NORWALK, Calif. --- The troop of local student-athletes to come to Biola continues to grow with the commitment of Kaitlin Natividad from Norwalk and Saint Joseph's High School in Lakewood.
 
Natividad will join the Eagles' cross country and track & field teams for the 2017-18 academic year after four varsity years with the Jesters. She was a standout performer throughout high school and her tremendous leadership abilities helped her move into the position of captain beginning in her sophomore year.
 
"I am very excited to have Kaitlyn join us next year," said Head Coach Sean Henning. "She is a total diamond in the rough and will really blossom at the collegiate level. Kaitlyn is very talented and driven to be a great runner. She is also a great person and comes from very supportive parents who have done a fantastic job raising her."
 
Natividad earned all-league honors in each of her four cross country seasons. She advanced to CIF prelims all four years and made it to the finals once. She's also the school's 3-mile record holder.
 
She also earned all-league honors all four track seasons, including winning league championships and league MVP honors her sophomore, junior and senior years. She won 11 league championships and owned the 800m, 1,600m and 3,200m races in her time at Saint Joseph's. She also helped her team to the team championship in 2014, 2016 and 2017.
 
Her senior track season was most impressive as she took sixth at the CIF Finals and was named to the Division III Southern Section All-CIF group. She also broke the school record in the 1,600 and 3,200 and earned an induction into the Lakewood Youth Hall of Fame for Track and Cross Country.
 
Off the track Natividad has been just as successful, earning "outstanding student" awards in three separate academic years. She also earned the Saint Joseph Award and Scholarship Recipient awards at graduation.
 
She was a dual-sport athlete for some of her high school career. She played competitive travel softball from the time she was eight years old until she decided to drop the sport after her freshman year to focus on running.
 
Natividad also was a part of the Saint Joseph High School ASB's Girl's Athletic Association, which aimed to promote girl's athletics to the student body.
 
"As a student-athlete, I wanted to surround myself with friendly, loving, charismatic and energetic people who are going to grow and help me blossom into the bright young woman God has planned me to become," said Natividad.
 
She will begin classes at Biola this fall and plans to study communication sciences and disorders with hopes of becoming a hospital speech language pathologist.