Virginia Kraus will step up to the starting line at 10:15 a.m. Saturday with an opportunity to accomplish something no other runner has in the history of the PIAA Cross Country Championships.
Kraus, a senior at Saucon Valley High School, has her sights set on an unprecedented fourth consecutive state crown.
“Yes, I’ll definitely be nervous,” she said with a smile last week after she secured her fourth straight District 11 title.
“I’ll try to tell myself I’m not. I think the most important thing in that situation is to act the way you want to feel. When I get nervous on the starting line, I try to be confident and happy. I’ll tell jokes to the girls around me. But, internally, yes, I’ll definitely be nervous.”
Understandably so.
Since the state’s interscholastic athletic association introduced the cross-country championships in 1939, no runner – boy or girl – has ever won the maximum four PIAA titles. Six girls, including Liberty’s Janelle Thomas in the early- to-mid 1990s, have captured three state golds but none was able to earn that elusive fourth title.
(There was a boys state champion crowned from 1939-1973. The girls started to compete at states beginning in 1974.)
Kraus, now the seventh three-time girls state champ, claimed PIAA Class 1A crowns as a freshman and sophomore while she was student-athlete at Moravian Academy. She then claimed the Class 2A title last year for Saucon Valley.
While Kraus should be considered the pre-race favorite this fall, she expects her senior-season state race to be the toughest of her four years.
In fact, one of the top contenders – District 1 champion Reese Miller of Gwynedd Mercy Academy – bested Kraus to the line at Lehigh University’s Paul Short Run earlier this month.
“It’s going to be one of the fastest years, if not the fastest, for 2A,” the Dartmouth University-bound Kraus predicted. “We’ve got a ton of good runners. Reese Miller, Baylee Espinosa, Lauren Kosek and tons of other girls, too. It’s an amazing year.
“At Paul Short, Reese beat me and I beat Bailey, but we were all within five seconds of each other. It’s anyone’s race and it’s going to come down to who wants it the most.”
Last year, Kraus battled a cold and the flu on the first Saturday in November but still beat a field of 250 2A qualifiers.
Kraus clocked 18:18 on the challenging Parkview Course in Hershey – 19 seconds ahead of Somerset Area’s Emily Fisher, who this season was District 5’s runner-up. Kosek, of Wellsboro, was sixth at states a year ago; Espinosa, of Lewisburg, ninth; and Miller 15th. Espinosa won the state’s 2A title in 2023.
“I feel pretty good physically this year,” Kraus said. “Hopefully, I’ll be at my best [Saturday].”
The first state cross-country champion from the Lehigh Valley area was crowned in 1970.
Easton’s Mickey Collins won the Class 3A title at Penn State University that year. (There were only two classifications until 2012.) Collins crossed the finish line in the then 2.5-mile race in 12:34.6.
“I actually fell down at the start of the race and [the officials] called it back,” Collins said, “which was really good for me. I ran neck-and-neck with a kid until he fell on a turn and I caught him at the end. That was a long time ago. It was definitely a lot more low-key then than it is now. We got our medals right after the race and we left for home.”
Collins remains active in cross-country and track and field as a PIAA official. He has been impressed by Kraus.
“I’ve seen her a bunch of times,” Collins said. “She blew away everyone from her freshman year when she burst onto the scene. It’s hard to do what she’s been able to do with that target on your back. She’s a tough little kid and she’s a grinder.”
Clyde Lowthert of Pottsville was the first PIAA champion from District 11 in 1950.
Another longtime local authority on cross-country impressed by Kraus is Ed Kolosky. Kolosky was Saucon Valley’s coach from 1996 through last year. He has remained as Kraus’ personal coach this season – and he accompanied her to the Foot Locker Northeast Regional in Boston last November as well as the Foot Locker National race in San Diego last December. (Kraus won the Northeast region title and placed eighth at the national event.)
“Virginia entered my life when she was a fourth-grader at the Swain School wishing to enjoy and reap the benefits of our summer running program,” Kolosky said. “From Day 1, I knew what a special and talented young lady she was. Fast forward to today, it’s absolutely no surprise to me that she has accomplished what she’s done.”
With a win Saturday and that fourth state title, Kraus would accomplish something no one else has in the 86 years of the PIAA Cross Country Championships.
“Trying to put Virginia’s accomplishments in perspective,” Kolosky said, “is like trying to explain how Noah built the ark and then survived what happened next. Her will and desire to succeed is beyond words.”
Allentown Central Catholic’s Will Haring is the District 11 boys 2A individual champion. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
State storylines
Emmaus senior Madelyn McCartney, the three-time District 11 3A champion, attempts to secure her third PIAA medal Saturday in Hershey. McCartney, a University of Kentucky recruit, was 25th as a sophomore and 13th as a junior. She said after last week’s District 11 3A race that a top-eight finish was her goal this season.
Besides Kraus and McCartney, Liberty’s Katie Drabouski is the only other state qualifier from District 11 who medaled at last year’s PIAA championships. Drabouski, who last week was fourth among Class 3A girls at the district meet, finished 19th in 19:09 a season ago as a sophomore.
District 11 champions Will Haring of Allentown Central Catholic in Class 2A and Colin McGuigan of Parkland in 3A try for their first state medals. Haring, a senior, placed 77th in last year’s PIAA 2A race; McGuigan, a senior, missed last season with an injury.
Allentown Central Catholic’s boys were the only District 11 team to place among the top five at states last season. The Vikings, who were fifth, did not qualify for this year’s state meet.
PIAA CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
When: Saturday
Where: Parkview Course, Hershey.
Schedule: Class 1A girls, 9:30 a.m.; Class 2A girls, 10:15 a.m.; Class 3A girls, 11 a.m.; Class 1A boys, 11:45 a.m.; Class 2A boys, 12:30 p.m.; Class 3A boys, 1:15 p.m.
District 11 qualifiers
BOYS
Class 1A
Teams: Marian Catholic – Jacob Berlanda, Wade Eroh, Achilles Fitzpatrick, James Gelatko, Darren Paulino; Nativity – Wyatt Hylka, Daniel Kim, Brady Loftus, Shane Meyer, Nash Stehr.
Individuals: Alex Best (Wea), Johnny Burgess (Min), Joshua Cathers (BeCh), Robert Espinal (ShV), Angel Flores (ShV), Colton McClusky (ScHa), Grady McGovern (Min), Preston Rex (BeCh), Gabriel Saba (ShV), Cameron Smith (Mah).
Class 2A
Teams: Notre Dame-GP – Emmett Rieland, Jameson Kopp, Dante Azzolina, Aiden Van Wert, Darek Schaeffer, Noah Sharpe, Jacob Best, David Licari; Wilson – Liam Gable, Jason Hall, Justin Hetrick, Dillard Jones, Anderson Silfies, Jeffrey Sunderlin, Zion Velasquez, Colton Yetter.
Individuals: Francesco Carr (BM), Aidan Elston (Tam), Will Haring (ACC), Quinn Heimbach (Leh), Connor Hibell (Palm), Noah Griffith (NW), Gavin Mahon (ACC), Brody Moyer (BM), Elijah Pagotto (Leh), Theodore Wechtler (SaVa).
Class 3A
Teams: Emmaus – Michael Carwell, Ryan Fach, Luke Harris, David Hearn, Sullivan Hochbein, Matthew Sirignano, Roen Woolf, Zachary Zappile. Parkland – Jaiden Zabler, Isaiah Wilson, Brycen Wilson, Cole Orloski, Colin McGuigan, Luke McEvoy, Logan McEvoy, Alexander Abosamra.
Individuals: Brayden Boyle (Fre), Jacon Casey (Naz), Keene Etters (SL), Miles Etters (SL), Luke Lotierzo (Lib), Joshua Cazares (Lib), Evan Guydish (Eas), Nick Sajez (SL), Jules Thornton (SL), Bonnie Wanjohi (ESS).
GIRLS
Class 1A
Teams: Minersville – Ava Bosack, Myah Bosack, Alexa Eisenhart, Isabella Pleznarski, Ellie Purcell, Alora Smith, Alexa Sukeena, Marley Zimmerman; Schuylkill Haven – Allie Bright, Alya Essler-Kiryama, Faith Krammes, Joy Schock, Eva Tarleton, Lilly Wisner, Charlotte Baker.
Individuals: Teaghan Biros (Mar), Felicia Bro (Mah), Anna Cook (TV), Valeria Hernandez (ShV), Victoria Hernandez (ShV), Skylar Husser (BeCa), Razavi Lily (MA), Anna Keer (Mar), Alexia Kehler (Wea), Rio Stoudt (BeCa).
Class 2A
Teams: Notre Dame-GP – Nina Ciccarelli, Violet Dewalt, Giana Garis, Brenna Hammerstone, Samantha Karwacki, Alivia Rieland, Ella Schweitzer, Mia Uliana; Wilson – Juliana Bonham, Katherine Colon, Alicia Cruz, Katelyn Hartrum, Ilah Lutz, Genevieve Monk, Hallie Sunderlin, Gabrielle Williams.
Individuals: Genevieve Dando (NS), Vanessa Frasnelli (BM), Emma Heil (NL), Logan Gillespie (JT), Shaylee Gormley (Tam), Virginia Kraus (SaVa), Rosalia Nestor (NW), Claudia Pagotto (Leh), Bridget Steidle (SaVa), Ainsley Tighe (ACC).
Class 3A
Teams: Easton – Elena Brunetti, Brielle Carr, Vivian Clark, Mae Fisher, Lyla Knoble, Lama Mahmoud, Lena Mahmoud, Liliana Michalska; Emmaus – Isabella Alwine-Balliro, Myla Felegy, Olivia Fleck, Nitzana Jamaica-Romero, Aubrey Kazmierczak, Madelyn McCartney, Julia Murphy-Peterson, Grace Nosal.
Individuals: Helaina Acker (Naz), Hannah Brodhead (Fre), Emma Carlson (Par), Harshita Keerthi (Par), Katie Drabouski (Lib), Liv Jusinski (Nor), Caelee Lenhart (SL), Elizabeth McClarin (Lib), Delaney Schoenberger (Naz), Taylor Vidumsky (Fre).
Michael Blouse is a freelance writer.
