State track champ Froelich a fast learner in cross country
Peters Township’s Katie Froelich won two WPIAL and PIAA track titles as a freshman in the 1,600 and 3,200, but she had never tried cross country before this year.
Needless to say she was a fast learner.
In her cross country debut in the Red, White and Blue Classic at White Oak Park on Sept. 12, Froelich left everyone in the dust, showing she can run fast on hilly terrains like she does on a flat track.
Froelich won the event with a time of 17:06.80, besting the field by nearly a full minute.
Mars’ Hailey Long was second at 18:01.
Aside from entering a 5K over the summer, Froelich really didn’t have much running experience outside of track and field, so she didn’t know how her debut in cross country would go.
It turned out it was a smashing success.
“My expectations were pretty low, because I hadn’t done it before,” Froelich said. “My coaches just told me to go out there and run with my heart, so that’s what I did.”
Froelich became the first freshman from the WPIAL to win both the 1,600 and 3,200 state track titles in the same weekend in May at Shippensburg.
Cross country provides a much different style of running and it’s something Froelich wanted to explore.
She had not run cross country in the past because she is a starting forward on the Peters Township girls soccer team.
“I really want to pursue running in the future, so I just wanted to see what cross country is all about,” Froelich said. “My parents gave me the OK to do a few races without kind of tiring out my body.”
Froelich will run select events. Her next one is Saturday at the PIAA Foundational XC Invitational at Big Spring High School.
It’s the site of this year’s state championship, so it’ll be a good trial run on the course.
After that Froelich is unsure what the rest of her schedule will be leading up to the WPIAL meet.
“It’s definitely hard trying to balance my sports, school, homework and sleep, but I just try to listen to my body and eat a lot of food to refuel myself for the next day,” Froelich said.
Aside from her parents, another person Froelich had to convince to let her run cross country is her new soccer coach Rob Heuler.
Heuler took over in August after Pat Vereb resigned abruptly.
Froelich said she approached Heuer prior to tryouts about the prospects of running cross country while playing soccer at the same time.
“He told me he’d work with me,” Froelich said. “I’m just really thankful that he let me do this.”
One thing Froelich hasn’t been able to do yet is convince her twin sister, Ally, to run cross country with her yet. Ally finished fourth in the 1,600 at WPIALs to qualify for the state track meet and she is a midfielder on Peters Township’s soccer team.
The Indians girls soccer team is off to a strong start with a 6-0-1 record and Froelich has played a part. She scored goals in back-to-back games last week in wins over Upper St. Clair and Allderdice.
Froelich has felt a benefit from cross-training in both of her fall sports.
There’s a chance that she’ll participate at states in both sports this fall.
“Cross country I feel like has helped me endurance-wise for soccer, but it works vice versa too,” Froelich said. “Having a good burst in soccer to run for the ball really helps in cross country and definitely in track, especially in the last 100 meters of a race.”