Emily Allison Honored as Cate’s Scholar Athlete of Year

Emily Allison pushes herself in distance running and in her classwork at Cate School.

Last fall, she helped the Rams girls cross country team advance to the CIF State Cross Country Championships for the third straight year.

In the classroom, she carries a 4.61 grade-point average while taking a challenging course load.

The Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table honored Allison as Cate’s Scholar Athlete of the Year during its Monday Press Luncheon at Harry’s Plaza Cafe.

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down school sports,  Allison literally went the extra mile to become a better runner. 

She challenged herself to do longer distances and completed a half-marathon and full marathon on her own. She then ran her first official half-marathon race, the Orange County Half-Marathon, and won the Women’s 16-19 age division in 1 hour, 42 minutes, 18 seconds.

When Cate reopened for boarding, on-campus learning and athletics, Allison was ecstatic to reunite with her teammates.

“I believe this has been one of the key factors in our success,” she said. “Our team has bonded so closely from interacting on a daily basis. Our level of trust has allowed us to perform even better.”

Cate Athletic Director Wade Ransom said “Emily is part of Cate’s strongest athletic program. Our girls cross country team and distance program has reached a level of success that few of our programs do. We’ve been to the State Championships three straight years, the last two with Emily as a part of that squad.

“She is the senior leader of that program, which speaks volumes of her athlete ability.

Allison also competes in track & field and basketball for the Rams.

She goes the extra mile in the classroom, too. Her class load includes advanced Physics, Biology: toxicology and health, Statistics, Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra, Post-Advanced Spanish: analyzing the novel “100 years of Solitude,” by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez, Ceramics and American Wilderness Ethos.

Ransom said the 4.61 GPA that Emily carries “is among the highest I’ve seen in my 16 years at the school.”

She is a National Merit semifinalist and 2021 winner of the Chemistry Prize at Cate.

Among her unique experiences at Cate are earning her SCUBA certification, going on a service-learning trip to Mexicali, Mexico and being a member of the school’s surf team.

Her future plans include college, with a career goal of going into the health field.