2008 Methacton HS grad and multiple PIAA state champion Ryann Krais confirmed officially today that she is transferring from UCLA to Kansas State for her final two years. The move had been rumored on message boards this week, but nothing was official until Krais arrived home from visiting the university on Thursday, July 29th. Her high school coach, Rob Ronzano, confirmed the move to PennTrackXC.com this afternoon.
Krais had requested – and was granted her release from UCLA, so she could look at other programs. While athletics was an important reason for the move, Krais was also seeking a superior academic environment. In addition to Kansas State, she considered Duke, Wisconsin and LSU. She will switch her major from Psychology to Kinesiology.
In the end, the decision rested on the credentials and proven coaching acumen of Kansas State head coach Cliff Rovelto.
Considered one of the top multis coaches in the country, Rovelto is one of only two U.S. coaches to have coached multiple combined event athletes to over 8,000 points in the decathlon and 6,000 points in the heptathlon.
Krais says she was looking for a program that could provide her with a "single voice" in coaching for the multis. Coach Rovelto's philosophy fits that expressed need exactly.
Krais showed improvement between this year's NCAA championships, where she tallied 5,226 points, and USATF Juniors, where she scored 5,693. At USATF, she was the top collegian.
While Krais has high goals for her final two NCAA years, she has always harbored goals beyond college. Coach Rovelto and the Kansas State program fit those goals – both short team, and long term.
Krais will compete this coming week on her fourth straight USA World team, when she is one of the Heptathlon athletes in the USA vs. Germany in the Thorpe Cup in Marburg, Germany.
Krais was on the World Youth Team in 2007 in the 400 Hurdles, and in the Heptathlon in the 2008 World Juniors and in 2009 in the Pan-Am Juniors.
Interestingly, Kansas State hosted the Thorpe Cup in 2008.
