schedules.
Kitty said, “Ever since we’ve run on the same team, I’ve gotten endless support from him and his friends, who would always cheer on the sidelines. At the end of a 400 when my legs are giving out, I would hear “Go Kitty!” and it was really sweet and gave me an extra burst of energy to push through.”
However, there are inevitable downsides to training in the same sport, such as sibling rivalry, which Jacob said especially occurred in karate.
Another small hindrance the duo faces is being one year apart, resulting in and having different focuses given that they’re at slightly different points of their lives. Each pointed to junior-year academics as a challenge when it comes to training.
Nevertheless, the Gechlik siblings’ shared love for sports has shaped their lives invaluably, forging a lasting bond between the two that allows them to share every challenge and triumph.
Said Jacob: “Whenever I always hear ‘弟弟 (little brother) go!’ in the middle of a run, I’m reminded that I’m extremely lucky to share a sport with a sister who supports me through anything, whether that be a bad day, tough practice session or nerve-racking race.”
