It went down to the wire, but Mia Cochran was able to compete after all at the District 7 (WPIAL) Championships on Friday afternoon.
Cochran ran 17:46 to win her second WPIAL XC title in runaway fashion.
After a whirlwind 24 hours, Cochran got a clearance from her school district just ten minutes before the start of the WPIAL Class AAA girls race at White Oak Park. Cochran was initially told on Thursday that she could not compete in the district meet because she was exposed to a Moon Area classmate that was positive for COVID-19. Athletes must qualify for the state meet from the district championship meet.
Cochran's mother told PennTrackXC's Phil Grove that Cochran presented evidence of two negative COVID-19 tests, along with supporting documentation from her physician that she is healthy to run, to the Moon Area School District. At that point the district gave Cochran approval to compete in the 1:45 PM race.
Cochran was not made available for an interview after her race.
