Austin Kratz Takes Down A Pair Of Meet Records At Penn State


Austin Kratz made it look easy on Sunday. The senior has been on fire this winter, climbing up all-time lists and breaking state records. He terrific season continued at the PTFCA Indoor State Championships at Penn State with a pair of state titles in the sprints.

Kratz, a senior at Dock Mennonite, rolled in the 60 meters, not taking a round off. He started it off with a 6.82 in the preliminary round. Then in the semifinals, Kratz took down Journey Brown's meet record set last year. Kratz went 6.73 for a new state meet record and PA#2 all-time performance.

In the finals, he completed the job, winning the state title in a time of 6.75, over two tenths ahead of second place. Watch his semis heat and meet record above.

Of course, he wasn't done, though. Kratz returned for the 200 meters, an event where he already held the all-time Pennsylvania state record. Against a strong field, nothing could be considered a given. But the poised Kratz rolled once again, clocking a 21.09. That takes down Brady Gehret's 2010 meet record of 21.22 (which formerly stood as the overall state record before Kratz broke that two weeks ago at SPIRE in Ohio).

Watch that race above.

Now there's an argument to be made that his 21.09 from Sunday on Penn State's banked 200-meter track is more impressive than his 21.04 from SPIRE's oversized 300-meter track, but that's an argument for another day. Instead, we'll just enjoy watching one of the greatest sprinters to have ever come through the Pennsylvania high schools.