Pictured Above - Katie Drabouski in the Paul Short Brown Race - Photo by Ryan Comstock
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The championship portion of the season is in full swing, giving standout underclassmen a range of opportunities to make their names known.
The Pennsylvania season will continue through November, with post-season competition extending to December. In that time, we'll be highlighting some of our "Future Stars".
These are athletes, typically underclassmen, who have the potential to be stars tomorrow. We will highlight a couple of athletes each week.
Ephrata • Class of 2027
Ephrata sophomore Kyle Reidenbaugh has made big jumps during his second year as a varsity runner.
Reidenbaugh ran a strong 16:06.80 personal best, finishing fifth overall in the Paul Short Brown Race on October 4th. His effort was just over a minute faster than his best time last year of 17:07.30 to take 35th at the Lancaster Lebanon League Championships (L-L League).
Speaking of the L-L League, Reidenbaugh crossed the line in eighth this year, running 16:17.10. A consistent effort to his Paul Short time. For context, he finished just behind Elizabethtown Area's Dante Checco, a 2023 PIAA 3A State Qualifier.
With this forward momentum, Reidenbaugh is putting himself in a position to have a standout championship portion of the season.
Katie Drabouski
Liberty • Class of 2027
Katie Drabouski is the current PA No. 8 sophomore in her debut cross country season.
She clocked a personal best of 18:32.00 to win the Pocono Mountain West Quad, beating fellow District XI competitors from Pleasant Valley, Bethlehem Catholic, and Freedom.
Another standout performance for Drabouski was at Paul Short in the Brown Race. She ran 18:53.60, finishing eighth overall. Just ahead of her was Germantown Academy's Neive Keitel, the third-place finisher in the 2023 PA Independent Schools Championships.
Most recently, Drabouski ran 19:03.50 to finish second at the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Championship. She was precisely eleven seconds off Madelyn McCartney (Emmaus). For context, McCartney was last year's 3A District XI champion who went on to snag the 25th medal at the PIAA State Championships.
If Drabouski can continue to mix things up with the caliber of athletes she's been competing with all season, she could have a breakout end to her sophomore campaign.