Mt. Lebo’s St. John Kletter ready to surge to the front
For the past two years, Logan St. John Kletter was like the rest of the distance runners in the state — plugging along in trailing position behind Mia Cochran.
Unlike most of the competition, though, she was close enough to get a long look at the Moon alumna and Arkansas freshman.
St. John Kletter, who is heading into her junior year at Mt. Lebanon, finished second to Cochran in both the WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A cross country finals last season. At the WPIAL final at California University (Pa.), she finished in 18:48.3, which was 10.5 seconds off the lead. Then she ran a solid 18:21.3 that was just 12.8 seconds behind Cochran at the state finals in Hershey.
Those were the two closest races Cochran had in her three WPIAL and PIAA championship cross country finals from 2019-21.
“I definitely noticed that and it’s pretty amazing that I was able to do that,” St. John Kletter said. “I just hope that I can do as well.”
With Cochran gone, St. John Kletter is the top returning runner in the WPIAL and the state. That fact has not been lost on her as she prepares for this season.
“I definitely paid attention to the fact that I am the top returner and there is a little bit of pressure,” St. John Kletter said. “I know there’s a lot of great competition in the WPIAL and in the state and the races will be fast, so I’m just hoping that I do well.”
St. John Kletter still has quite a bit of work to do to get back to where she was last year. She had been off for five months and missed the outdoor season because of Baxter’s Nerve Entrapment — a heel injury halted her in her tracks and sent her to rehab.
“It was a really upsetting couple of months watching everyone else run when I couldn’t. But I’ve been working hard and hoping to get back to where I was,” she said. “It was really tough and I’m still trying to build back the mental aspect of running and build back my confidence.”
Mt. Lebanon is also hoping to make a move upward as a team after finishing third in the WPIAL last season and sixth in the state. In addition to St. John Kletter, the Blue Devils return all seven runners who were with the team in Hershey, including juniors Caroline Adams and Kate Mooney and senior Emma
McGreevy.
But, as seems to be the case every year, the WPIAL and the state will be chasing North Allegheny for the top spot. The Tigers have won the past four WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A team crowns and will be a tough out again this season.
North Allegheny will bring back the No. 5 and No. 6 individual finishers from last season’s PIAA finals in junior Eva Kynaston and sophomore Wren Kucler. Wren’s twin sister Robin, who was sixth in the WPIAL, also returns as the Tigers lost only one starter from last season.
North Allegheny’s four consecutive Class 3A girls titles are already a PIAA record.
Class 2A
Montour had never won either a WPIAL or PIAA title before it pulled off the sweeps last year. Considering what the Spartans have coming back, a repeat is not out of the question.
Of the seven runners Montour fielded at the state finals in Hershey, five, including senior Harley Kletz and junior Lakyn Schaltenbrand, are back this year.
Kletz finished third in the state behind Blue Mountain grad Olivia Haas and Schaltenbrand closed out the top 10 overall.
Montour has never won an individual WPIAL or PIAA title, but its top runners will likely once again be chasing Brownsville senior Jolena Quarzo.
Quarzo has won the past two WPIAL championships and finished second to her older sister Gionna, who is currently at North Carolina State, her freshman year. But neither has ever won a state championship.
Jolena was second in the state last season, 30.4 seconds off the pace, but is the top returning finisher this season.
Class 1A
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart has had some individual success in recent years — Haley Hamilton won WPIAL Class 1A individual titles in 2017 and 2019 and closed out her career with a state championship in 2019 — but the school has been quietly building up a solid program and captured its first WPIAL title last year.
But for the Chargers to make it two in a row, they will have to fight off a strong Mohawk squad that finished second in the WPIAL but was second to Notre Dame Green Pond in the state finals and was three slots ahead of OLSH.
And Mohawk has everyone back, led by juniors Natalie Lape, Evel y n M c C l a i n , A r i c k a Young and Lilli an McClain.
Individually, Aquinas Academy junior Alexis Abbett is the top returner in the WPIAL after a fifth- place finish last year.