After a long day of competition Wednesday, Canon-McMillan’s Rose Kuchera said she wasn’t exactly feeling the best Thursday morning when she got out of bed.
“I woke up so sore,” she said.
And while Kuchera might feel similarly Friday when she wakes up, she’ll do it knowing that she now is a nine-time WPIAL champion.
After winning gold medals Wednseday in the triple jump and 100-meter hurdles, Kuchera added a third gold in the long jump Thursday in the second day of the WPIAL Class 3A track and field championships at Slippery Rock University. She won each of those events, along with the 400-meter relay, a year ago after winning the triple jump and 100 hurdles in 2022, as well.
It’s safe to say that not many track and field athletes have won as many WPIAL gold medals as Kuchera, now a three-peat winner in the triple jump and 100 hurdles.
“It’s just unreal,” she said. “I honestly don’t know if I have any words to describe it.”
Kuchera, a senior, originally was supposed to compete Wednesday in the long jump, but that event, along with several others, were postponed until Thursday due to poor weather conditions.
“It was kind of a love/hate because as much as I wanted to get it all done in one day, it was nice to come back with some extra rest,” said Kuchera, a Duquense recruit.
Kuchera’s winning jump of 18 feet, 2 inches came on the second of her six attempts. It was also more than a foot less than her personal record and 7 inches short of her winning leap from a season ago, so Kuchera wasn’t confident that it would be enough to win her the title.
“There was no thought that it would hold up,” she said.
Only it did. Latrobe’s Mia Klasnic had taken the early lead after leaping 18-1¼ on her first attempt, but that’s as high as she or any other competitor outside of Kuchera would soar. Klasnic was the runner-up and Fox Chapel’s Anna Kintner placed third (17-11).
A day earlier, Kuchera produced season-best marks in winning the triple jump (39-1) and 100 hurdles (14.75). Her hurdles time tied a PR. Kuchera had hoped to win four titles just as she had a season ago, but Canon-McMillan’s 400 relay team finished sixth Wednesday.
When asked if she was doing anything to celebrate Thursday night, Kuchera gave an answer you might expect from someone who began the day feeling sore.
Said Kuchera, “I’m going to try to get some sleep.”
Mt. Lebanon star doubles again
Logan St. John Kletter closed her WPIAL career in an emphatic way. Not only did the Mt. Lebanon senior standout win a gold medal in the 3,200 to seize a distance double for the second year in a row, but she did it by running the fastest time in meet history and the fastest in the state this season, per MileSplit.
St. John Kletter blew away the field by finishing in 10:19.78. It was about 7 seconds off of her PR, but only six other girls in WPIAL history have ever gone as fast as she did Thursday. West Allegheny’s Grace Fritzman placed second (10:47.14) and North Allegheny’s Eva Kynaston third (10:49.83). Fritzman, a sophomore, was also the runner-up to St. John Kletter Wednesday in the 1,600.
A North Carolina recruit, St. John Kletter also won the 1,600 and 3,200 in her junior season in addition to capturing WPIAL cross country titles her junior and senior seasons.
Renk completes sprint double
It took some time hovering near the top before South Fayette senior Olivia Renk won her first WPIAL gold medal in an individual event. But after accomplishing that Wednesday, Renk sprinted to a second Thursday.
Renk followed up her victory in the 100 by capturing a win in the 200, as her winning time of 24.87 was just shy of a PR and topped a field that included runner-up Sadie Tomczyk of Upper St. Clair (25.17), who had finished third in the 100.
A Duquesne recruit, Renk closed her career with three WPIAL gold medals overall. She was a member of South Fayette’s 400 relay team that won gold in 2022. Renk had been oh-so close to winning individual titles her sophomore and junior seasons, as she placed third in the 100 and 200 last season after finishing third in the 100 and fourth in the 200 in 2022.
Griffith shatters record
Another day, another title and meet record for Butler sensation Drew Griffith.
Griffith put an exclamation point on his final WPIAL meet by winning the 3,200 and shattering the meet record by about 15 seconds. Griffith, a senior who is considered one of the best distance runners in the country, won in a time of 8:41.60, which topped the previous record set by North Allegheny’s Matt McGoey in 2015 (8:56.43).
Ryan Pajak, a Ringgold senior who like Griffith is a Notre Dame recruit, trailed Griffith by only a second following the fifth of eight laps. But that’s when Griffith began pulling away, and by the time the race was complete, his lead had grown to 15 seconds. Pajak was the runner-up after finishing in 8:56.37, which also broke the previous meet record.
Griffith’s latest title was his third at this year’s championships. A day earlier, Griffith set a meet record while winning the 1,600 in addition to helping Butler’s 3,200 relay team take first. Griffith will finish his career with 10 WPIAL gold medals. He won five track titles at the individual championships, helped Butler win three team track titles, and also won two cross country titles.
The Dean of the 200
Canon-McMillan junior Colton Dean continued to show off his impressive versatility by capturing a title in the 200 for the second year in a row, this after winning the 300 hurdles, taking second in the 100, and placing fourth in the long jump a day earlier.
Dean, who won a national title in the decathlon at the USATF National Junior Olympics last summer, ran to his latest title courtesy of a season-best time of 21.71. Hempfield’s Caleb Prola was second (22.08) and Elizabeth Forward’s Connor Stokes third (22.24). Stokes, a junior, also placed third in the 100 a day earlier. Woodland Hills speedster Scoop Smith finished last (30.53) after suffering a hamstring injury during the race. Smith beat out Dean to win the title in the 100.
Dean now has seven top-four finishes in individual events the last two years at the WPIAL championships. In addition to winning the 200 last season, he was second in the 300 hurdles and third in the long jump.
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.