Sitting out her freshman season last year was difficult for Kate Powers, as her competitive drive had to be focused on training and not taking part in any meets for the University of Kentucky track and field team. But the redshirt season is paying dividends for the Hopkinton High graduate, and Powers already has broken one school record and has more in her sights.

“The redshirt was hard, I will not lie, because competition is so much of who I am as a person,” Powers said. “Having that taken away a little bit was hard, but I feel like it has made this year so much more satisfying knowing that the hard work has paid off.”

Powers set Kentucky’s freshman record in the indoor weight throw with a throw of 68 feet, 3 inches and is sixth on the program’s all-time list in that event. She already has earned multiple high finishes at meets, including a pair of second-place finishes. Powers credits the intense training regimen during her first year on campus, during which she lifted weights for two to three hours three times per week and spent at least two days per week working on her throwing.

“It was a grind,” she said. “It was hard also because my throwing coach would be gone for the regular-season meets, so I had to record my throws and do some remote coaching that I wasn’t necessarily used to.”

University of Kentucky redshirt freshman Kate Powers already ranks sixth in school history in the indoor weight throw. PHOTO/CALEB BOWLIN/UK ATHLETICS

Powers said the training routine was more rigorous than what she had experienced in high school. She also has gained more experience in the weight and hammer throws, which were not official events at the high school level in Massachusetts.

“I love the hammer and the weight, I have fallen in love with them,” Powers said, adding that discus, which is an outdoor event, always will be her first track and field love.

“With the hammer and weight, so much depends on the amount of reps you do,” she added. “It’s not even wanting to make a technical change, it’s just more reps doing the same thing. You don’t really know how to do it until you actually do it.”

Powers put together a stellar career at Hopkinton High School. She captured the discus title at the 2023 Bay State Games and won both the discus and the hammer championships at the USATF New England Open that same year. Powers holds the Massachusetts state record in both the hammer and weight throw and the HHS record in those two events as well as the discus. An accomplished volleyball player, Powers also earned Player of the Year honors in that sport and was part of the Hillers’ Division 2 state title team her senior year.

Powers’ success at Kentucky has not been limited to athletics. She holds a 4.0 grade point average as a human heath sciences major and is on a pre-physician assistant track.

She has lofty goals for track and field as well. Powers is hoping to break the program freshman record for the hammer throw and qualify for the national meet. Long term, she is hoping to earn All-America honors and break the overall program records in the hammer and weight throws with several trips to nationals along the way.

“I really don’t know where my ceiling is,” Powers said. “Honestly, the sky’s the limit.”