Distance-running power couple shatters records at WPIAL championships

There’s probably not much that makes Butler’s Drew Griffith too nervous at a track meet nowadays, but watching Mt. Lebanon’s Logan St. John Kletter run could be on that list.

“Honestly, I probably get more nervous for her than me,” he said with a laugh.

Kletter says the same about him.

“I get pretty nervous,” she said, “but not today, because I knew he had it.”

They’re two of the nation’s top distance runners who also happen to be a high school couple, but neither had much to be nervous about Thursday at the WPIAL track and field championships at Slippery Rock.

Griffith and St. John Kletter each broke a WPIAL championship record in the 3,200 meters, adding another superlative to the legacies of two talented seniors. Both already were defending champions in the event.

Griffith won the Class 3A boys race in 8 minutes, 41.6 seconds, which broke a record set by North Allegheny’s Matt McGoey (8:56.43) in 2015. Kletter won 3A girls in 10:19.78, which bettered a mark set in 2018 by Oakland Catholic’s Hannah Schupansky (10:33.66).

As Griffith pulled away from Ringgold’s Ryan Pajak for a 14-second win, he understood how he was running for the record book and his WPIAL legacy.

“I was definitely thinking about it that last mile,” Griffith said. “It’s pretty crazy to me to think that some of these times are going to be up there whenever I’m gone. I have no doubt somebody will eventually come along and break it.

“Hopefully, that time just encourage runners to run even faster.”

For Kletter, it was the perfect way to end her WPIAL career.

“It’s great to set that kind of record on my last time at a WPIAL meet,” she said. “It’s kind of cool to be able to leave that (legacy).”

Kletter and Griffith both defended their 1,600-meter titles Wednesday as well, and Griffith bettered his own meet record in that event.

They’ll run again May 24-25 at the state championships in Shippensburg.

“We definitely try to motivate each other,” Griffith said. “It can kind of be a tough sport mentally. Us being able to be there for each other helps us both.”

The WPIAL championship started Wednesday but was suspended for lightning around 9:30 p.m. The meet resumed at 4 p.m. Thursday.

With sunny skies and warm weather, a third meet record fell Thursday when Mohawk junior Jaxon Schoedel won the Class 2A boys 3,200 meters in 9:16.03.

Canon-McMillan’s Rose Kuchera earned her third gold medal in the meet by winning the Class 3A girls long jump (18 feet, 2 inches). The senior on Wednesday took gold in the triple jump (39-1) and 100-meter hurdles (14.75 seconds), the third straight year she won both.

A day after setting a meet record in the 400 meters, Laurel junior Tori Atkins earned another gold medal by winning the 200 in 2A girls.

It was as sophomores at Slippery Rock’s Mihalik-Thompson Stadium that Griffith said he first saw Kletter run. They started talking over that summer, and Griffith said they’ve been a couple for about a year and seven months. The first time they met up was to go running together, of course.

As elite distance runners, they understand better than most the challenges that come with it.

“I kind of had some struggles at the beginning of outdoor season, and he was there to keep me motivated,” Kletter said. “Seeing the success that he’s achieved makes me feel like those kind of things are possible. It works.”