Wiley Sisters Compete for Championship

Sibling rivalry ceased to be a problem for most Harvard students when they left home, but for Kate Wiley competition with her sister has intensified since she came to Cambridge.

When Kate and Alison Wiley run in the Canadian trials for the annual World Cross Country Championships this Sunday, it will be only the latest and most intense contest in a long history of athletic rivalry.

It's hard competing, but we're used to it," says Kate, who has been running against her sister since the two took up cross country three years ago in Ontario. "There was some rivalry in the beginning, but now we accept that we're competitors just like anybody else. Alison is someone else who has to be beaten."

Alison, a freshman at Stanford University, says her competition with Kate helps them both prepare for races. "We both push each other and enjoy training together. But when it comes down to the actual meet, we think of each other as competitors," explains the younger sister.

A year ago, Alison beat her sister in the Canadian trials and went on to place 12th in the world. An injury prevented Kate from running her best last season, but this year she concedes Alison will still be a "major competitor."

Dental surgery slowed Kate at the start of this season, but the sophomore phenom staged a brisk comeback. By midseason, she managed to lead Harvard to fourth place in the NCAA championship meet, outpacing Alison to place eighth in the individual competition.

But Kate's NCAA showing counts for nothing in Sunday's trials, where the first five finishers will earn the right to represent Canada in the world championships to be held in England this spring.

Denis Cochran-Fikes, Kate's coach for winter track, believes she has a good chance of making the team based on this year's success. "Kate has determination," he says. "Her motivation sets her apart from the average collegiate runner. I think she has an excellent shot at making the team."

Wiley agrees that her determination is an important part of her success: "It takes some talent to run, but you have to be able to work constantly and be disciplined. It depends on your personality whether you're going to get better or not."

Extra workouts and careful training each week show Wiley's determination, says Frank Haggerty, who heads Harvard's track program. He adds that discipline and care set Wiley apart from the other athletes who grow careless about important details such as warm-ups and warm-downs.

Sometimes this attention to detail yields unexpected results, as when Wiley began practicing with the teams again this fall.

"Kate disguises her pain well," Cochran-Fikes recalls. "When she returned this season, she was injured, but it took us a while to find out. She was willing to run with the pain until it became unbearable."

Cochran-Fikes says that Kate is used to added pressure during races because she competes against her sister frequently. He adds that her experience helped her become the first Harvard finisher this year in the national championships.

"One word we always use to describe Kate is intense," says Wiley McCarthy, captain of last fall's cross country team. "Some people need a lot of coaching and guidance to develop their talents. Kate is the opposite. She knows what she wants, and she usually gets it."