Cranford, New Jersey – Catarina Guimarães, high school senior

Catarina Guimarães, a Cranford high school senior, has been shattering records for a decade but this time she will make history twice in a year.

Born with Cerebral Palsy, Guimarães has never let that stop her from being an athlete, since at just eight years old she was alredy a black belt at Tae Kwan Do.

This year she will join the Para U.S.Women’s National Team to compete in the inaugural Women’s World Cup in Spain as part of the International Association of CP Football (IACPF). While her black belt was something Guimaraes worked with able-bodied peers. Her family sought out opportunities for her to participate with other kids that are differently-abled.

She first joined an adaptive rock climbing league, but that group, unfortunately, closed. The New Jersey Navigators, an adaptive sports program, is where she found a love for track and field. “It was nice to find others like me and not just try to blend in with the able bodies around me,” she said. She has excelled in track and is a part of the U.S. Paralympic Team where she competes in the 100 meter (M), 200M, 400M, and the long jump. She was named a 2019 U.S. Paralympics Track & Field High School All-American for the 100M. 

Guimaraes has simultaneously trained for track and soccer for many years, all while balancing her physical health hurdles. In 6th grade, she endured a procedure that stretched her leg, putting her intense training schedule on hold.

Two years later, she joined CP Football, which helps athletes with CP, as well as those with traumatic brain injuries (TBI), learn balance and the adaptive skills they need to play competitively. 

When it came time for the World Cup team, the 18-year-old almost missed her chance. “I actually turned them down,” she said. The first ever IACPF Women’s World Cup is scheduled to end just before the Dessert Challenge Games in Arizona, a meet Guimaraes has been training for and was scheduled to compete in, begins. “I didn’t think I could do both, and I really wanted to compete in track.”  It was her parents and her track coach, Joaquim Cruz, that encouraged her to compete. “My track coach said I shouldn’t miss out on this opportunity and told me he supported me doing both.”As for how it feels to be a high schooler and competing on an international stage? “I am dumbfounded by the whole experience,” she said. “It’s truly an honor. An honor and a privilege.” 

A senior at Cranford High School, Guimaraes is looking to her future. “I really knew I wanted to compete at a D1 school because I have that mindset and I wanted to be with like-minded people, but it’s not easy to find a coach that would take on someone with CP.” While she received some rejections, Guimaraes has found a university that values her drive and competitive spirit. Next year, she has committed to High Point University in High Point, North Carolina, where in her second history making move this year, she will become the first Division 1 athlete with Cerebral Palsy to run track as a sprinter.

Guimaraes has many interests outside of sports as well, including writing (she has two self-published books available on Amazon as a part of her Death Garden series), violin, and a love of musicals. Her current favorite is Hamilton.

“You know that song ‘History Has Its Eyes on You?'” she said. “That’s kind of how this all feels.”