Impressive talents among Cathedral Catholic High School students might not be anything new, but CCHS student Katherine McConville ’17, a runner and violinist, takes her track and music skills to a whole new level of excellence.

“She’s just a well-rounded, driven individual,” track coach and Dean of Students Michael Wallace said. “She’s really good, and you can tell [it’s her] when she’s playing.”

Driven by passion, McConville draws her inspiration from past coaches and music teachers, and also relies heavily on her mother Kathy McConville, who raised her daughter to play violin and run track.

“[My mom] inspires me because she also plays the violin, and she started playing with me so that we could do it together,” McConville said.

Mrs. McConville constantly encourages her daughter to pursue her dreams.  At the tender age of seven, McConville watched a violinist on television for the program “Celtic Women,”  prompting her to know at that moment she wanted to play violin and to dance just like the woman on TV.  

Following her passion, she immediately joined Suzuki Strings with instructor Shirley Stafford.  After learning how to perform, McConville began to play for Mary Gerard’s Youth Orchestra.  Later, she joined the USD orchestra with Angela Yeung.

McConville also plays violin at school masses.  

“Some people play just to hit the notes at the right time, but when she plays, she plays with passion,” Mr. Wallace said.

Similar to violin, McConville finds the inspiration to run from a big influence — Usain Bolt. Watching him dash across the screen of her television like a cheetah, McConville knows she wants to be just like him.  

“I was always good at running in PE,” McConville said.  “One day, my mom asked Coach Cunningham what sport he thought I should do, and he suggested track.”

McConville now runs varsity track in the 100 and 200 meter dashes.  She set a season record last year of 13.54 seconds for the 100 meter.  She will continue to pursue her passion for running at Cal State San Marcos.

Among her many talents, McConville has competed in ice skating for 10 years.  She loves the sport, but she ultimately decided to join a team sport.

“My favorite violin performance of hers will be coming up this Sunday night at the Pyramid in Mira Mesa at 6 p.m.,” Mrs. McConville said.  “She will be playing Vivaldi’s Summer Concerto Duet for 2 violins as her senior recital piece with Mrs. Wendy Loeb.”