Moon’s Mia Cochran wins 1,600 meters, wants 2 more golds at busy PIAA championship

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, May 27, 2022 | 4:53 PM

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SHIPPENSBURG — After defending her state 1,600-meter title Friday morning, Moon’s Mia Cochran revealed the top item on her afternoon agenda.

“A nap,” she said.

She’ll certainly need her rest. The Arkansas recruit is attempting to pull off a triple win this weekend in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters at the state track championship, an almost impossible feat before the PIAA revamped its meet schedule for this year.

The PIAA eliminated preliminary rounds from the 800 and 1,600 meters, meaning Cochran must run only three times instead of five.

But once on the track, there’s no time to rest.

“It’s just ‘all go’ this weekend,” said Cochran, a senior. “It’s the last state meet. Just do whatever I can to bring it home. It’s just exciting to finish up my senior year here.”

Cochran is the defending Class 3A state champion in the girls 1,600 and 3,200. She had a commanding lead Friday in her 1,600 title defense and won by more than eight seconds, but said she refused to let herself relax.

“I’m still pushing at that point,” she said. “It does play with your head a little bit, not having anyone around you, but you’ve still got to do what you can to bring it in and bring it home strong.”

She crossed the line in 4 minutes, 46.53 seconds. Her time was four seconds faster than last year’s winning effort.

WPIAL runners won three of the four 1,600-meter races. Deer Lakes’ Carson McCoy won the Class 2A boys title and Brownsville’s Jolena Quarzo won 2A girls.

Archbishop Wood senior Gary Martin defended his title in the Class 3A boys race and set a PIAA championship record at 4:1.56.

The 1,600 was the only track final run Friday, and it was the day’s first event at 9 a.m.

Cochran will have an early wake-up call again Saturday for the 3,200, which also starts at 9 a.m. The 800 is scheduled for around 2 p.m.

She’s seeded sixth in the 3,200 at 10:48, but that’s seriously misleading. Her qualifying time from the WPIAL championship was 31 seconds slower than her personal best (10:17).

She’s seeded eighth in the 800, but her season-best time is five seconds faster than her seed.

Along with her growing collection of PIAA track medals, Cochran also is a three-time state cross country champion, so this weekend she’s adding the final achievements to a remarkable high school career.

But Cochran said she isn’t focused on the end.

“It still hasn’t hit me that I’m a senior,” she said. “I’m just finishing out the year having fun.”

Martin’s time in the 1,600 wasn’t the only meet record to fall Friday. Hershey pole vaulter Justin Rogers, a Virginia recruit, broke a PIAA championship record by clearing 17 feet, 3 inches. His vault also beat the overall Pennsylvania high school record he’d set earlier this month at 17-2.

Half of the field events were contested Friday with the other half scheduled Saturday. The only WPIAL athlete to win an event was Hempfield’s Liz Tapper in the Class 3A girls shot put.

In all, WPIAL athletes won four gold medals Friday.

Shenango throwers celebrated a pair of second-place finishes. Emma Callahan earned a silver medal in the 2A girls discus and teammate Will Patton took second in the boys discus. Each will throw shot put on Saturday, an event where Callahan is favored and could challenge the PIAA championship record.

Ligonier Valley’s Miles Higgins placed second in the Class 2A boys javelin. Butler’s Tristan McGarrah took third in the Class 3A boys pole vault.

Preliminary races were held in the 100, 200 and 400 meters, the 400- and 1,600-meter relays and both hurdle distances. In the 300-meter hurdles, defending state champion Quaker Valley’s Nora Johns ran that fastest preliminary time in Class 2A girls.

Among the relays, the WPIAL will have three Class 2A boys teams in the 400-meter final: Beaver Falls, Aliquippa and Washington. The defending state champion South Fayette girls were the second-fastest qualifier in Class 3A preliminaries for the 400 relay.

The meet was suspended for two hours around noon Friday for a weather delay.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

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