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TEAMWORK

LIFE IN THE FAST LANE

After going from cheerleader to race leader, Kaitlynn Bailey ’24 set three records during her college career on the track and field team.

KAITLYNN BAILEY ’24 KNOWS THE REAL secret to her success. It is not just the hard work, training and perseverance that helped her to shatter several school records in track and field during her four years at the College of Charleston. She says it comes down to two words: lucky socks.

“I’m very superstitious,” confesses Bailey. “All through high school and up to my freshman year here, I wore the same pair of socks. I had to wear socks under them because they were covered in holes.”

Sadly, those socks are gone, but her school records remain.

Portrait close-up outdoor photograph view of Kaitlynn Bailey smiling in her dark maroon/white colored College of Charleston track and field attire posing in a kneel down position like if she was getting ready to sprint on the track on a clear sunny day out on the track behind the numeral 5
| photo by Reese Moore |
During her career on the track and field team at the College, Bailey set school records in the indoor 60-meter (7.69), the indoor 200-meter (24.31) and the outdoor 100 meter (11.70) races. She ranks third overall in the indoor 55-meter and the indoor 400-meter. You can also find her name in the record books as part of the distance medley relay that broke the indoor school record and got a bronze medal at the Coastal Athletic Association Championships.

“When I first got here, my goal was to break one record,” says Bailey. “I felt like once I broke the first record, it clicked in my head that I’m capable of continuing to break them.”

In a way, you can thank Bailey’s father for these records being broken. Growing up in Piedmont, S.C., Bailey never participated in track, gravitating toward cheer instead. One day, her father, thinking that Bailey may be good at track, met privately with the school track coach for a talk.

“He didn’t exactly go behind my back, but my dad contacted the track coach and asked if I could have a tryout,” she says with a laugh. “I decided to give it a try. Once I realized I was good at it, I started to like it. I ended up quitting cheer right after that and haven’t looked back.”

Two notable races come to mind during her time at the College. The first was breaking her first school record in the indoor 60-meter in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The second was being part of the distance medley relay team that won the bronze medal in New York.

“I always wanted a medal from the conference championships,” she says. “Being able to stand on the podium was definitely memorable for me.”

Now that her college career has ended, Bailey, who majored in biology, is on a different track. Degree in hand, she plans to apply to dental school at the Medical University of South Carolina and attend the school in 2025. In the meantime, she hopes to to gain experience by working in a dental office.

“She helped to change the dynamic and culture of our sprints/jumps group,” says coach Michael Tornifolio. “But I will always remember her more for who she is as a person.”

Bailey plans to keep on running but just for fun now, not something that requires her to worry about her finishing time. “I have no desire to run any race that I have to think about.”

Especially without her socks. – Mike Robertson