STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Most people might relax after running, but for Wagner High School Senior Katie Altieri, running is relaxing.

“Time during quarantine was pretty stressful just because of all the uncertainty but I knew that I could always go out for a run,” Altieri said.

Altieri has been running on a team since the 7th grade. She started with a club and now runs with Wagner on both the cross country and varsity track teams. With more than a dozen school records, four PSAL, and one Staten Island record under her belt; the pandemic couldn’t have struck at a worse time, the night before nationals.

“I was doing all my pre race rituals and then I woke up and saw on my phone that it said it was cancelled. It was just like such a weird ending to a long season,” Altieri said.

Altieri says COVID-19 robbed her and her classmates of a “normal” senior year.

“I definitely miss walking through the hallways and going to class,” Altieri said.

Through it all, this lady falcon continued to excel in the classroom. Taking Advanced Placement courses and gaining college credit through Kingsborough Community College. Her favorite course, anatomy.

Altieri’s story is all about bouncing back. Scoliosis surgery forced her to miss cross country season her junior year. But she worked her way back to the top of the leaderboard come spring track season. She thanks her team for cheering her on.

“Knowing that setbacks don’t define you. And it may be hard at first but you can come back from anything if you put your mind to it,” Altieri said.

Altieri’s hard work earned her a spot on the Maryland University track team. She plans on studying kinesiology and is looking forward to hitting the track with a new team for that needed daily relaxation.