IU Indy Athletics

Katelyn Cato picked up her first Sahm’s Student-Athlete of the Month as IUPUI’s top female performer for the month of January. Cato helped the women’s swimming and diving team to a first-place finish at the IUPUI Relays, a pair of wins over Valparaiso, and a win over Saint Louis during the month.

Cato competed in 14 events last month, registering seven victories, six second-place finishes, and one third-place showing. Of those 14 events she competed in, Cato moved onto six of IUPUI’s Top 15 charts in six different events, with three of those six events being relays.

Cato opened the month by helping the 400 and 800 freestyle relay quartets achieve Top 12 times in school history at the IUPUI Relays, before moving into the record book in a pair of individual events in a tri-meet against Saint Louis and Valparaiso. In the tri-meet, Cato picked up first-place honors in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:00.55, the 12th-best time in the event in program history. She also moved into ninth on the school charts in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:58.49, which garnered second-place honors in the event.

However, Cato’s most impressive times came against Valparaiso on Jan. 29. She posted a winning time of 2:10.39 in the 200 backstroke, which was not only a personal best, but it was the fourth-best time in school history. She later was a part of the 400 medley relay squad whose time of 4:05.18 was the third-fastest in school history.