Peters Township’s Katie Froelich won a second distance title at these PIAA track and field championships Saturday, and her latest triumph was historic.
Froelich became the first WPIAL freshman to win two gold medals in individual events at the state meet in 40 years after exiting Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium with a title in the Class 3A girls 3,200-meter run.
“That’s actually really cool,” Froelich said. “I guess I just hope to keep doing good things and keep going.”
Froelich did another good thing Saturday after capturing a title in the 1,600 a day earlier. Froelich took the lead in the fifth of eight laps before holding off Downingtown West’s Julia Kelly down the stretch. Froelich finished in 10 minutes, 18.20 seconds and Kelly 10:19.25.
South Fayette sophomore Angela Zeng (10:21.55) was third and Norwin’s Annie Czajkowski (10:29.67) sixth. Froelich edged out Zeng by a half-second to claim the 1,600 win.
The last WPIAL freshman to claim double gold at states was sprinting great Marla Puryear, who won titles in the 100 and 200 at Thomas Jefferson in 1986.
Froelich said Saturday’s race went pretty much as planned after needing a big kick late to beat out Zeng a day earlier.
“I kind of knew who was going to be at the top. I knew Julia Kelly would be up there and Angela would be right by me, so I knew I’d be in a good spot,” said Froelich, who won gold in the mile at the PTFCA state indoor championships in March.
Froelich and her competitors ran in a steady rain in the race that began just after 9 a.m., but that didn’t seem to bother the talented ninth-grader.
“I kind of liked it, honestly,” she said. “I had a little bit more motivation to keep going because the rain was there.”