The three-time returning Gatorade State Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year, the 5-foot-9 senior won the MHSAA Class 6A state meet this past season, breaking the tape in 18:50.80 to finish 47.5 seconds ahead of her next-closest competitor, and leading the Yellow Jackets to a fourth-place finish as a team. Mattox clocked the fastest 5K time (18:07.00) by a Mississippi girls prep runner in 2016, won all seven races she entered and concluded her high school career unbeaten by any in-state competitor. She will graduate as the state meet course record-holder with a time of 18:18.40.
Mattox has maintained a 4.17 weighted GPA in the classroom. She has signed a National Letter of Intent to run cross country on scholarship at the University of Southern Mississippi this fall.
The vice president of her school's Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter, Mattox has volunteered locally as a team leader for her First United Methodist youth group and has served as part of multiple community service initiatives on behalf of her church. She has also donated her time to the Middle School Foreign Mission Camp in Starkville. "As a senior, Kate holds records and is the fastest distance runner in our division," said Starkville head coach Caroline Woomer. "Even so, she has challenged herself to work harder, to hurt more and to drop her times below what even she normally expects of herself. This has been an exceptional year for her."