Katelyn Waters, a senior at Highland High School, loves to run.

She helped the Huskies reach the state track championships last spring in the girls 4x200 relay.

She runs cross country every fall and finished 26^th this past fall in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference championships.

So, when Waters, the starting point guard for the Huskies girls basketball team, dribbles the ball up the court in a game, a slow jog turns into a sprint, often leaving her defender behind.

“Just thinking that I can outrun everyone on the court,” Waters says with a laugh.

And why not? With the possible exception of Highland teammate Sarah Burton, who runs with Waters in the 4x200 relay in the spring and also made it to the state championships in the 100 and long jump, Waters certainly is the fastest on the court.

All that running has led to Waters delivering open passes to her teammates.

Waters ranks second in the state in all classes with 89 assists. She is No. 1 in Class 1A and tops the SEISC North by 14. In the last two seasons, she has delivered the pass that led to 147 Huskie baskets.

“Katelyn’s been doing an awesome job,” said Highland head coach Jody Fink. “Distributing the ball, give it up to all of her teammates. She’ll be one of the first ones to sit there and thank them because she wouldn’t be there without them.”

This all happened so fast.

When senior teammate Abby Stransky went down with a knee injury in a postseason tournament game last February, and then reinjured her knee in preseason workouts this season, the world of Huskie hoops changed quickly. Stransky was the team’s point guard last year, playing alongside guards Dani Laughlin and Emma Soukup. None returned this season, with Soukup graduating in 2022 and Laughlin transferring to Regina Catholic in Iowa City.

Suddenly, all eyes were on Waters, who is also vice president of Highland’s Student Council, and Highland’s chapters of Future Farmers of America and the National Honor Society.

“It’s been taking on a big role, filling Abby’s shoes as our point guard,” Waters said. “Definitely a different role picking up on scoring and ball handling. I’ve had to learn a lot this year very quickly. It’s been a funny season so far. It’s too bad not having Abby leading our team as point guard, but I’ve been happy to take on that role.”

“She’s had to learn all the different positions and she knows all the plays,” Burton said. “She’s very heads up on what we’re supposed to do.”

While Stransky is left with watching from the bench as she hopes to fully recover from an anterior-cruciate ligament injury, Waters and Burton have delivered energetic performances for the Huskies. Burton, who is the only Huskie to start every game the last two seasons, leads the SEISC North in rebounding, blocks, steals and free throws, and is No. 2 in scoring.

The Huskies have won three of their past four games, but are 6-8 overall and just 5-6 in conference play. It is a team hoping to build steam as the postseason tournament draws near.

Waters, whose twin Jenna is president of those school organizations that Katelyn is vice president of, is there to help with the words. Glance over at the team bench during a timeout, and she’s talking almost as much as Fink is. Katelyn plans on majoring in kinesiology at Iowa State University, which means she is a coach in training, or an athletic trainer in training.

“She knows what to say at all times,” Burton said. “She’s very positive. She encourages everyone on the court. She’s just a good player to have around and every team needs one of her, for sure.”

Waters says serving on other organizations in the school with her sister helped her grow as a leader. “I love it,” she says.

“I try and stay very positive,” Katelyn Waters said. “I’ve learned that coaching our girls positive is definitely the best way to go. Especially being their peer, positivity is the best way to go about saying things to them, whether that’s corrections or encouragement throughout the game. Positivity is definitely something our team has been working on and has been a huge thing for us this season.”

Fink sees something in all of this.

“We’re a good team,” he said. “We just haven’t put it all together yet.”

News columnist Paul Bowker can be reached at bowkerpaul1@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @bowkerpaul