Amazing Krais, and other PA surprises at NIN.

Amazing Krais, and other PA surprises at NIN. Some champions won. Others fought through pain and disappointment, which in itself, is victory. All deserved to be there. All will excel in the future... the stories of the girls Pentathlon, boys 400, girls Mile, and boys 4x400 from a PA view.

Pentathlon champ Ryann Krais in the Long Jump.
Photo by Victah Sailer, www.PhotoRun.com

Krais surprises competition, as much as herself with Pentathlon performances

If you have been watching Ryann (Amazing) Krais for the first two years of her prep career, you already know she is destined for great things, all within her own reach. Sure, she'll need great coaching, a superb support system of family and friends, and a little bit of luck with health and injuries. But as is usually the case, in the end, it will all come down to her own desire and work.

With everything else in place, the latter will not be a problem.

Krais was just one of the PA athletes who surprised the crowd, their coaches and their competition at the Nike Indoor Championships. Some were thrills. Others were disappointing, but only temporarily.

With a 19-02.50 Long Jump and 8.67 60 Meter Hurdles securely tucked away in her growing resume, Krais was just three events away from being a national champion in the Indoor Pentathlon. Actually, thanks should go to meet management for scheduling the finals of the 60 Hurdles and Krais' other top event, the 400 Dash, within a half hour of each other on Sunday. That tight turnaround is what forced Krais and her coach to look for alternatives. They found it in the 60 Hurdles-Pentathlon double. The Pentathlon occurred entirely on Saturday, while the 60 Hurdles Prelims, Semis and Finals were all slated for Sunday.

Pentathlon 4th place: Erin Hannon, in the Long Jump.
Photo by Victah Sailer, www.PhotoRun.com
Coach Rob Ronzano says they made the decision the day before the PTFCA State Championships. The Pentathlon, however, added a lot of hurdles (pun intended) to the planning. Ryann had only high jumped for a few hours last spring. She had never thrown the Shot Put. And she had only raced the 800 in dual meets when asked. "I never had raced the 800 at this level."

Krais began the day with one of her specialties, the 60 Hurdles, and immediately let the field know that she was to be considered a key competitor. Her 8.80 put her in first place with 952 points. Delaware's Alexandra Coppadge ran 8.86 for 939, with one of the pre-meet favorites, Bradford's Erin Hannon in 4th with 836 after running 9.36. Hannon had been working all season toward this meet, but came down with an upper respirator infection that had her awake most of the night prior to Saturday's competition.

The 2nd event was Hannon's best, and while she did not get her season best or PR in the High Jump, her 5-07 clearance won the event with 855 points. With only two weeks of training, Krais cleared 5-03.25 for 747 points, but lost ground to Coppadge, who cleared 5-05.75 for 818 points. After two events, Coppadge had 1757 points for a lead of 58 on Krais and 66 on Hannon.

Lindsay Dolan in the 60M Hurdles.
Photo by PennTrackXC.com
The Shot Put is where Krais actually won the Pentathlon. Her final throw of 31-00.50 was 3rd for the day, but it was huge in the points, as her 494 kept her from losing too much ground to Coppadge, whose 34-01.25 gave her 555 points and a lead of 119. Krais had only started practicing the Shot after states, and with the help of teammate Jesse Mann, Krais got in "two-and-a-half" practices. She started throwing at 22', and quickly got into the upper 20's. But after her 2nd throw, Central (Phil) assistant coach Arnie Shiffrin, who was watching the event, advised Krais that she should hold the Shot a little longer in the power position. The tweak gave her a huge boost, figuratively and literally, to the 31-00.50 mark. Hannon held her own with a throw of 29-10.75 for 471 points, and retained 3rd, 150 behind the leader.

Krais is one of the top Long Jumpers in the US, and this was the event she had to have to get in a position to win. Hannon has also gone over 18', so she was looking to this event as well as a way to shore up her position in the standings. Krais went 18-05.25 on the 2nd jump, even hitting short of the board. The 735 points and her 2nd event win pulled her to within 15 points of Coppadge, whose 17-03.25 for 631 points had given her 2943 for the competition after four events. Hannon's 17-06.25 for 654 points pulled her to within 127 of the lead.

It all came down to the last event, the 800 Meter Run.

Krais immediately took the race out, with Coppadge right on her heels. They split 32.8 for the first 200, and came through the 400 in just under 72 seconds. Coppadge obviously had the same race plan as Krais, but her's was going better. Krais had hoped to be the one chasing. "She (Coppadge) was running a really smart race." All Krais could do was run, and hope she had something left at the end. "I think I did look back a couple of times on the second lap. The last lap, I just went."

Reggie Carter competing in the 4x400.
Photo by PennTrackXC.com
Coming through the 600 in under 1:53 after a 40.4 3rd 200, Krais knew she had to go. The points system dictated that she had to win by two seconds to win the Pentathlon. So putting some distance on Coppadge was all she had in mind. By the start of the back straightaway, the race for the 800 was over. The only question was, could Krais put the meters, and the time on Coppadge to pull out the victory. By turn three, the lead was extended, and when all was said, done and official, Krais had run 2:26.12 to win the event by nearly six seconds over Coppadge, Her final 200 was 33.8. Coppadge was 2nd at 2:32.01. The 742 points were 74 better than Coppadge, giving Krais 3670 and a win by 59. Hannon, despite her illness, PRed by two seconds, running 2:48.31. Her 481 points gave her 3297 and 4th place overall.

Also in the competition was Center's Lindsay Dolan. The surprise was that Dolan was able to compete at all at this level. For four months, she has been struggling with achilles tendonitis and a bone spur. The condition was especially painful during the High Jump. While she didn't PR in any event, she did finish 12th overall.

It's a race. And that includes a great start.

The 400 is combination sprint and gut-check. The body can survive the 200 at those speeds and recover pretty quickly. But maintaining that level of effort for another lap is where the champions come through, while others falter. As with most races, there is a strategy laid out by both coach and athlete. Athletes generally like to get into a race, see where they stand and how the competition looks, and then adjust accordingly. That is of course, if they're given half a chance. Bensalem's Reggie Carter didn't give them a chance.

Carter had won the PTFCA Indoor title two weeks prior to NIN. It was his 2nd state title (2005 PIAA champs 400 being his 1st in a PR 47.62)... but a national title was his ultimate season goal. His strategy was simple..."to run the first turn hard and keep it up." The early move appeared to catch his competitors a little off guard. They spent the two laps giving furious chase, but never caught the man who used every ounce of energy he had to hold on for a 48.71 and the win. It didn't match his indoor PR from States (48.36), "Two weeks ago I was state champion, now I'm national. That's a big improvement."

To compete at a national level, the experience of a loss can be something to build on.

Sarah Morrison in the Mile.
Photo by PennTrackXC.com
While two Pennsylvania indoor state champions came into the Nike Indoor Nationals with the confidence of potential all-Americans, both left knowing that while this year's meet was an opportunity missed, the experience is something to build upon.

Junior Sarah Morrison, the Chambersburg distance star and indoor mile champ, came into the race knowing she belonged. She knew that her 4:54.05 at PTFCA states put her among the nation's elite, and earned her a spot in the hot heat at NIN. While she started the race in good shape, it wasn't long before her form and demeanor began to change. "I started being passed and started thinking negatively." The race quickly got away from her, and she would finish 21st overall. While somewhat disappointed in the day, Morrison was almost immediately looking forward to her next big opportunity on the national stage when she races the Invitational Mile at the Penn Relays Carnival. "I am happy with my 4:54 (from this season), and making it here. Now I know what to expect next year."

Harrisburg surprised a lot of people with their state title in the 4x400 two weeks earlier in State College. Their 3:20.92 earned them a ticket to the hot heat, and they appeared ready to race to their potential. But things happen in fast, pressure-packed races... especially the final event of the day. The first two legs went smoothly, and the team was in contact, poised to give anchor Joshua Potts the baton with the race on the line. But the transfer from 2nd to 3rd leg didn't go as planned, with the Harrisburg penultimate runner losing one shoe. He didn't hesitate to give chase... but at that point, the chance for a title was gone.

Harrisburg's 3rd leg stars minus one shoe in the 4x400.
Photo by PennTrackXC.com
The team's coaches and supporters had gathered around the boys to offer support after the race. Assistant Coach Keith Edmonds was philosophical following the race, saying that there are just some things you can't control, but that controlling the things you can is the key to getting opportunities like this in the first place, and, more importantly, agan. "You prepare yourself for being at this level. This is the level we want to be at. We can't wait for the Penn Relays."

Don't be surprised to see Krais, Hannon, Dolan, Carter, Morrison and the Harrisburg 4x400 at the top this spring.

NOTE: Ryann Krais made the finals of the 60 Hurdles on Sunday, coming within .04 of her PR in the Semis, but would fall before the final hurdle and finish 6th. She would scratch the Long Jump to recover to help her teammates run 4:06.69 in the 4x400 Finals. Erin Hannon came back Sunday to finish 2nd in the High Jump with a season-best 5-08.75.