Farragut Valedictorian Signs With Princeton For Track

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – The top student and top track athlete at Admiral Farragut Academy will head to the Ivy League this fall.

Senior Katie Barnett, the school’s valedictorian for the Class of 2017, signed with Princeton University in a ceremony on Wednesday, April 12. Barnett will join the Tigers women’s track and field team, which has won 18 Ivy League Heptagonal championship – the Ivy League’s conference title.

Barnett, who has attended Farragut since her sophomore year, broke the school record for the triple jump with 37 feet, 9.5 inches in 2016. She also helped lead the BlueJackets girls track and field team to a state title in 2015. She also won an individual state title in the triple jump that year, as well as finishing second in the long jump.

“Katie is one incredible athlete,” said Arron Prather, head coach of the track and field team at Farragut. “She exemplifies what a true athlete should be. She’s hardworking; she’s dedicated; she doesn’t complain; and most of all, she’s passionate and committed to academic excellence. I’m so proud I’m art of her success.”

In addition to being her class’ top student, Barnett is an Advanced Placement and Honors student, holding a weighted GPA of 4.355.

Barnett was also accepted to Harvard, Cornell, Penn and MIT, but it took one visit to Princeton’s campus for her to know where she want to go.

“I am ecstatic,” she said. “Ever since I went to visit the campus I knew that it was going to be for me. Just the atmosphere, the team coach, it was everything I was looking for in a school.”

Barnett plans to major in environmental engineering at Princeton.

“My goal is to create more eco-friendly materials that biodegrade without releasing harmful chemicals,” she said. “I want to create things that will help reduce carbon emissions. Mr. Monroe, my engineering teacher, helped me find this passion. I learned a lot from this class.”

Images courtesy of Admiral Farragut Academy