Ryann Krais is ranked No. 1 in the state and among the elite nationally in the long jump, 400-meter dash and 60 hurdles. So that would make the Methacton High sophomore the favorite for each event heading into Saturday's PTFCA state championship meet. But there's no open 400 on her schedule this weekend.
On February 17, Krais PRed with a 19-02.50 Long Jump.
She is also leading PA with her 8.67
in the 60 Hurdles and her 55.62 400.
According to Methacton coach Ron Ronzano, at the beginning of the year she wrote down her season goals and one of them was to run the 4x400 relay at the state meet.
"Track is such a mental sport that you have to have the support of your teammates to excel," Krais said. "The relay is so much fun. With the relay you have three other people to celebrate with.
"I would love to do the 400, it's still my favorite event, but I will give it up this year because I have two more years."
So her lineup includes the long jump, hurdles, 4x4 and the 200, an event she's only tried a few times. But there's time in the day to do it.
That's unlike the 400 which she would have had to run only about 30 minutes before the finals in the hurdles.
The hurdles are Krais' top priority this winter as she wants a shot at the state record. She's already run it as her top time is 8.67, however she has to duplicate it at Penn State this weekend.
Krais may only be a high school sophomore, but the level-headness her coach said she possesses has made it easy for to decide what's best for herself when it comes to athletics.
"She generally wants the best for everyone and that just brings up the whole team," Ronzano said.
An avid soccer player, Krais decided not join her high school team last spring so she could concentrate on track. She still has the soccer bug, though, so she plays with the club team Harleysville United.
However, her track career, which she began as a seventh grader, comes first.
Her decision to focus on track has paid off as she won the 100 and 400 hurdles at the AAU nationals over the summer along with placing in the open 400 and earning female athlete of the meet.
She rolled that success right into this winter's season, earning co-female athlete of the meet honors at the PTFCA carnival at Lehigh a few weeks ago by winning the long jump and running the fastest hurdle time of the day in the trials, despite only being at the meet for 45 minutes.
A week later she traveled to two different meets to turn herself from an 18-foot long jumper into a 19-02.5-footer and to drop her indoor 400 time down to 55.62. Earlier in the week her marks were ranked 7th and 4th, respectively, in the nation.
"This kid can do anything," Ronzano said. "You don't often find someone who's nationally ranked in [several events]. She's the best athlete in Methacton School District."
Ronzano is so confident in Krais' athletic ability that he's already talked to her about the penthalon. She liked the idea herself and has since tried the high jump (Coach said she jumped about 5-2), shot put, javelin and the 800.
But Ronzano said he thinks her best event may eventually be the 400-meter hurdles when she gets to college. Before that she'll look to break the 300 hurdles record at the outdoor state meet this spring.
"Once she gets her open 400 under 54 her [hurdle] times will just drop," he said.
