Ziemian named state’s top runner

By Todd Stanford
The Daily Item

November 08, 2008 11:16 am

— LEWISBURG — Lewisburg senior Sophia Ziemian has been named the Female Cross Country Athlete of the Year in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches Association bestowed the honor on Ziemian as part of the naming of its all-state team.
Ziemian, who became the first female Green Dragon to win a state cross country title when she captured the Class AA crown last weekend, was also one of 10 girls on the all-state first team. She was the only one from a District 4 school.
Running at Hershey’s Parkview Course in the state championships on Saturday, Ziemian finished in 18:52, 15 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. Based on her time, Ziemian would have finished second in the Class AAA meet, which was won by Liberty’s Jessica Cygan in 18:47. Cygan was also a first-team all-state pick.
Although Ziemian didn’t have the fastest time on the Parkview Course that day, the PTFCA takes into consideration “honors won, quality and consistency of performance and head-to-head competition.”
Ziemian took first in all the major competitions she raced in this year: the Big Valley Invitational, the Spiked Shoe Invitational, Northeast Invitational and Hershey Cross Country Invitational.
Ziemian also competes in track in field in the spring. Last year, she was part of the Green Dragons’ Class AA 3,200-meter relay gold-medal team.

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