Cathrine Lempesis
Dutch Fork High School
Impact Statement
“Winning at this level is all about team performance, not individual finishes.” -Catherine Lempesis on performing at the State Championships
Biography
Lempesis ended an eight-year retirement from coaching when she came to Dutch Fork in 2005, with her 2008 team winning a regional championship in cross country. From 1978 to 1997 Lempesis became a cross country and track and field coaching legend at three Columbia high schools – Richland Northeast High, Spring Valley High and Ridge View High.
Her Richland Northeast cross country teams were state runners-up three straight years. Her teams at Spring Valley won a record nine consecutive state track and field championships (1986-94) and six straight cross country titles over that span. Her Ridge View teams won the 1997 state cross country and the 1997 and 1998 state track and field titles.
In the early 1990s Lempesis coached Monique Hennagan, a gold medalist at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. She was been inducted into the Road Runners Hall of Fame and the South Carolina Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame in 1993, and will be inducted into the NFHS Hall of Fame this year.
After being honored in 2009, Lempesis move to Lexington High School. Her cross country team finished second in 2011. Lexington came back the following year and claimed the AAAA South Carolina State Championships. Lempesis retired at the end of the 2012 season as a true South Carolina coaching legend.
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