“What I think is really cool about having this whitewater park right next to me is that I can get a text message update that the dam is going to release 9,000 CFS or 14,000 CFS, and if I’m sitting in class I can just see that and be like, ‘Ohp, kayaking sounds better than accounting.” Bribed with Happy Meals at a young age, it took Cat Hardman a few years to love to kayak. But once the boating clicked, she knew she would be kayaking for the rest of her life. She first came to Columbus for a freestyle event in her early teens and later, researching colleges meant finding a school near whitewater. For now, Columbus is home and the Chattahoochee is where you’ll find Cat between—or sometimes during—classes. This is Cat Hardman and this is her Home Run.