Hall of Fame
Katrina Spratford-Sterling is one of the most prestigious distance runners in Shippensburg University history. For her career, Spratford-Sterling attained eight All-America awards in her sports: three in cross country (2010, 2011 and 2012), three indoors (5K in 2012 and 2013, DMR in 2012) and two outdoors (10K in 2012 and 2013).
The two-time USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree culminated her senior season with the Raiders by achieving outdoor All-America honors in the 10K – finishing off an impressive streak of six consecutive competitive seasons as an All-American. She placed fifth – her highest outdoor finish – after running 36:36 in Pueblo, Col. She was also a NCAA qualifier in the 5K and won the PSAC’s 5K Championship – her first outdoor league title – by running 16:54 at Millersville.
During the 2013 indoor season, Spratford earned All-America honors in the 5K with a fourth-place finish and was a national qualifier in the 3K, an event in which she placed ninth. Spratford was named the 2013 USTFCCCA Atlantic Region and 2013 PSAC Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Year after claiming Indoor Championships Track MVP honors due to league titles in the mile, 3K and distance medley relay (DMR).
As a cross country runner, Spratford was named the 2012 USTFCCCA Atlantic Region and 2012 PSAC Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year after winning the 6K races at both the conference and regional championships. Spratford earned her third career All-America classification in cross country by finishing third overall at the 2012 NCAA Division II National Championships held in Joplin, Mo.
She did not lose an individual or relay race at the PSAC Indoor Track & Field Championships in her final two seasons of competition. As a junior in 2012, Spratford-Sterling won the mile and the 3K while contributing to the victorious DMR.
Spratford-Sterling was an integral part of the golden age of Shippensburg Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field in which the Raiders won three straight PSAC Triple Crowns (conference titles in cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field in the same academic year).
Overall at the conference championships, Spratford-Sterling was a 13-time PSAC place-winner, a 10-time All-PSAC award winner and a seven-time PSAC champion.
She arrived at Shippensburg in the fall of 2010 after two years at Richmond, where she competed for one year and redshirted another.
A 2013 Capital One Academic All-America Division II Second Team award winner, Spratford-Sterling graduated cum laude with a 3.558 grade-point average in exercise science.
Spratford-Sterling has maintained her success as a post-collegiate runner, representing Team USA five times in cross country competition. She served as the alternate for the 2024 U.S. World Cross Country Team after a seventh-place finish at the U.S. Cross Country National Championship. In the marathon, Spratford-Sterling qualified for the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Trials.
Her passion for running has transitioned into coaching, having served as middle school and high school coach for more than a decade. She also started a coaching business, Sterling Running, which offers mentorship to athletes throughout the country.
Spratford-Sterling lives in Arizona with her husband, Henry, and their newborn son, Wesley.
