Moon Area's Cochran delivers historic effort at PIAA Track & Field Championships
Noah HilesSHIPPENSBURG ― For most, it would be one of the best weekends of their athletic life. For Moon Area's Mia Cochran, it was just another instance of meeting her lofty, self-set expectations.
In the final PIAA event of her historic high school career, Cochran delivered arguably her best effort ever, capturing three gold medals. Her 30 points earned from victories in three distance events were enough to help Moon Area capture its first team PIAA title in program history all by herself.
The performance will be remembered as one of the best in state history, as Cochran became the first female runner to ever take gold in the 800, 1600 and 3200 meters in a Class 3A championship. The Arkansas commit ends her high school career with 10 PIAA titles. Below is the day-by-day coverage provided throughout the two-day showing:
DAY 1: FRIDAY, MAY 27
Just one event into the 2022 PIAA Track and Field Championships, the Beaver Valley received its first gold medal, coming from the Tigers senior who won the Class 3A 1600-meter run with a time of 4:46.53. The victory marks PIAA gold medal No. 7 for Cochran, signifying just how dominant she's been throughout her high school career.
"It's still a special feeling," Cochran said when asked what it's like to receive another gold. "It's not like when I won my first one as a sophomore, but it still means something. It's like checking a box now ― it's something I worked hard to achieve."
Cochran entered the event as the defending champion. Unlike last year, where she stayed with other runners until taking over late in the race, the Arkansas commit wasted no time building her lead on Friday. As most of the other runners in the field were completing their first time around the track in the four-lap race, Cochran was approaching the straightaway on the opposite end, nearly 100 meters ahead of her competition.
“I knew I needed to be fast in this race from the start,” Cochran said. “I couldn’t run the time that I ran if my splits the first two laps were slow. I knew I needed to be at around 2:20 halfway through, and that if I was, I could at the very least maintain that pace and win.”
To the many onlookers watching her race from the packed bleachers at Seth Grove Stadium, Cochran seemed to be having the perfect day. However, those who were with her just hours earlier know that was far from the case. The senior says she woke up Friday morning not feeling her best and battled through stomach pains as she warmed up.
Yet, as her performance displayed, nothing was stopping Cochran from another state championship.
While proud of her victory, Cochran understood that her work was far from over after receiving her gold medal on Friday morning. On Saturday, the senior will compete in both the 3200 ― an event she won last year ― and the 800. She says the plan is to approach both the way she did the 1600, as if it's the only event that matters.
DAY 2: SATURDAY, MAY 28
After having a day to rest up, Cochran picked up right where she left off on Day 2 of the finals. In her second event, the senior delivered an even more dominant performance to start off the morning, breaking the PIAA Class 3A record in the 3200-meter run with a time of 10:13.62.
"I can't believe that even happened," Cochran told The Times as she walked away from the podium. "That wasn't something I even expected to do coming into today."
Cochran had little time to celebrate her second gold medal of the event ― just minutes after completing her interview for the television broadcast, her preparation for the 800 meter finals began.
When it came time for her final event in PIAA competition, Cochran delivered once again.
With the entire crowd waiting to see if she could be stopped, Cochran left no doubt as to who the top performer in the Class 3A meet was, winning the 800 by a solid 40 meters with a time of 2:11.26.
The victory not only solidified a third gold, but also brought a team championship as well, as it lifted the Moon girls' total to 30 points, putting them at the top of the standings for Class 3A. While winning is nothing new to Cochran, her reaction to finding out what her individual efforts resulted in was uncharacteristically enthusiastic.
"I can't believe it," Cochran said, as she received word of the team standings. "This is unreal!"
Throughout her entire career, Cochran has made an effort when speaking with the media to not speak too highly of herself in fear of being viewed as cocky or arrogant. As she spoke to reporters for the final time at Shippensburg, those worries were thrown aside.
The senior's four years of work had come to an incredible end. When asked how she hoped to be remembered, this is what the 10-time PIAA champion said:
"I think I'll be remembered as one of the best," Cochran said with a look of confidence. "Or at least I sure hope so."
Contact Noah Hiles at nhiles@gannett.com. Follow him on twitter @_NoahHiles.
