Katie Langmeier, Cuba City
Dennis Semrau
Wissports.net
Katie Langmeier, Cuba City, senior
Sports: volleyball, basketball, track and field
Katie Langmeier has paid the price for her love of sports.
“I’ve had sprained ankles and torn cartilage in my shoulder which I had surgery on,” said Langmeier, who is on target to complete her prep career at Cuba City with 11 varsity letters in volleyball, basketball and track and field.
“I injured my shoulder during the volleyball season of my junior year but I didn’t get it taken care of until this past summer.”
Langmeier said she endured the pain simply because she didn’t want to let her teammates down.
“I’m not one who is going to give up easily,” she said with a chuckle. “Yeah, there was pain but you can always work through it. Your teammates are there to help you. They know how hard you are trying so they are going to give just as much effort in all of the games. Motivation is important to me.”
Although she has been a part of multiple championship teams in basketball and volleyball, Langmeier said competing in multiple sports is about more than winning.
“They teach you that you can’t give up and how to pick yourself up in life,” said Langmeier, who is in her third year as a starting forward for the Cubans in basketball.
A co-captain as a senior, she earned WIAA all-state tournament honors and is a two-time first-team Southwest Wisconsin Athletic League selection after leading Cuba City to the Division 3 state title as a junior and a berth in the sectional finals her sophomore year. The Cubans also won the Division 3 state title her freshman year.
In volleyball, Langmeier was a three-time letterwinner, playing outside hitter as a sophomore, right side hitter as a junior and middle hitter as a senior, when she served as a co-captain as a senior. She also earned first team all-conference honors as a senior and honorable mention honors as a junior.
But Langmeier is more impressed with the success the Cubans have had as a team, winning three SWAL volleyball titles and a WIAA Division 3 state volleyball title her sophomore year before losing in the sectional finals as a junior and finishing second at state in Division 3 as a senior.
“Competing teaches you how to win, how to lose and how to display good sportsmanship,” Langmeier said. “You can meet new people and learn traits that you won’t work forget. You learn that you have to work at things if you want them. If you work hard enough, eventually they will come.”
Langmeier has had a stellar track and field career as well, serving as a co-captain as a junior and being named a co-captain for her senior year. A three-year state qualifier – she qualified in four events as a freshman and junior and three as a sophomore -- she competes in the high jump, 300-meter low hurdles and 800-meter and 1,600-meter relays.
Her junior year at state, she placed second in the high jump and 800 relay, third in the 300 low hurdles and sixth in the 1,600 relay. Among her other highlights are finishing as a three-time SWAL champion (2007-09) in the high jump, 300 hurdles and 800 relay and two-time SWAL champion (2007-08) in the 1,600 relay.
But competing in sports isn’t all that keeps Langmeier busy. In addition to living on a dairy farm and being an Honor Roll student, she is a member of the National Honor Society, has attended Badger Girls State and is president of the Student Council and a Class Officer and member of Future Farmers of America.
Her volunteer work includes volleyball and basketball camps and youth basketball and volleyball tournaments.
Still, Langmeier couldn’t see herself even thinking about specializing in a sport.
“The different teams I am with are fun and amazing,” she said. “Overall sports teach you a lot that you can carry through your whole high school career and when you get out of high school.”
Langmeier would like to compete in either basketball or track in college, where she plans to study athletic training.
However, Langmeier admits she will miss being a three-sport athlete.
“They teach you how to compete and to never give up,” she said, “which is something you can take with you the rest of your life.”
Time out with Katie Langmeier
1 – I like about high school sports: the competition is amazing and playing with my teammates is fun.
2 – Role models: my parents, Nick and Hope, and my older sister, Ashley.
3 -- My family also includes: my sister, Amber, and brother, Travis.
4 – One word to describe me: committed
5 – Favorite athlete: Peyton Manning
6 -- Favorite movie: Coach Carter
7 – I wish I could play: tennis
8 – Favorite opponent: Richland Center
9 – Dream date: Channing Tatum
10 – Words to live by: “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.”
