Cathie Wilson Jones is arguably one of the best all-around track athlete, male or female, in the history of North High. And you may not find many athletes that ever made the Principal’s Honor Roll all four years, either.
It probably will never happen again, but Cathie was part of a mile relay team that won three consecutive Area and Valley Championships, setting a record each year. As a senior, the distance now in meters, the North girls won Area and Valley again, this time in the 1600 meters.
As a freshman, Cathie was on the Lady Stars’ mile relay team that won the Area and Valley Championships, then placed third in the State meet. On that team were her older sister Lynnette, Barbara Cookson and North High’s legendary distance runner Linda Goen.
Individually, Cathie won the 440 yard race at the Area Meet as a soph with a record time of 58.0. As a senior she won the SYL Championship in the 200 meter dash and probably would have won the 100, had it not been for a false start. In each of her four years she was a contender in several of the running events.
Competing in the summer as a sophomore, she tried her hand at new events. In the California Regional Junior Olympics she raced in the 220 and 440 and placed first in both races. As a junior she came back to the same meet and won the 100, 200 and 440 low hurdles.
After graduation, she continued her career at Bakersfield College, placing second in the Metro Conference meet in the 200 and 400-meter races. Then she placed third in her newest event, the javelin. As a sophomore, she won the Conference Championship in the 400 and placed 2nd in the javelin. At the Southern California Championships that year, she placed third in the 400 and fourth in the javelin.
From there, it was on to Fresno State where she became leading scorer and MVP of the team. It was there that the javelin became her signature event. In 1987, she was ranked third in the US with a throw of 194’3,” nearly 60’ further than she had thrown at BC! That same year she competed for the US Team in the Pan Am Games and the World Championship in Rome.
She was involved in a near fatal car accident late in 1987, but she bounced back and nearly qualified for the US Olympic team at the 1992 trials, finishing fifth.
She goes by the name of Catherine on her job with the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office where she has worked for 26 years. She and her husband Kent have a son, Wilson and a daughter, Emma.