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Mt. Lebanon harrier wins PIAA title

By Eleanor Bailey almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.Net 3 min read
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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Logan St. John Kletter added to her medal collection when she captured the PIAA championship in cross country. The Mt. Lebanon senior clocked an 18:13 time to win the Class AAA division.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Logan St. John Kletter reaches the finish line first during the WPIAL championships held in October. The The Mt. Lebanon senior and North Carolina recruit went on to capture a state title when she clocked an 18:13 time during the PIAA Class AAA cross country championships held Nov. 4 in Hershey.

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Logan St. John Kletter (shown here during the WPIAL championships) raced to victory in the PIAA cross country championships. The Mt. Lebanon senior and North Carolina recruit won the Class AAA title with a time of 18:13.

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Logan St. John Kletter makes her move on the course during the WPIAL championships. The Mt. Lebanon senior won the Class AAA race in 17:47.4 for her second straight title. She went on to capture the state crown on Nov. 4 in Hershey.

Winning the 2023 PIAA cross country championship required a balancing act by Logan St. John Kletter.

The Mt. Lebanon senior had experienced her ups and downs in past races on the course in Hershey.

As a sophomore, she finished runner-up to Moon’s Mia Cochran, but as a junior she slipped to eighth place with a sub-par time of 19:12.1. However, during the spring track season, she bounced back to not only win the 3,200-meter race but set a state record.

“Logan was motivated to have performances like her sophomore year and track season,” said Lebo coach Oscar Shutt. “At the same time, she tried not to put pressure on herself and just treat it like the next race.”

On Nov. 4, St. John Kletter competed like no other run. Tactically, she raced a 5:52 pace to finish first with an 18:13 time.

“Logan went in with a plan and ran a smart first half of the race. Then she picked her moment to begin to pull away,” Shutt said. “After that move she was able to maintain the gap with the others following her. She looked strong and confident throughout the race, especially the third mile.”

St. John Kletter finished a full six seconds ahead of runner-up Eva Kynaston from North Allegheny and 41 seconds in front of rival Robin Kucler, also from NA which won the girls’ team title. Sixth two-and-one half kilometers, she never trailed after the second mile.

While Shutt attributed her success to her training and ability to challenge herself, St. John Kletter credited specific people for her triumph.

“I am very proud of this achievement but it took a lot of support from family, friends, teammates and coaches to get here,” she said. “I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to make this possible.”

St. John Kletter will now compete for a national championship. The North Carolina recruit is scheduled to compete in the Foot Locker Northeast Regional to be held Nov. 25 at Franklin Park in Boston. The top 10 finishers advance to the nationals to be held Dec. 9 in San Diego.

Last year, St. John Kletter finished 12th at the regional and just missed qualifying for nationals.

In other state cross country news, the Mt. Lebanon girls finished eighth in the team standings.

Caroline Adams followed St. John Kletter in 24th place. Other top runners contributing to Lebo’s showing included: Maeve McNamee, Kate Mooney, Lyra Stieglitz, Grace Goslin and Mackenna Pozza.

Top local female finishers included: Sydney Shock (34th, 19:48), Meagan mcKenna (46th, 19:57) and Grace Senneway (48th, 19:58) from Peters Township; Jenna Lang (37th, 19:51) from Bethel Park as well as Lydia and Meredith Rhodes from Upper St. Clair (41st, 19:54 and 73rd, 20:20 respectively).

In the Class AAA boys’ competition, USC’s Sawyer Weinmann clocked a 16:45 and finished 36th overall while South Fayette’s Alaa-Eddine Guetari was 66th overall with a 17:04 time.

Drew Griffith of Butler won the AAA boys’ title with a 15:23 time but Ringgold’s Ryan Pajak won the AA title with the best time of the day, 15:21. Jaxon Schoedel from Mohawk gave the WPIAL a sweep of the men’s races when he won the A crown in 16:09.

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