Ryann Krais puts in all-time performances after graduation - and even slips away for Senior Week...

Ryann Krais will leave her Pennsylvania prep career with two outdoor state records, a remarkable 57.20 in the 400 hurdles that broke the previous mark by future teammate, and now world class hurdler Nicole Leach (West Catholic).... and her 41.20 300 hurdles set earlier this summer at the Great Southwest Classic in New Mexico. But Krais also holds two of the top five all-time prep performances in the heptathlon - #2 of 5522, also set at Great Southwest, and #5 of 5457 set at this month's IAAF World Junior Championships in Poland. Those who know Ryann, know she is as gracious in victory as she is when the occasional disappointment strikes. And in true Krais form, she was gracious enough to take time after a whirlwind summer jetting and competing from Albuquerque, NM; to Columbus, OH; to Eugene, OR; to Bydgoszcz, Poland... to share her throughts on her final competitions.

Ohio- Junior Nationals


From the day I started high school my coaches and parents made it clear that it was important for my life and any potential-track career that I enjoy my teenage years. As many of you know, high school years bring a constant conflict between track and a social life. Almost always I make my decisions in favor of track. That being said, I decided that senior week was worth missing a few days of practice. I ran every morning and even came home a few days early to insure that everything would be normal come competition day. However, I completely overlooked the effects that a really messed up sleep schedule would have on my performance.

(Krais in HJ at Junior Nationals - photo by Margot Kelly AZRunner.com)


Day one of the hept arrived and I was a little shaky about the 100H. It’s an event I overlook in training for the hept because I run it pretty frequently throughout the year. I can normally forget about any mishaps in the hurdles, but the state final was still haunting me a little. Well, I survived the race without falling, however, I wasn’t nearly as aggressive in this race as I normally am. I didn’t break 14 seconds, which is not exactly the way I wanted to start off.


Next up was the high jump. I often am reminded to slow down when approaching the bar, but this time it was the opposite. I cleared 5’5 and then missed my next three attempts just as a storm moved in. The 2 hr delay was spent eating grapes and reflecting on the so far unsatisfying day. The focus changed from records to staying in the top two.


Shot put was, well, shot put. It certainly has never been a big point scorer for me. The good news was that the 200 was coming up. At least I didn’t have to worry about fouling or tripping. When I looked at the clock, I automatically started questioning my training. I couldn’t get a grip on why I was a whole second slower than two weeks ago. I left the track with minimal confidence, still unaware of the effects of senior week.

I arrived at the track on day two trying to forget about the previous day. Long jump started the day off decently, and javelin was certainly not something to complain about. Surprisingly, the jav actually put me in first place with a little bit of cushion. That has never happened to me in jav before! Then it was time for the dreaded 800. The good news was that it didn’t come with much pressure. There were no records in sight and I was pretty safely within the qualifying standard. I just ran it. Although it was slower than the goal time, I was just relieved that this heptathlon was over. Physically the hept is tiring, but mentally it is absolutely exhausting. You have to hype yourself up for each event, and that is one of the toughest things in the world to do after a bad performance. I’d say I have a love/hate relationship with the hept.

MileSplit.us video interview of Ryann Krais at USATF Junior Nationals - courtesy of ArizonaRunner.com



Oregon- Olympic Trials


This summer has been relatively crazy thus far. I haven’t been home more than 6 days and by July 18th, it’ll only be 9 days total. I’m thankful to have the opportunity to travel so much, but I am looking forward to some time off.

Anyways, I have 2 days of practice to switch gears from heptathlon to 400 hurdles. It’s been a while since I’ve done anything specifically for the 400 hurdles. My friend Courtney (graduated in ’07) came to practice to run with me today! Summer track gets boring because there’s normally no other athletes training with me. It’s much easier to do a tough workout when you’re with a team. During the school year, we are all in it together, but come summertime, schedules just don’t make that possible. So having Courtney and then the rest of the 5x4 (and Betsy, of course!) there the next day made it much more fun, even though I still wasn’t running great.

(Krais in the Olympic Trials 400H prelims - photo by Victor Sailor, PhotoRun.net)

It’s hard to describe how I felt at the trials. Intimidated isn’t the right word- more like flattered to be surrounded by the greatest athletes. I never had any expectation to make the team. I was purely there just for the experience. While warming up, it was of greater concern to me that I didn’t get in anybody’s way than my own warm-up. Entering the track was relatively normal; except that I was on the big screen for a while (they liked putting high school athletes up there). I had to laugh because I was sarcastically joking around the night before about what faces I was going to make if I was on it. I just smiled. A couple nights later I ate dinner with Coach Bolden and she said, “I saw that big smile and was like, yup, it’s her first time.” Haha! Apparently you’re not supposed to smile! Lesson learned.

The first half of my race was good, it just so happened to be that everybody else’s was better! From the 200 to the 300 I lost a lot of ground. That’s really what killed the race for me. The last 100 was decent though. Overall, it was 2 seconds less than where I wanted to be. I was a little frustrated that night, but that blew off eventually. Ideally I wanted to make semi’s, but at least I had the opportunity to run. I just wish I had one more chance to do the 400 hurdles this summer.



Poland- World Junior Championships


This meet was definitely the highlight of my summer! I knew what to expect this time around and was able to chill out and have more fun. The people on the trip were absolutely awesome. It started off a little crazy though. My flights were from Philadelphia to Atlanta to Detroit to Amsterdam to Berlin and straight into a 7 hours bus ride to Poland. To make it even slightly more miserable, I had a cold going into the trip. Upon arrival I find out that my luggage is lost (to be found 3 days later). Great start, right? haha! Well, it actually wasn’t as bad as it seems. Right away, Chase, the decathlete from BYU, introduced himself and made quite an impression. He’s a really funny kid! It definitely calmed my nerves about making friends. I’m shy at first (although my friends would beg to differ), so I get nervous about these things! Anyways, I slept the whole plane ride/s there, and then got to sit next to my future roommate, Camilla Dencer, on the bus ride.

https://www.milesplit.com/files/usa/outdoor08/krais(jk).jpg(Krais in the 200m on Day on of the Heptathlon at Junior Worlds - photo by Joy Kamani, www.nationalscholastic.org)


Anyways, we had a couple days to just adjust before the actual competition started. A lot of the countries had the same training plan as us on account of the practice track was packed. The coaches were so helpful. Whether it be making sure nobody runs in your lane, brushing up on technique, tracking luggage, or spending quite a bit of time with me in the shot put, it was definitely obvious how much they cared. Those 2 days flew by, and it was time for the competitions to begin. Competing so late in the week got me very anxious. I’m not used to sitting around and watching at track meets, but at least I wasn’t alone. It’s pretty cool how a group of teenagers who know only a few (if any) people on the team can come together instantly. We had one of the loudest cheering sections. GO USA!!!! People where coming to us left and right asking for autographs just because we had USA gear on. I know four days of purely watching track meets and sitting around in the lobby may not seem thrilling to many, but I seriously had a blast just hanging out.


I had quite a few good nights of sleep and plenty of decent meals by the time the heptathlon came about. The hurdles went very well. I felt like I was back to normal with them. After the first event I was in first place! The goal was to hang on to the upper end as long as possible, knowing that the throwing event would kill me. High jump was rather nerve-wracking. I watched my teammate no-height, and right off the bat I was worrying. The first couple heights were okay, but from then on I cleared everything on a third attempt. Stressful! I ended right where I had hoped; it just took me a while to get there. haha. The shot put was a big pr for me. There were three coaches helping me out with that event. I felt so spoiled! It was a good day thus far. Unfortunately, the 200 had to wreck my mood. I was put in the first heat (the slow heat) because they didn’t have a seed time for me??????!!!! I won the heat, but it really set me back points-wise from where I hoped to be.


My goal for long jump was 19’2, but I was short of that by a few inches. Jav was alright, but I wasn’t in good point position. The national record was out of reach, but I still could finish with a decent score. I ran the 800 behind the leaders and split negatively the second lap.
I’m glad I had to opportunity to compete internationally in the heptathlon because it really opened my eyes. What separates the girls at the top is purely technique and experience. Although I’m never thrilled with a 9th place finish, at least I can leave optimistically.


Well, the journey home was exciting (our bus never showed up), but it all worked out. I rode a taxi home from the track, took the fastest shower of my life (if only I was moving that fast in the 200), and made it to the train station on time. Being that my season was officially over, I enjoyed plenty of chocolate and other unhealthy food on the way back to the states. I didn’t sleep much either, on account of I was trying to enjoy every moment I still had left with the team! Seriously, they were so awesome!

 

Now that I’m officially done my high school track career, I think it’s the perfect time to say thank you Pennsylvania!

This has got to be one of the best states to spend a high school track career! The competition is always there and it’s getting deeper and deeper. But even cooler than that, in PA it doesn’t matter if you are a second in front or a second behind; the athletes are always congratulating each other. Even with the biggest rivalries, I hear people cheering one another on. In fact, the most encouraging thing in the world is to hear fellow athletes you may not even know rooting for you during a race. I can think of very few times when I’ve seen acts of unsportsmanship on the track or in the field. When there are meets outside of our state, it’s as if PA becomes a team of it’s own. So, good job coaches/ officials for encouraging good values in your athletes. Thanks to all the runners/jumpers/throwers for being a great group to compete with. I’m going to miss it here!!!! GO PA!

Ryann Krais' career stats