Meeting their own high expectations - the stories of Smith, Krais and Kanuch @ PIAA States

Nicole Smith, Ryann Krais and Brad Kanuch excelled in both running and field events at the 2005 PIAA Track & Field Championships. PennTrackXC.com interviewed all three...

Nicole Smith, 12, McDowell

5-08 1st
20-03.00 3.2 1st
39-03.50 NWI 1st
15.04 -0.4 (14.99 -1.2 Prelims) 8th

Nicole Smith in the rain of the Triple Jump.

Nicole Smith, the Erie McDowell senior who came into the meet with high expectations, mainly from herself, achieved the one goal that was on the top of her list - to help her team repeat as AAA Champions. With three individual titles in the High, Long and Triple Jumps to go along with an 8th place in the finals of the 100 Hurdles, her 31 points were one point better than Milton Hershey, the team runner-up. McDowell finished with 36 points.

After Friday's long dual with Altoona junior Rachel Gehret in the High Jump, and her PR 20-03 wind-aided Long Jump, plus the Prelims of the 100 Hurdles, Smith was happiest that her family, including grandparents and father and mother had been able to witness the day. "My father made it out to my senior year at States. He never really saw me compete because he works so much (he is professional golfer Dave Smith). So I really wanted to make it stand out in his memory - that his daughter was something. So it's really important. He was over there going crazy."

Smith said the back-and-forth with Gehret was grueling. She had the 100 Prelims just as they reached the jump-off in the High Jump. "I didn't do as well as I would have liked, but coming off the Hurdles I was pushing, and I wish I would have slowed down. I was already in second, but I was still pushing to try to win, because that's my competitive nature. But when I came back over from the Hurdles I was really out of breath. I started feeling it in my legs, with fatigue setting in. Rachel gave me a run for my life. I thought she was going to beat me. But to defend my title, I'm just really excited."

On her PR in the Long Jump, Smith really didn't care that she didn't get the record because the mark was wind-aided. "I just took my time and just let the sand come to me. I'm just glad I got a PR. Who can be upset about a PR?"

During Saturday's Triple Jump, she faced another foe, the weather with wind and rain. "I was getting worried, but I just kept thinking this is my last time here, what if I don't win, and how that would feel."

She won. McDowell won. Thanks for the show, Nicole.

Smith will take her talents to the University of Arkansas, where she will compete in the three jumps, and work to improve her technique in the Hurdles. She hopes to move into the Multis as her collegiate career progresses.

Rob Ronzano, Coach, Methacton

Ryan Krais, 09, Methacton
100 Hurdles, 14.94 -0.4 7th (14.53 -2.6 Semis)
300 Hurdles, 43.41 1st (43.08 Prelims)
Long Jump, 18-01.50, 6th

Ryann Krais clears an early hurdle on the way to the 300 win.

Ryann Krais isn't your ordinary freshman. She came in with talent, and quickly established herself as a front-runner in hurdles, the 200, 400 and Long Jump. At her first indoor meet, her coach, Rob Ronzano, was simply concerned with keeping her healthy and then setting achievable goals throughout the indoor and outdoor seasons. Well, she basically blew the doors off goal after goal. "She has met and exceeded any expectations we could have set."

At the beginning of outdoor, they did set one of the goals as being state champion in the 300 Hurdles. Ronzano credits the competition in that league for contributing to Krais' development. "Having Chanel Williams in the SOL American was such a benefit to Ryann's development. The two of them have developed a great deal of respect for each other, and cheer each other on." In fact, Ronzano thinks competing against Krais may have played a part in Chanel's gold in the 100 Hurdles.

Ronzano recounts the state meet, event by event: "In the long jump, she tied a PR and finished 6th. We had to be happy with that. In the 100 hurdles, everything went perfectly through the trials, semi's and the first 7 hurdles of the finals, then a very slight youthful error on hurdle 8 cost her her. She dropped the toe on her trail leg and barely cliped the 8th hurdle, but it threw off her stride in hurdle 9 and by just pure athleticism, she managed to clear the last hurdle and finish in 7th. In the 300 Hurdles, we were just lucky. The weather was obviously a factor, but not an excuse. She looked great through the first 2 hurdles, then stutterred over the 3rd. She looked good over the next 4, but the last hurdle was a mess. She was obviously getting tired and lost her form. She made an attempt to clear the last hurdle, but she was too far away on the take-off. Thankfully she was so far ahead heading into the last hurdle, she still came away with the gold, but that was a scary sight."

As for next year... "No record this year (in the 300 Hurdles), but I'm pretty confident there will be in the future."

Brad Kanuch, 11, Westmont-Hilltop

Triple Jump, 47-02.00, NWI, 1st
Long Jump, 21-10.25 NWI, 2nd
200, 22.33 -0.6, 1st
100, 10.84 0.2, 2nd

Brad Kanuch edges Tommie Campbell in the 200.

As a sophomore, Brad Kanuch was 6th in the Long Jump, 4th in the 100, 3rd in the Triple Jump, and was DQed in the 200... "still a good day for a sophomore."

But he had a great day as a junior. Two golds and two silvers. "I didn't PR, which kind of disappointed me, but I wasn't on the board of the Triple Jump as usual. But the season was great."

His biggest win was probably the 200, upsetting favorite Tommie Campbell of Aliquippa. "My strategy coming into the 200 is to sprint the first 100, because a lot of others usually dog that first 100. I was surprised not seeing Tommie Campbell coming around the turn after me. But I heard him on the straight, so I had to start running for my life."

Kanuch plays football and basketball. He almost skipped the roundball this year for indoor track, and is seriously considering doing just that in his senior year.

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