Girls athlete of the week
// The Post-Gazette’s top female performer from the past seven days
The past week: Kulcer won the Tri-State Track Coaches Association Class 3A cross country meet at California (Pa.) University with a time of 18:51.63 to beat Kiski Area’s Eliza Miler by nearly 22 seconds.
Check this out: Kulcer, a freshman, and her twin sister Robin transferred to North Allegheny from the Baltimore area just before the school year and have taken over as the 1-2 runners for the three-time defending WPIAL Class 3A team champion Tigers. She also finished fifth at the Red, White and Blue Classic and second at the PIAA Foundation Invitational.
How did you get into running? I liked running in Maryland and just ran around my house because it was fun. Then my parents decided that I should do a 5K race when I was 9-yearsold, I got first in my age group and people wanted me to join their club and go to nationals with them. After that, I just fell in love with it.
What has it been like transitioning to a new school and a new team? It’s been a great experience. Everyone had been very supportive and very nice.
My teammates are all so kind and just make a great team together.
What’s it like running in Baltimore as compared to Pittsburgh? The courses were flat. There were no hills and there were no woods. It was mostly on grass.
Did you have to change your running style? Well, it’s hilly here, but I like the hills.
How was it coming into an established program and taking over as No. 1 as a freshman? I may be a freshman, but I just try to do my best and place for the team. I just want to make myself a better person every day.
What was it like winning TSTCA? I think that winning TriStates is a really great honor as a freshman.
What’s it like running with your twin sister? We’ve been running together for a lot of years and that experience has been great.
Do you like beating her? I think we push each other.
What do you like to do for fun? I like playing the flute, me and my sister like cooking and I like going outside and being with my family and friends.
What’s your specialty in the kitchen? We’ve recently been making a lot of Asian-Chinese Bao and we make them in different shapes, like farm animals or Christmas-themed and we just fill them with random stuff.
What are you binging right now? My family likes to watch The Lego Masters and my sisters and I like watching Halloween Baking Championships. Do you aspire to be a chef someday? No. I just like it as a hobby.