The Pennsylvania distance running community has a transfer from the state of Washington, and she's training with her new team and getting academic credit by doing her senior project with the state T&F/XC web site.
Granger competing at West Foot Locker Regional in 2004
(Photo by Julian Aguirre)
Meet Hannah Granger, a homeschooled senior and distance runner. In Washington, Granger competed at the state level in the 1600 and 3200 in T&F and in cross country, finishing 4th in the 2006 3200, 6th in the 2005 3200 and in the top five in XC the past two years. She qualified for and also competed in the annual Nike Border Clash, which pits all-star teams from Washington and Oregon in boys and girls races on the Nike corporate campus. Granger boasts PRs of 17:45 for 3 miles in cross country, and track PRs of 5:13 for 1600 meters and 10:36 for 3000 meters. She joins a team that finished 5th in Pennsylvania AAA in cross country in 2005, and which returns their top four and five of their top seven.
Granger would have been welcomed to Radnor as a homeschooler even before PA Governor Ed Rendell signed legislation in January 2006 mandating that schools open their extracurricular activities to homeschoolers who live in their district.
She is thrilled with her new team and teammates. "They made me feel like I was a part of the team right away. I flew out here a few weeks before I actually moved – for my grandmom's funeral – and met Coach Flanagan and some of the girls. It was great, I moved clear across the country and already had a team of friends."
In addition to training with Radnor this summer, Granger has joined PennTrackXC.com for a year-long internship. Her work will be presented as a part of her senior portfolio for academic credit. As an associate editor, Granger has been instrumental with finishing the backlog of elite performances from outdoor. In addition to assisting with the day-to-day results and news, Granger will be keeping a training blog, and will do interviews and write stories on PA athletes, teams and coaches.
Granger is adjusting to the heat and humidity of a Pennsylvania summer. But she's also adjusting to Philly-area drivers. "They honk their horns at everything."
Welcome to PA!
Her email address is hannah@penntrackxc.com.