Her big sister slugs and slashes.

Johnsburg’s Hope Klosowicz speeds.

Both sisters succeed.

Brooke Klosowicz clocks NCAA Division-I pitches for Penn State University’s softball team. Little sister Hope clocked fast times on high school tracks the past four springs and plans to do so at the D-I level next year.

Few runners ran faster than the 5-foot-1 Hope Klosowicz, who, like her 5-2 sister, may lack height but not talent. Klosowicz capped her four-year varsity track career last month by earning a Class 2A fourth-place state medal in the 400-meter dash at Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Field in Charleston.

After putting together a season that also saw her win Girls Athlete of the Meet in the McHenry County Meet, race to four victories in the Kishwaukee River Conference Meet and qualify for state in two events, Klosowicz is the 2026 Northwest Herald Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

The senior won KRC titles in the 100, 200 and 400 dashes and also contributed to the winning 4x400 relay. She then raced to a first-place finish in the 400 in the Johnsburg Sectional and helped the 4x400 relay advance to state. At EIU, Klosowicz ran a personal-best 57.31 in her final high school race.

She placed seventh in the 400 at state as a junior, after shin splints limited her the previous spring. She ran at state on Johnsburg’s 4x100 relay as a freshman.

In the fall, Klosowicz, the youngest of two children of Thomas and Michelle, both of whom are educators, will head to the University of Nebraska Omaha. UNO’s Mavericks compete at the NCAA D-I level and in the Summit League.

Klosowicz recently answered some questions from the Northwest Herald about her only sport, how she chose track in seventh grade, her “sweet” celebration after her final race as a Skyhawk, her sister and her future.

How did you celebrate after earning your Class 2A fourth-place medal in the 400 dash?

Klosowicz: We got Chick-fil-A afterward, so I had a [cookies & cream] milkshake. That’s how I celebrated. Then I came home, and we had a bunch of family and friends over.

Who’s the next state medalist for Johnsburg?

Klosowicz: I would say Clara [Nicoline, state qualifier in her 3,200 run as a sophomore this year]. She’s working really hard. I think when she sets her mind to something, whatever she wants to achieve, she can very much achieve it.

What does a sprinter like yourself do in the offseason to stay fast?

Klosowicz: I do club track out of Mount Prospect with TNT [Tom Nelson Training]. We had a bunch [of meets] last summer that I would do, and there were then a few that I ran indoor, like in January, before high school [season] started. The meets are pretty much optional; they don’t make you do them. I wanted to compete just so I had more competitions under me.

If you couldn’t compete in sprints, including relays, in a meet, what event would you choose to compete in?

Klosowicz: I’d probably do long jump. You just run and jump. When I did it [a couple of times in high school], I had a really good time. I did it, I think once last year and once this year, just for fun, to try something new. I’m not good at it, but it was fun.

What’s the best advice you would give to a young athlete?

Klosowicz: I would say to just soak it all in, because at the end of the day, after you’ve worked so hard to be where you are, when you soak in the moment, I feel that’s when you trust yourself the most. That’s when you’re going to perform the most.

Who’s been the biggest influence in your life?

Klosowicz: I’d probably say my sister. Just seeing how she’s trained and where it’s taken her, I want that for me. Now I want to do it like her, so I can get to the next level.

What other sports do you compete in?

Klosowicz: I only do track. I’ve done other sports, but I just really liked track the most, so I went all in with it.

You plan to major in education at Nebraska Omaha. What are your career goals, and is coaching in your future?

Klosowicz: I want to be a teacher. Right now, I don’t want to coach, but that could also change. I want to do elementary special education. I’ve just always wanted to do special ed. My mom was a special ed teacher, so I’ve done stuff with the special ed classes. I just really like that environment.

When you started competing in track, when did you realize you had the potential to be an IHSA state medalist?

Klosowicz: In seventh grade [at Johnsburg Junior High School], the only sport we could do was track, so I just did it for fun. I feel like freshman year is actually when I felt, ‘If I put time into this, I can get good results in it.’ That’s when I bought into it.

What are you going to do with all of the medals you’ve won in track over the past few years?

Klosowicz: I don’t really know, because I have a lot. In our basement, my dad set up this space with my sister’s awards. I think [my parents] are going to do something like that [to display them] once I leave [to college]. It’s pretty much up to [my dad] at that point.