Eye Set On Tokyo: Cranford Parathlete Winning On Way To Olympics

CRANFORD, NJ - Catarina Guimaraes is a published author and All-American track athlete in the middle of her sophomore year at Cranford High School. The fact that the 15-year-old has cerebral palsy seems to do nothing to deter her.

"I’ve been involved with sports pretty much my entire life. It began with taekwondo and then soccer. At around nine I began rock climbing and when that team disbanded I joined my current track team. Ever since doing track I have loved it," Guimaraes told Patch. "I got involved because it is important for a person with my disability to remain active."

Guimaraes has done more than simply been active. She has excelled, earning All-American status this week for her performance in the Adaptive Sports USA Junior Nationals and the Parapan American Games.

The list honors the top high school track and field athletes who have a Paralympic-eligible impairment based on their performances in the 2019 season. Sixty-nine athletes, including 40 males and 29 females, were named to the 10th edition of the team.

“We are fortunate to have a great class of talented young athletes in the Para track and field pipeline,” said Joaquim Cruz, resident Para track and field coach at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center. “At the World Para Athletics Junior Championships this summer, I was impressed to see how well the athletes conducted themselves, both on and off the field of competition.”

The award was created in 2010, highlighting young U.S. athletes who have gone on to compete at the Paralympic Games, world championships and set world records. Guimaraes said she was most proud of her accomplishments in Peru this past year.

"I feel like I rose to the occasion in my events and won team USA some medals. It was an awesome experience and humbling at the same time," said. "I won two bronze in Peru at the Para Pan American Games. This wasn’t my first international competition representing the US, however the level of competition amongst the athletes was incredible."

All in all Guimaraes earned accolades for:

100 Women
Catarina Guimaraes (38) Cranford, New Jersey (Cranford) 14.71 Parapan American Games

200 Women
Catarina Guimaraes (38) Cranford, New Jersey (Cranford) 32.41 Adaptive Sports USA Junior Nationals

400 Women
Catarina Guimaraes (38) Cranford, New Jersey (Cranford) 1:10:09 Parapan American Games

800 Women
Catarina Guimaraes (38) Cranford, New Jersey (Cranford) 3:08.95 Adaptive Sports USA Junior Nationals

Long Jump Women
Catarina Guimaraes (38) Cranford, New Jersey (Cranford) 4.05m Parapan American Games

Shot Put Women
Catarina Guimaraes (38) Cranford, New Jersey (Cranford) 7.82m Adaptive Sports USA Junior Nationals

The selection criteria looked at the top athlete performances in each event in 2019 as compared against the “A” standard for the U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Team. The ranking list reflects those top performances in descending order based on the result as compared to the “A” standard by percentage. The general disability categories of athletes named to the All-American list are visual impairment (11-13), intellectual impairment (20), cerebral palsy (33-38), dwarfism (40), amputation/limb loss (41-46/61-64) and spinal cord injury (51-57).

“Although there is still a lot to be done to raise awareness of Paralympic Sport among youth with disabilities, I am looking forward to seeing more junior athletes participating at the elite level at the 2020 U.S. Paralympic Team Trials and at the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020," Cruz said.

Author Author

When she isn't training and competing, Guimaraes can be found writing.

"I use my writing as an escape of sorts, a way to put my thoughts and feelings into a character where I can pretty much control everything. It started in sixth grade, not that it was very good at that point," she said. "I have a lot of first chapters with books but 'Black Rose' was the first one that I actually finished. I myself enjoy reading large novels so I wanted to write something that I would be interested in reading."

Yes, Guimaraes has finished and published a novel.

"Black Rose is basically the story of a girl who goes to the underworld by mistake after she’s in a car accident. When she’s there, she feels out of place due to the fact that the gods and demigods are the majority," she said. "In the underworld there is a competition going on since the gods are having trouble with the growing population and the main character finds herself caught up in it. I’ve always been interested in the greek gods and the realm of fantasy, in fact all of my books have something to do with fantasy."

Guimaraes said her experiences competing informs her writing.

"It feeds my initiative into creating these stories," she said. "A lot of times when I go to competitions out of state/country, these people could very likely influence a character that I want to create."

But whether it is writing or competing, Guimaraes said her family and friends are a strong support system

"My father will get up with me in the morning and drive me to the track if need be and my mother is always encouraging me and telling me straight what she things which I think is very important," she said. " My brother is my best friend and he helps me a lot when I am feeling discouraged. My friends help me so that I don’t lose my head at school and out of school."

As for the future of her writing, Guimaraes is finishing a sequel to "Black Rose," entitled "White Lily."

"I’m self-published and maybe in the future if I end up with a lot of books and get an offer I might turn to a publisher, but the self-publishing process is one that I’m interested in and definitely want to learn," Guimaraes said.

What Guimaraes is also sure about is her athletic career as she trains six or even times a week.

"I am looking forward to the Paralympic Trials in June," she said.

Thanks for reading! Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Have a news tip you'd like to share? Or maybe you have a press release you would like to submit or a correction you'd like to request? Send an email to russ.crespolini@patch.com

Subscribe to your local Patch newsletter. You can also have them delivered to your phone screen by downloading, or by visiting the Google Play store.