Set state record. Check.
Set national sophomore record. Check.
Ryann Krais, Methacton, opens her first Heptathlon with a 14.08
(Photo courtesy of Cherie Ramsey)
It seems as if when rising Methacton junior Ryann Krais sets a goal, she achieves it. And in the future, this remarkably talented hurdler, jumper, sprinter, and multis competitor will surely set many records, in high school, college, and if all goes as dreamed, beyond.
And every leap, jump, dash and throw along the way, she will be cheered by friends, coaches, and competitors alike, because she is, to put it simply, just as nice a person as she is athletic. Just as coachable as she is athletic. Just as great a teammate as she is athletic. And while her coach, Rob Ronzano says he can hardly imagine a better all around student-athlete-teammate than Krais, "...anyone can tell that physically Ryann has a gift. What is difficult for others to tell is how mentally strong she is... that will help her throughout her life." And, he says, that has helped her already.
You only have to look at the start of her 2006 state meet for proof. And that proof is in what most people at the meet did not see. On Friday morning, she was entered in her first of four events, the 100 Hurdles. She had run the fastest time in the state only a week before at her District 1 meet in 13.91. It had rained, and the track was wet. The gun went off, and one step into her race, Krais's foot slipped just a bit. Her steps were off and she crashed into the first hurdle and tumbled to the ground. Her coach watched as the seconds ticked off. Coach Ronzano's first thought was of Ryann. Was she injured? Was she OK? But then he saw what he already knew she had, the heart of a champion. She returned to the race, and gave it everything she had, finishing in 16.94 seconds. It turned out to be less than a second from the final time advancing to the Semi-Finals. But as impressive as her race had been, Ronzano then saw a display of sportsmanship that will stay with him forever. Instead of staying to herself, thinking about her missed opportunity, or showing any kind of personal disappointment, Krais started to congratulate the other runners.
Krais clears 5-06.25 in the Hep High Jump, another PR
(Photo courtesy of Cherie Ramsey)
She was soon surrounded by family, friends, teammates and coaches, encouraging and supporting her. Over the two days of the meet, beginning with the prelims in the 300 Hurdles and 4x400 and the Finals of the Long Jump on Friday... to the Finals of the 300 Hurdles and 4x400 on Saturday, Krais simply set PRs, a 20-03.50 Long Jump win, a 41.46 300 meter Hurdles win, and a 53.9 second 4x400 split to lead the team to a 5th place finish. The 41.46 was a new PIAA and all-time state best in the event.
Whew.
It was on to the Nike Outdoor Nationals (NON) and then the USATF Junior Nationals. She set a 400 Hurdles PR in finishing 3rd at NON, going 59.64. And there were 7th place finishes in the 100 Hurdles and Long Jump, followed by a 55.7 split in anchoring her 4x400. But it was the next week's USATF Juniors where a US Sophomore record in the Heptathlon had been one of her season goals.
There were only two things standing in her way. She had never thrown the Javelin and it would only be the second time in competition in the High Jump and Shot Put. Those obstacles could be overcome as much as possible with some quick coaching and drills and practice. The 2nd obstacle was big. USATF had turned down her Heptathlon application. An appeal brought a reversal early in the week. The evidence was strong in Krais' favor. She had won the Nike Indoor Nationals Pentathlon with 3670 points, the 7th best prep performance of all time, and the 2nd best in the history of the meet.
Following a PR of 32-06.25 in the Hep Shot Put, Krais PR in the 200, going 24.40
(Photo courtesy of Cherie Ramsey)
She went to Indianapolis entered in three events, the Heptathlon, the 400 Hurdles, and the 400 Dash. The first four events of the Hep were scheduled for Wednesday, with the 400 Hurdles Prelims sandwiched between the first and second Hep events on Thursday. The 400 Hurdles finals were scheduled for Friday. Ambitious, but doable. Once there, she scratched the 400.
Surprisingly, Krais wasn't so sure she should start with such a big meet to debut in the Heptathlon. "The day before, I was a mess hoping not to embarrass myself. I mean, Shana Woods was here, and maybe I should have started with a smaller meet."
But the event order helped to placate those fears. It was the 100 hurdles. And while she hit a couple of hurdles with her trail leg, she won her heat in 14.08, 2nd only to Woods' 14.03 in the 3rd heat. It was a good start and put her in first place.
It was on to the High Jump, where she had cleared better than 5-3 at Nike Indoor. She came in at 4-06 to get a mark. A 0 on a Hep scorecard is the worst that can happen. She then skipped three more heights, and then cleared on her first attempts at the next five heights until missing her first two attempts at a new PR of 5-05.25. She got the mark on her third try. "That was way better than expected. And then things just kept getting better," Krais said.
Krais finished her first Juniors with a 7th place 1:00.49
in the 400 Hurdles a day after finishing the Heptathlon
(Photo courtesy of Cherie Ramsey)
Her 3rd event was the other she had only done once before in competition, and that was the Shot Put. She fouled on her first... "I had it on my shoulder instead of my neck." She got a good mark on her second throw, and then launched a new PR of 32-06.25, taking 12th in the event, and keeping her overall lead. Woods was in another flight, but didn't throw as far as Krais thought she would.
It was back to somewhat familiar territory for the 200. Krais was in lane 7 and Woods was in the same heat. "I was glad she was in the same heat. You know who your competition is and I knew how fast she was from online." Krais was a little behind Woods after the first curve, but didn't lose any more ground the rest of the way, finishing in 24.53 to Woods' 24.40.
At the end of Day One, it was Ryann Krais 3263 and heavy favorite Shana Woods, 3226. Dyestat headlined the fact because it was news. High school 10th graders just don't show up in their first Heptathlon and take the lead from national record holders (Indoor).
Thursday's first event, like it had been on Wednesday, played to Krais' strengths. After all, she had long jumped over 20 feet at States, and had not dipped under 18 feet this season with the exception of one meet held in a near monsoon in April. Because there are only three jumps, Krais smartly got a safe effort in at 17-07. Krais says she uses a four slow steps start, and didn't realize she had missed the 4th step mark until it was too late, arriving at the board with the wrong foot. Foul. And on her 3rd and final jump, it happened again. While her 17-07 was good for 8th place in the event, Woods launched a 19-03.50, and turned her 37 point deficit to Krais into a 193 point advantage.
The Javelin was next on the card for the Heptathlon, but first, Krais had to run the Trials of the 400 Hurdles. A rain delay bought her some rest after five of her seven multis events. "It was a nice break. I didn't feel too bad at that point. After it was all over though, I was so tired I was on the ground for quite a while."
On Day Two of the Hep, Krais started with a 17-07 Long Jump,
followed by a PR (1st time) 94' Javelin
(Photo courtesy of Victor Sailer, PhotoRun.NET)
Krais' goal for Juniors was to break 59 seconds in the long hurdles event. She ran 1:00.53 to take 2nd in Heat Three and with the 6th best time of the day, move on to the Friday finals.
With the meet underway again, the Javelin was next at the penultimate event of the Heptathlon. She had practiced three times, getting instruction from Upper Merion assistant coach Charlie Graham. In the 2-1/2 weeks of throwing, she had never gone more than 80 feet. On her first of the three alloted throws, she fouled when the wrong end of the Jav hit the ground first. With only two throws remaining, she needed some help. And she got it... from fellow Pennsylvanian and fellow competitor Amy Backel. Backel, a graduate of Northern York high school, was competing as a freshman for Oklahoma, a school with a strong multis program. Backel had won the Shot Put competition, but was not having her best two days. But Backel is confident in her Javelin, and offered her help to Krais. Backel showed her how to get her hips in position to prevent the kind of foul she had just experienced, and helped with her release. Krais got a good throw on the 2nd attempt, and on the 3rd, launched a PR of 94 feet. Backel would win the Javelin as well, and eventually took 9th place overall with 4583 points. But Woods PRed by over 12 feet with a throw of 132-07 and was well on her way to her national record-setting mark of 5533, the first prep girl to pass 5500 points.
One more event remained for Krais. With her 400 speed, she eventually will count the 800 as a strength. Another storm helped to buy some time. Krais didn't get the greatest start. "I forgot they don't say set." She went through the 400 a little too quickly in 67 seconds while trying to stay with the top group. She finished in 2:24.46, the 6th best of the day, and another PR.
Her total of 5138 set a new US Sophomore Class Record for the event. Only Woods and three college freshman were better.
Seven events, six PRs (counting her 14.08 as better than her wind-aided 13.91 100 Hurdles). Krais came back on Friday and took 7th in the finals of the 400 Hurdles, going 1:00.49.
Women Heptathlon Final
Points 100H HJ SP 200 Day1 LJ JT 800
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Shana Woods 14.03 1.66m 9.59m 24.40 5.87m 40.42m 2:20.10
unattached w: 2.0 5-05.25 31-05.75 w: 0.9 w: 2.2 132-07
Team Points: 10 5533 (974) (806) (503) (943) 3226 (810) (675) (822)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Ryann Krais 14.08 1.69m 9.91m 24.53 5.36m 28.65m 2:24.46
unattached w: 1.4 5-06.5 32-06.25 w: 0.9 w: 2.6 94-00
Team Points: 4 5138 (967) (842) (524) (930) 3263 (660) (451) (764)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
9 Amy Backel 15.84 1.48m 12.74m 27.52 4.90m 41.64m 2:34.33
Oklahoma w: 2.0 4-10.25 41-09.75 w: 2.0 w: 1.7 136-07
4583 (734) (599) (710) (669) 2712 (532) (699) (640)
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Like any athlete, Krais aims to PR every time. She's confident though, that with more than just practice breaks and other borrowed pockets of time in which to practice her new Heptathlon events, that she'll continue to improve her score.
Krais closed out her first Hep with a PR 2:24.46 800, setting a US soph record of 5138
(Photo courtesy of Cherie Ramsey)
While time and experiences could change her feelings, Krais is now leaning toward the 400 Hurdles as her favorite and potentially best event. She doesn't think she has the "quick feet" necessary for the 100 or even 300 Hurdles. "And I've always been a 400 runner, so you might as well put some hurdles in there." She likes the multis, but says she'd be thrilled to "follow in Nicole (Leach's) footsteps" in the 400 Hurdles." Leach won the Juniors in a meet record 55.83, a time that would have in all likelihood qualified her for the Open finals in the event with the nation's elite.
Krais considers her 300 Hurdles record-setting race at PIAA states her best race of the season, mainly because it had been a season goal to win it while setting an all-time PA mark. "It was a big race between Brianna (Broyles) and me. I had been aiming for a state record since 9th grade, and it all came together in that event."
Krais says that she cannot imagine having a better atmosphere than exists on the Methacton team. "It's perfect. The perfect school. The perfect team. And the competition is there, but it's friendly, healthy. I wouldn't be here without them."
And in Indianapolis, Krais agrees with both Chanelle Price and Liz Costello that there was a kind of 'Team PA' feeling at the meet. "All the athletes and parents came together. I could hear Liz cheering for me. It was so cool. I saw Breehana (Jacobs) and Chanelle (Price) warming up when I warmed up. It's great having friends like that."
Krais said the Juniors meet was the most amazing of her career so far. "You are a superstar with that athlete badge." Special memories included seeing Justin Gatlin getting ready for the 100 when Krais was at the starting line... and seeing Marion Jones walk by with her child. "Seeing them makes you think about the future more." And for the future, Krais is dreaming big.
Her drive in sports, as in her life, is to continually do better... and she hopes that drive and her performances will someday get her to the Olympics as a member of the US team.
Which sounds like an athlete who is starting to sway toward track away from her other love, soccer. A member of a summer and fall traveling team, Krais is appreciative that her soccer team and teammates understand her growing focus on track. "Track is my main focus now. My soccer team knows it. I have accepted it. I have never loved it as much as I have loved track."
