Rise and shine: Peters Twp. freshman Froelich wins state gold in 1,600
SHIPPENSBURG – When Katie Froelich was in the midst of Friday morning’s 1,600 meter run at the PIAA Track and Field Championships, she thought of the advice her dad gave her.
“He always told me to feel the burn, and I was really feeling the burn, so I just ripped it,” Froelich said.
At the time she was in the middle of the pack, but Froelich, a freshman at Peters Township, kicked into high gear and burned past the competition.
Froelich finished with a time of 4:48.08 to edge her ‘friendly rival’ Angela Zeng, for South Fayette, to win the PIAA Class 3A state title in the 1,600 at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium.
“It’s really cool,” Froelich said of winning a title. “I still have three more years, so hopefully I can get better and better each year and maybe win a couple more.”
Zeng finished a close second at 4:48.49. Though, like at WPIALs, she fell short of beating Froelich, she was happy with her race.
“My goal was to stick with everybody, so when I felt myself starting to get boxed in, I tried to move out before I got in too much trouble. Once I was able to find a good position I tried to maintain it and just conserve my position and not let anybody else kick me out.”
Neither Zeng nor Froelich had control of the race early on.
They were mid pack, but it was a tight pack with little separation. Eventually Froelich made her move and took the lead on the third lap and held on from there. Zeng wasn’t far behind and eventually settled into second.
“It honestly wasn’t what I expected,” Froelich said of how the race played out. “I thought the pack was going to separate. It was a little weird that everyone kind of stayed together.”
Froelich’s twin sister, Allyson, also competed in the 1,600 and finished in 23rd place.
Friday was the latest in what seems like will be a long list of races the two will compete against each other with Froelich being a freshman and Zeng a sophomore.
In fact, they’ll battle again Saturday in the 3,200 at 9 a.m. Froelich is the top seed and Zeng is seeded second.
“We push each other very hard, because I know we both want it very much,” Froelich said. “We pace with each other well.”
“Funny enough we both played soccer growing up, so we have that same sort of drive for this,” Zeng said.
South Fayette’s Delaney Schumaker qualified for the finals in both hurdle events. She won her heat in both the 100 and 300 hurdles to clinch her spot in each race.
She is seeded fourth in the 300 and fifth in the 100 Saturday’s finals, guaranteeing herself a pair of medals.
It’s the second year in a row Schumaker, a multi-time WPIAL champion, has qualified for a state final in both hurdle events.
South Fayette’s 3,200 relay team that won the Class 3A WPIAL title will go for a medal on Saturday. The team consists of Nina DeMartini, Ellena Gibbs, Madeline Stock and Zeng. The Lions placed fifth in the race last year.
Trinity’s Ella Sammel, who won WPIAL gold in the high jump, will also look for a medal Saturday. A forecast of persistent rain will almost certainly force the high jump to be held indoors.