PIAA cross country: Freeport’s Michael Braun caps senior year with Class 3A silver medal
Michael Braun never intended to become a state cross country medalist, never intended to be one of the best runners in the state.
But four years after starting his high school cross country journey, when he began as a freshman more focused on track and field, the Freeport senior turned in a silver medal-winning performance in the PIAA Class 2A Boys Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Hersheypark’s Parkview Course, in Hershey.
“I’m pretty happy with it, I gave it all I had,” Braun said over the phone Saturday, “just going from ninth grade to now, I never thought I’d get here with cross country.”
Braun crossed the finish line in 16 minutes, 5 seconds. Lewisburg’s Jonathan Hess won gold in 15:57.
Braun, set to run distance at Penn State starting next year, overcame injuries that impacted his entire senior season and nearly cast doubt on if he could equal or surpass last year’s ninth-place state finish.
But in the last few weeks, his body responded and he put up better times, winning the WPIAL championship last week and capping off his high school cross country career with a state silver, behind the only returning runner who beat him last year — Hess.
“There’s one last steep uphill, I tried to make a move there, but he stayed there … once we came around that last turn and just had nothing left,” Braun said.
The Yellowjacket standout said the race started “extremely fast, a lot faster than I was hoping to go out.” But he chipped away at the field during the second mile’s hills and kept pace with Hess until the final 200 meters.
Braun will run in the Foot Locker Regionals in the coming weeks and attempt to qualify for the national meet. Once the postseason is over, he’ll turn his attention to indoor track and field and then the outdoor season.
Knoch sophomore Carter French also made the Hershey podium with an 11th-place finish (16:35), and North Catholic junior Tyler Carroll came in 23rd (16:48).
Carroll improved on last year’s finish when he missed the podium in 42nd, which his coach, Tim Souders, credited to a rigorous summer training regimen and 50-55 miles per week of running during the fall.
“My goal last year was also to medal, and I wasn’t able to do that,” Carroll said. “This year I definitely felt like I was a much stronger runner. … I really just put it all out there.”
His goal next year when he’s a senior is to finish in the Top 10.
Rounding out the local 2A finishers was Trojans freshman Jack Steineman, who finished 102nd in 17:55.
In Class 3A, Seneca Valley senior Max Smith led the local contingent in 16:47 for a 43rd-place finish. Butler senior Zachary Slear finished 116th in a time of 17:27. Mars senior Kyle Kochanski finished 151st in 17:43.
Moniteau sophomore Peyton Beck finished 59th in the Class 1A race in 18:09. Karns City sophomore Noah Weiland finished 71st in 18:16, and senior Griffin Booher finished 82nd in 18:25.
