Now healthy, Abdalah gets a restart at West Virginia

Tri-State Sports & News Service

Marianne Abdalah wanted to make a big splash in her freshman year at West Virginia.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way.

Abdalah, the Vincentian alumna who became only the second female runner to win four consecutive WPIAL individual titles in fall cross country while twice winning the PIAA Class 2A 3,200meter run in spring track, was stuck in neutral for most of the first campaign because of a rash of injuries.

“I didn’t get to run outdoor cross or outdoor track, but I did really well in indoor and I got my times back down to where they were in freshman year of high school,” Abdalah said. “But even though I wasn’t running the whole time, it was a good transition to getting to college and getting used to everything that comes with it and, hopefully, this year goes a lot more smoothly.”

Abadalah made a name for herself right out of the gate at Vincentian when she won the WPIAL Class 1A title with a time of 18 minutes, 20 seconds, which remained her benchmark at championship meets throughout her prep career. She followed that up with an 18:24 in Hershey to capture the first of her three consecutive state crowns.

Over the years, though, her times bumped up, though her success remained constant. She won the WPIAL championship in 2014 with an 18:38 and the PIAA with an 18:35 and pulled off her third double in 2015 with a 19:01 at Cooper’s Lake Campground and an 18:50 in the state finals.

Her senior year, though, was also marred by injuries. She pulled out of the annual Red, White and Blue Invitational at the Shenley Oval — traditionally the first big meet of the season — because of tendinitis in her shin that shut her down for more than a month.

As 2016 progressed, she eventually came back and won her final WPIAL title with her worst time in the event, a 19:23, then ran a 19:26 at the PIAA finals that left her with her only runner-up finish as Sera Mazza of St. Joseph’s Catholic beat her by three seconds.

She also knew things weren’t going to be as easy in college.

“When you’re going from high school, you’re a senior on top of your game and you’re older than everyone else in the field and you get set back to being a freshman again,” Abdalah said. “A lot of people don’t realize what it’s like to go from being on top of your game back to the bottom again, but at the same time, it was easy to think of it as a fresh start.”

As she entered her first year in Morgantown, though, it appeared her injuries were behind her. That is until she had an attack of bursitis in her knee that kept her out of fall cross country and then a pinched nerve in her lower back and a groin strain restricted her in the spring.

Neither impediment was related to the tendinitis she had as a senior with the Royals, but that didn’t make it any easier to deal with.

“It was definitely harder than high school because you’re getting [a scholarship] and expected to do certain things and you’re not able to do them,” Abdalah said. “With West Virginia, the coaches and the staff made it a really easy transition. They helped me with rehab and getting my iron up which was a big thing because it was low. I was able to go into indoor pretty healthy and the injury during spring track was more of a freak injury.”

Fortunately for Abdalah, she’s going to get a second chance to make a first impression. She was granted a medical redshirt, which means she’ll still have four years of eligibility remaining when she steps back on campus later this month.

Not competing could also have a long-term benefit she hadn’t anticipated.

“I think this year is the year I get that fresh start and get to start over,” Abdalah said. “I’m hoping there are good things to come in both seasons.”