Sports
Pattis to Represent Vandals in NCAA Championships in Eugene
Story Links MOSCOW, Idaho – Collegiate track and field is known to have long seasons. Between indoor and outdoor, Idaho track began competing all the way back in January. The closer you get to the end of a season, the more the field of competition gets narrowed, as only the best of […]
MOSCOW, Idaho – Collegiate track and field is known to have long seasons. Between indoor and outdoor, Idaho track began competing all the way back in January. The closer you get to the end of a season, the more the field of competition gets narrowed, as only the best of the best earn chances to show out after their respective conference meets.
Now, as we reach the halfway point of 2025, if there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that Katja Pattis deserves to sit among the best of the best in all of DI Track and Field.
Nearing the end of her senior season, the distance runner has turned it up a notch in order to earn extra opportunities to compete. She has done so to the degree of earning the chance to earn the title that all college athletes covet: National Champion.
After earning a bid to compete in Eugene, OR in the steeplechase, Pattis becomes the first Idaho Vandal to do so since 2022, when Lorenz Herrmann brought the black and gold to Tracktown by way of the 800m, setting a school record that he still holds today. The last Vandal woman to compete on the biggest stage was Kinsey Gomez, who represented Idaho in the 10,000m back in 2016, finishing 10th in the country.
With just one 3,000m steeplechase to go this season, the opportunity sits in front of Pattis to become only the second-ever female national champion from Idaho, the fifth in school history, and the first since 2001. The other Vandal woman to earn a national title was, coincidentally, another Katja. Katja Schreiber established herself as the best in all of DI track and field, winning the discus title in ’01.
IDAHO VANDALS NATIONAL CHAMPIONS BY YEAR
Katja Schreiber – 2001 – Discus
Joachim Olsen – 2000 – Shot put
Steve Brown – 1967 – High Jump
David Martindale – 1952 – Pole Vault
The meet will be streamed on ESPN2 and ESPN+. All of the broadcast links, as well as the schedule, are available on govandals.com.
The steeplechase prelims are scheduled for Thursday, June 12 (Day 2), at 4:38 PM PST. If Pattis finishes in the top 12 of the 24 competitors, she will advance to the finals on Saturday, June 14 (Day 4), at 6:24 PM PST.