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Previous Years |
'Team PA' Shines in IndyPrice Proves You Get What You Workout For Stories By Don Rich, penntrackxc.com/milesplit.com - More PA Coverage
There's a trend here. 2:08.72... 2:08.47... 2:07.71... 2:06.23. And it's a trend that is likely to continue, if Easton sophomore Chanelle Price has any say in the matter. If the race counts, she is at her best every time. The 2:08.72 was at last summer's USATF Junior Olympics. The 2:08.47 was at this year's Nike Indoor Nationals. The 2:07.71 came at last week's Nike Outdoor Nationals. And the 2:06.23, which was one of her goals for this year, came in a 3rd place finish Friday at the USATF Juniors. She could possibly receive an invitation to join Team USA for the 2007 IAAF World Youth Championships in August in Ostrava, Czech Republic. But Price's times aren't just the result of race well and handling the pressure. It's how she practices. Since winning her first PIAA State Championship on May 27th, Price has been practicing with her club team, the United Stars of Philadelphia. The workouts are tough. "They push you hard. It really helps a lot." You can see her confidence as she bides her time near the front of races during the first lap. She knows that at 600 meters, that is where the race really begins, and she has fully prepared her body and her mind to start that final drive just as the race really starts to take its toll. At Juniors, she didn't have to run under 2:10 to make the finals. Because her winning time of 2:12.72 was the slowest of the four prelims on Thursday, no one else in her heat advanced to the final, including West Catholic senior LaTavia Thomas, who finished 2nd just .06 back. Price had decided to pace off Thomas and then use her kick to win the heat. But the pace was slower than she anticipated, and it gave she and three other runners a chance at advancing. "I should not have held back that much. That was risking it a little." Thomas and Price rounded the final turn together, and Price pulled away enough to win. The next three heats all had better winning times, but Price was in the finals. "All I wanted was to qualify." Price was fully prepared for virtually any fast pace that was thrown at her in Friday's finals. One of her workouts includes hard 600's and 700's at 2:05 pace, slightly faster than she was aiming to do. Other days, she would do quick 350's, followed by a 600. Coming through 600 in a pace faster than your eventual race pace builds confidence that the strength will be there when it's really needed. The finals went out fast. The leaders came through in 60 seconds, with Price just a second behind. Price took the lead at 500 meters, and hoped for the best. The two college runners who finished just ahead of her in 2:05.05 and 2:05.80 passed her between 650 and 700 meters. Price was thrilled with the outcome, though, and especially the time. She flew home Friday in order to make the USATF Mid-Atlantic Association meet on Saturday in Chester, where she was set to race in relays for her team. Her time at Juniors automatically qualified her for the USATF Junior Olympics Championships scheduled for later this summer. Price also plans to run cross country again this fall. She started running last fall at the urging of her Easton coach, and hoped it would help her conditioning for the 800. But when she won her first 5000 meter race, and other top runners started counting her as a competitor, she took it more seriously, and now hopes to run improve a lot on her 16th place finish at the state championships. And it did help her 800. "I'm not bent over like the other girls at the end of the race." For now, it's the rest of the summer with one more goal to achieve. "I think I can go 2:03 by the end of the season."
Ryann Krais' Athletic Ability Is Unique, But It's Not Her Greatest Asset Set state record. Check. It seems as if when rising Methacton junior Ryann Krais sets a goal, she achieves it. And in the future, this remarkably talented hurdler, jumper, sprinter, and multis competitor will surely set many records, in high school, college, and if all goes as dreamed, beyond. And every leap, jump, dash and throw along the way, she will be cheered by friends, coaches, and competitors alike, because she is, to put it simply, just as nice a person as she is athletic. Just as coachable as she is athletic. Just as great a teammate as she is athletic. And while her coach, Rob Ronzano says he can hardly imagine a better all around student-athlete-teammate than Krais, "...anyone can tell that physically Ryann has a gift. What is difficult for others to tell is how mentally strong she is... that will help her throughout her life." And, he says, that has helped her already. You only have to look at the start of her 2006 state meet for proof. And that proof is in what most people at the meet did not see. On Friday morning, she was entered in her first of four events, the 100 Hurdles. She had run the fastest time in the state only a week before at her District 1 meet in 13.91. It had rained, and the track was wet. The gun went off, and one step into her race, Krais's foot slipped just a bit. Her steps were off and she crashed into the first hurdle and tumbled to the ground. Her coach watched as the seconds ticked off. Coach Ronzano's first thought was of Ryann. Was she injured? Was she OK? But then he saw what he already knew she had, the heart of a champion. She returned to the race, and gave it everything she had, finishing in 16.94 seconds. It turned out to be less than a second from the final time advancing to the Semi-Finals. But as impressive as her race had been, Ronzano then saw a display of sportsmanship that will stay with him forever. Instead of staying to herself, thinking about her missed opportunity, or showing any kind of personal disappointment, Krais started to congratulate the other runners.
She was soon surrounded by family, friends, teammates and coaches, encouraging and supporting her. Over the two days of the meet, beginning with the prelims in the 300 Hurdles and 4x400 and the Finals of the Long Jump on Friday... to the Finals of the 300 Hurdles and 4x400 on Saturday, Krais simply set PRs, a 20-03.50 Long Jump win, a 41.46 300 meter Hurdles win, and a 53.9 second 4x400 split to lead the team to a 5th place finish. The 41.46 was a new PIAA and all-time state best in the event. Whew. It was on to the Nike Outdoor Nationals (NON) and then the USATF Junior Nationals. She set a 400 Hurdles PR in finishing 3rd at NON, going 59.64. And there were 7th place finishes in the 100 Hurdles and Long Jump, followed by a 55.7 split in anchoring her 4x400. But it was the next week's USATF Juniors where a US Sophomore record in the Heptathlon had been one of her season goals. There were only two things standing in her way. She had never thrown the Javelin and it would only be the second time in competition in the High Jump and Shot Put. Those obstacles could be overcome as much as possible with some quick coaching and drills and practice. The 2nd obstacle was big. USATF had turned down her Heptathlon application. An appeal brought a reversal early in the week. The evidence was strong in Krais' favor. She had won the Nike Indoor Nationals Pentathlon with 3670 points, the 7th best prep performance of all time, and the 2nd best in the history of the meet. She went to Indianapolis entered in three events, the Heptathlon, the 400 Hurdles, and the 400 Dash. The first four events of the Hep were scheduled for Wednesday, with the 400 Hurdles Prelims sandwiched between the first and second Hep events on Thursday. The 400 Hurdles finals were scheduled for Friday. Ambitious, but doable. Once there, she scratched the 400. Surprisingly, Krais wasn't so sure she should start with such a big meet to debut in the Heptathlon. "The day before, I was a mess hoping not to embarrass myself. I mean, Shana Woods was here, and maybe I should have started with a smaller meet." But the event order helped to placate those fears. It was the 100 hurdles. And while she hit a couple of hurdles with her trail leg, she won her heat in 14.08, 2nd only to Woods' 14.03 in the 3rd heat. It was a good start and put her in first place. It was on to the High Jump, where she had cleared better than 5-3 at Nike Indoor. She came in at 4-06 to get a mark. A 0 on a Hep scorecard is the worst that can happen. She then skipped three more heights, and then cleared on her first attempts at the next five heights until missing her first two attempts at a new PR of 5-05.25. She got the mark on her third try. "That was way better than expected. And then things just kept getting better," Krais said. Her 3rd event was the other she had only done once before in competition, and that was the Shot Put. She fouled on her first... "I had it on my shoulder instead of my neck." She got a good mark on her second throw, and then launched a new PR of 32-06.25, taking 12th in the event, and keeping her overall lead. Woods was in another flight, but didn't throw as far as Krais thought she would. It was back to somewhat familiar territory for the 200. Krais was in lane 7 and Woods was in the same heat. "I was glad she was in the same heat. You know who your competition is and I knew how fast she was from online." Krais was a little behind Woods after the first curve, but didn't lose any more ground the rest of the way, finishing in 24.53 to Woods' 24.40. At the end of Day One, it was Ryann Krais 3263 and heavy favorite Shana Woods, 3226. Dyestat headlined the fact because it was news. High school 10th graders just don't show up in their first Heptathlon and take the lead from national record holders (Indoor). Thursday's first event, like it had been on Wednesday, played to Krais' strengths. After all, she had long jumped over 20 feet at States, and had not dipped under 18 feet this season with the exception of one meet held in a near monsoon in April. Because there are only three jumps, Krais smartly got a safe effort in at 17-07. Krais says she uses a four slow steps start, and didn't realize she had missed the 4th step mark until it was too late, arriving at the board with the wrong foot. Foul. And on her 3rd and final jump, it happened again. While her 17-07 was good for 8th place in the event, Woods launched a 19-03.50, and turned her 37 point deficit to Krais into a 193 point advantage. The Javelin was next on the card for the Heptathlon, but first, Krais had to run the Trials of the 400 Hurdles. A rain delay bought her some rest after five of her seven multis events. "It was a nice break. I didn't feel too bad at that point. After it was all over though, I was so tired I was on the ground for quite a while." Krais' goal for Juniors was to break 59 seconds in the long hurdles event. She ran 1:00.53 to take 2nd in Heat Three and with the 6th best time of the day, move on to the Friday finals.
With the meet underway again, the Javelin was next at the penultimate event of the Heptathlon. She had practiced three times, getting instruction from Upper Merion assistant coach Charlie Graham. In the 2-1/2 weeks of throwing, she had never gone more than 80 feet. On her first of the three alloted throws, she fouled when the wrong end of the Jav hit the ground first. With only two throws remaining, she needed some help. And she got it... from fellow Pennsylvanian and fellow competitor Amy Backel. Backel, a graduate of Northern York high school, was competing as a freshman for Oklahoma, a school with a strong multis program. Backel had won the Shot Put competition, but was not having her best two days. But Backel is confident in her Javelin, and offered her help to Krais. Backel showed her how to get her hips in position to prevent the kind of foul she had just experienced, and helped with her release. Krais got a good throw on the 2nd attempt, and on the 3rd, launched a PR of 94 feet. Backel would win the Javelin as well, and eventually took 9th place overall with 4583 points. But Woods PRed by over 12 feet with a throw of 132-07 and was well on her way to her national record-setting mark of 5533, the first prep girl to pass 5500 points. One more event remained for Krais. With her 400 speed, she eventually will count the 800 as a strength. Another storm helped to buy some time. Krais didn't get the greatest start. "I forgot they don't say set." She went through the 400 a little too quickly in 67 seconds while trying to stay with the top group. She finished in 2:24.46, the 6th best of the day, and another PR. Her total of 5138 set a new US Sophomore Class Record for the event. Only Woods and three college freshman were better. Seven events, six PRs (counting her 14.08 as better than her wind-aided 13.91 100 Hurdles). Krais came back on Friday and took 7th in the finals of the 400 Hurdles, going 1:00.49. Like any athlete, Krais aims to PR every time. She's confident though, that with more than just practice breaks and other borrowed pockets of time in which to practice her new Heptathlon events, that she'll continue to improve her score. While time and experiences could change her feelings, Krais is now leaning toward the 400 Hurdles as her favorite and potentially best event. She doesn't think she has the "quick feet" necessary for the 100 or even 300 Hurdles. "And I've always been a 400 runner, so you might as well put some hurdles in there." She likes the multis, but says she'd be thrilled to "follow in Nicole (Leach's) footsteps" in the 400 Hurdles." Leach won the Juniors in a meet record 55.83, a time that would have in all likelihood qualified her for the Open finals in the event with the nation's elite. Krais considers her 300 Hurdles record-setting race at PIAA states her best race of the season, mainly because it had been a season goal to win it while setting an all-time PA mark. "It was a big race between Brianna (Broyles) and me. I had been aiming for a state record since 9th grade, and it all came together in that event." Krais says that she cannot imagine having a better atmosphere than exists on the Methacton team. "It's perfect. The perfect school. The perfect team. And the competition is there, but it's friendly, healthy. I wouldn't be here without them." And in Indianapolis, Krais agrees with both Chanelle Price and Liz Costello that there was a kind of 'Team PA' feeling at the meet. "All the athletes and parents came together. I could hear Liz cheering for me. It was so cool. I saw Breehana (Jacobs) and Chanelle (Price) warming up when I warmed up. It's great having friends like that." Krais said the Juniors meet was the most amazing of her career so far. "You are a superstar with that athlete badge." Special memories included seeing Justin Gatlin getting ready for the 100 when Krais was at the starting line... and seeing Marion Jones walk by with her child. "Seeing them makes you think about the future more." And for the future, Krais is dreaming big. Her drive in sports, as in her life, is to continually do better... and she hopes that drive and her performances will someday get her to the Olympics as a member of the US team. Which sounds like an athlete who is starting to sway toward track away from her other love, soccer. A member of a summer and fall traveling team, Krais is appreciative that her soccer team and teammates understand her growing focus on track. "Track is my main focus now. My soccer team knows it. I have accepted it. I have never loved it as much as I have loved track."
Liz Costello Belongs In The Nation's Elite - Even She Believes It Now Getting faster is the easiest part of running. Running times and winning races that get you into the elite of an event is a lot tougher. But feeling like you belong in that group... well, that's a journey that many attempt, but even fewer achieve. That was Liz Costello's journey this year, and on Saturday, she arrived. The Conestoga high school grad has had a dream year. She won a state title in cross country, and several weeks later, qualified for the Foot Locker finals. In January, she won the prestigious New Balance Games mile at the New York Armory in a PR for the distance, and earned an invitation to race in the Millrose Games in early February. She won the 3000 title at the PTFCA Indoor State Championships, and nearly made it two-for-two, getting 2nd in the Mile. She anchored her team to a come-from-behind 5th place in the Championship of America Distance Medley Relay at the Penn Relays Carnival. She won her third and final state title, taking the 1600 at the PIAA State Championships in May in a PR for the distance. And then there was the Nike Outdoor Nationals. She helped her two relays, the 4x800 and DMR, post strong times. But her lone individual event, the 800, did not go as she had hoped. Running in the 5th of seven heats, her 2:14.99 did not meet her expectations for the season, the race, and more importantly, for herself. "That was not the way it's supposed to end. I put in a lot of work over four years." She had one more race. The 1500 at the USATF Junior T&F Championships. But first, the Princeton signee had some demons to exorcize. And she had spent much of her senior season trying to figure out why, in her mind, she "fizzled" when she would get to big meets. She counted three such races as perfect examples of performances that had not met her own high expectations for herself – Foot Locker Finals, Millrose Games, and the Nike Outdoor Championships. Her 21st place finish at the Foot Locker Finals in early December in San Diego would have pleased most athletes. But Costello had all-American (top 15) on her list. Then the winter season hit... and so did the huge expectations. "Winter was a little difficult. Everyone around me was excited. My expectations shot through the roof." She had a great race at the New Balance Games. But she was not the favorite, so the pressure was not as intense. She next raced in the vaunted Millrose Games Invitational Mile... finishing 8th in 5:03.95. "Millrose was hard on me. It set me back. I hated that performance. I think I bugged out with the competition."
Costello is an intensely competitive person, and the quality of her big race performances was not sitting well with her. "It was frustrating. I wanted to know when things would come together. In practices, I was just getting through it." Her spring season didn't give her much of an opportunity to shake her growing perception that she had problems racing well in the biggest races against the best competition. "I did a lot of events. It was all over the place. I wasn't fresh, and at Districts and States, I had this huge target on my back." She decided to just race for place and not time. And with all the races at PIAA States, she says her legs "were knots." She won her 1600 title. And while her 4:55.08 was a PR for that distance, she didn't feel it was her best race. Two weeks later, she took a shot at running a fast mile in hopes of getting back in a groove. She ran a 4:56.22 at the First PA Distance Festival at West Chester Henderson. She was not pleased with the performance. Then came the Nike Outdoor Nationals. It wasn't a bad performance. But the 800 left her less than thrilled. When her coach, Ryan Comstock went to find her immediately after the race, she had already left the infield for her warm-down. The two talked over the next few days. Comstock gives his star choices, and she wanted badly to do something different to get back in gear. He knew that long runs let Liz regroup. And it had been some time since she had done a long run. It's not the conventional training approach between races, but these were not normal circumstances. He knew she needed "to get out there and let it loose." He did the first five miles with her in 32 minutes. He thought briefly about reigning her in, but knew that would have a negative effect. So he let her go. She finished that 10-mile run in the woods in 64 minutes. She felt great. Comstock says her pulse was 70. Conditioning was not a problem. What next? How about a quick 800? Knowing she was not happy with her 800 at Nike, he took her to an All-Comers meet at Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School the next evening. Knowing she had just done a hard 10-miler, he didn't think she could get her PR of 2:12.30 set at the 2005 Nike Outdoor meet. But she came close, popping a 2:13.1. It was the 2nd best of her career. They both knew she was set for Juniors. Costello says that during the Tuesday 800 she again started to feel a return of the passion and competitiveness that helped her start this whole process in late November at the Foot Locker Northeast Regionals. "I went out in 64-65. I felt strong. I felt aggressive for the first time in a long time." It was that Foot Locker race that Costello still counts as her best ever so far. "I wasn't thinking all weekend. I felt like I sprinted that 5K, and couldn't believe my 2nd wind I got before kicking the final 800 meters. There were all the big names, but I was unfazed. I wasn't focused on them." She followed her therapeutic 10-mile and 800 meter runs with an easy five-miler on Wednesday, and then a jog, drills and striders on Thursday and Friday. And plenty of visualization of everything from the race prep, to different race scenarios. She was ready to race at Juniors, and was even more excited when she learned Wednesday evening that the Friday trials of the 1500 had been cancelled, and that they were going to let the 14 elite runners settle it on the track in the final on Saturday. "That was one less thing to worry about and gave me time to settle in." Not even lost luggage on Thursday could faze her this weekend. Her thinking had changed. "A huge part of this week was that I didn't care who was in the race. I didn't care about the prestige of the race. I was ready to run fast." All she thought about was her Northeast Foot Locker race. The last time she had met her own standards. And just to make sure she knew how important racing well was for her, she added, "I didn't want to return home if my race was not good." Costello has made some great friends this year, and says everyone she has met is nice. But when you're getting ready to race, nice doesn't enter into the mix. "I can't be nice under the tent." She wanted to warm up alone. Her father, Jim; who Comstock says was like a great assistant coach at the meet; had asked around and found an air-conditioned indoor track within walking distance of the meet. The only other person there when she and Comstock went in was sleeping AJ Acosta, getting away from the meet before what turned out to be his winning 1500. It was hot and humid outside, and she thinks the indoor warm-up may have helped her. She had a great warm-up and felt "superb." Then a dinner at a German restaurant that night that included a little dancing to some of her favorite music helped to ease the tension the night before the big race. She was ready to race and had but one thing on her mind. Top six. She started in lane one, but wanted to be on the outside, and certainly did not want to set the pace. She usually goes out quickly, but shot over to the right almost immediately so she wouldn't be boxed in. "It was a smart move." The race worked perfectly to her favor. The first lap and three-quarters were not super quick by 1500 meter standards. And she came through the 800 in 2:28. "It was a little slow, but it just built confidence in me." She was getting anxious to kick it into that next gear. With two laps to go, she said she "felt perfect." At 600 to go, she moved with the front pack as they started to separate themselves. "It was time to see which medal I would contend for." With 300 to go, "first place was not that distant." For a brief second, she let them go, then attached herself to the lead pack that Comstock describes as "the girls that wanted a medal." In the final 200, "Danielle (Tauro) and Erin (Bedell) took off." Costello was comfortably in the top six, and nearly passed fellow Foot Locker Finalist Nicole Jones at the end for 4th. Costello's 5th place time of 4:29.36 (Splits: 73.0, 2:29.0. 3:39, 4:29 (49.9 last 300); converts to just over 4:47 for the mile. Her prep career was now complete. "I learned that the only thing to inhibit me was me underestimating my ability. I knew I could hang with these girls. I belonged here. This is the caliber of runner I am meant to race with." She also says that there was a Team PA feeling in Indianapolis, and that the support was evident during her race. She heard her name all around the track. Costello will spend the summer at her family's vacation home in South Carolina, recharging and getting ready for what she hopes will be an equally rewarding college career. She is anxious to get into a college program that gives her the time to get into the weight room. "I'm not as muscular as the other girls." And she feels she is ready to "burst onto the college scene" and make an impact, and believes it is her competitive nature that will give her the drive to move up to the next level. "I don't back down from a challenge. Soccer. Golf. Any time." Comstock says he purposefully did not get the most out of her, so he agrees, her best races are still in the future. Costello says that most of all, she has learned a lot about herself and the sport. "This race made up for everything. I learned so much this year. I went from doing well at states. then being propelled onto the national scene. That whirlwind caught up with me. This year taught me how to prepare. How to focus on me, and that who is there and what they have run is not important." "It was a great way to go out." |
