Photo courtesy of University of Virginia

Catherine White transferred from Arkansas to Virginia this year and will compete in the NCAA cross country championships on Monday in Terre Haute, Ind.

Photo courtesy of University of Virginia

Virginia's Catherine White finished in second place at the ACC cross country championships earlier this month.

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Jason Vigilante was vacationing in Colorado -- or, maybe it was Oregon -- when he got word that Catherine White was interested in transferring to Virginia.

Vigilante, who serves as director for all of UVa's track-and-field and cross-country programs, hesitates when asked about his reaction.

"See, that's not a very good question," Vigilante said. "It was only my first year of coaching women. And, so I had no idea who Catherine White even was."

A call to Virginia assistant Brad Hunt, who once had recruited White, set Vigilante straight in a hurry.

"She's a superstar," Vigilante said. "It wasn't hard to figure out that, hey, this is really a fortunate situation for us."

White, from Northside High School, spent her first two years of college at the University of Arkansas and won the Southeastern Conference cross country championship last year as a sophomore. She also won outdoor SEC championships in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters.

Before that, White was the Timesland girls athlete of the year in 2007.

White had considered UVa out of high school, but said when she chose Arkansas that she "kind of wanted to get away."

After two years in Fayetteville, Ark., she kind of wanted to come home.

"I had an idea [in the spring] that I wouldn't be back," said White, who finished sixth in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA championships. "But, there was no final straw. I definitely didn't have my mind made up by any stretch of the imagination."

She decided in late July that she wanted to leave. Virginia was an obvious choice, given that her brother, Richard, is a fourth-year student, as is her cousin, Helen Vasely.

One month later, White had found housing, enrolled in school and began practicing with the team. By September, she was competing for the Cavaliers.

That was a race in itself.

"She has all of her ducks in a row -- academically, socially, athletically," Vigilante said. "Her transcript is the kind of transcript you're proud to present to the admissions office.

"Our girls embraced her almost immediately. And then, athletically, she loves to compete. She didn't want to redshirt and we didn't feel she needed to."

White finished second in the ACC championships earlier this month and last week won the NCAA regional in Knoxville, Tenn. She will compete in the NCAA championships Monday in Terre Haute, Ind.

Vigilante thinks his men's and women's teams have a chance to finish in the top 15 and that White "absolutely" could finish in the top 10 individually.

"There are a couple of girls up front who have experience and credentials that may be insurmountable," Vigilante said. "It comes down to who's having the best day."

White finished 52nd in last year's NCAA cross country meet ("did not have a great race" is her assessment) after ending up 199th as a freshman.

Her goal this year is to be a cross country All-American, which would require a finish among the top 25 native-born runners. She was an All-American last year in indoor and outdoor track.

"I really like the track better," she said. "I think my freshman year [in cross country] was all about transitioning and learning how things worked and how they ran. I had a decent season my sophomore year, but by the end I was burned out.

"I wouldn't say I was homesick."

But, there are benefits to being 100 miles from home, as opposed to 1,100.

"I think my parents have been at every meet, which is really bizarre because that definitely did not happen the past two years," she said. "And my brother has been able to see me run, which hasn't happened in college. It's been a nice switch."

She views her original decision-making process as somewhat flawed.

"As a person and athlete, there were certain things I didn't know to consider as an 18-year-old coming out of high school," she said. "Like education. That's the first thing I should have been looking at."

At the Division I level, most sports are a 12-month-a-year proposition, including training. But, for a distance runner like White, there are three seasons of competition -- cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. She doesn't run every day, but almost.

"I probably take a day off every other week," she said, "or whenever I feel like it."

One of those days was Thursday.

"She was perfectly comfortable with saying, 'Today, is not a good day to run outside in the pouring rain,' "Vigilante said. "She just took the day off, which is what some high-caliber athletes have trouble doing.

"With individuals who are intrinsically motivated, as she is, the only thing I have to tweak is her tilt for training. I have to hold her back. If she's learned anything about herself, it's that if she takes a true recovery day, her harder days become what she wants them to be."

White describes Vigilante as an "amazing" coach but has nothing but praise for her Arkansas coach, Lance Harter.

"He could have made it a lot harder on me," said White, who required a release to be eligible for Virginia this year. "I'm appreciative that he let me compete this season. There are rules about that."

She originally declared biology as a major but will attempt to get into UVa's kinesiology program next year.

She hopes to continue running after graduation in 2011 and eventually would like to try a marathon.

Of course, marathon running is most akin to cross country, which she puts a notch behind running on a track.

"Hopefully, after this weekend," Vigilante said, "she'll have to revisit that statement."