St. John Kletter leads Mt. Lebanon at PIAA championships
Logan St. John Kletter of Mt. Lebanon shows off the silver medal she captured in the PIAA Class 3A cross country championships.
In a tribute to the 2014 and 2015 teams that last competed for Mt. Lebanon in the PIAA cross country championships, the 2021 team donned their traditional gold uniforms. Pictured, from left, are Logan St. John Kletter, Phoebe McNeil, Kate Mooney, Caroline Adams, Grace Ganoe, Emma McGreevy and Grace Goslin. While St. John Kletter earned state runner-up honors, Lebo finished sixth as a team in the Class AAA division.
Logan St. John Kletter grabbed runner-up honors and led Mt. Lebanon to a sixth-place showing as a team during the PIAA Class cross country championships held Nov. 6 in Hershey.
St. John Kletter clocked an 18:21.3, which was not enough to overcome Moon’s Mia Cochran, who captured her third straight Class AAA state crown in 18:08.5.
“Logan ran a strong and confident race,” said Lebo head coach Oscar Shutt. “She executed the race plan of working with the small group just behind Mia Cochran of Moon then feeling out the race to determine when to make a move from the pack. Her strength in the final mile of the race helped her to separate from the group.”
The silver medal capped a sensational sophomore season for St. John Kletter. She was the WPIAL runner-up and the champion at the Foundation Meet, held on the same course in Hershey. She also won every sectional meet and had top performances at the Red, White and Blue Classic and Marty Uher Meet.
“Logan has shown throughout this fall to have excellent instincts within a race,” Shutt said. “She has a great feel on when to make a move away from a group of runners to go for a win and also when to make a move to close in on a runner ahead of her. She always closes out her final mile strongly in her invitationals and big meets like WPIALs and PIAAs.”
The Blue Devils posted one of their highest finishes since the 2014 team took fifth place. Caroline Adams finished in 17th place with a time of 19:44, while Kate Mooney finished in 21:11.6, Emma McGreevy in 21:15.6, Grace Goslin in 21:28.2, Grace Ganoe in 21:40.3 and Phoebe McNeil in 22:02.7 to pace Mt. Lebanon.
Lebo earned its state team berth with a third-place showing at the WPIAL championships.
“Since July, this team set a goal of earning a trip to Hershey and worked very hard at practice every day to make that happen,” Shutt said.
“It was also a very young team that had some great invitationals and some that didn’t turn out as well where their inexperience showed. Through that they learned how to race as well as how to take ownership of getting the team to the state meet. It was truly a team effort one through eight.”
Lebo features four juniors, including Grace Kramer, four sophomores and one freshman.
“With the entire varsity team returning,” Shutt said, “we look forward to building on our experiences this fall.”
Jenna Lang medaled at the PIAA Class AAA girls’ cross country championships when the Bethel Park sophomore claimed 15th place with a 19:10.9 time in the 5-kilometer race.
South Fayette’s tandem of Lauren Iagnemma and Lily Columbo finished in the Top 60.
Iagnemma clocked a 19:44.7 for 32nd position while Columbo was 59th in 20:17.9
Sydney Shock from Peters Township placed 34th with a 19:46.7
In Class A, Erin LaQuartra from Bishop Canevin placed 89th with a time of 22:28.