Even after peak performance Addie Cohen still has mountains left to scale
Track and Field coverage sponsored by ATT Sports., Inc.
By Benjamin F. Pierce — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent
SHIPPENSBURG — It turned into a running joke among Addie Cohen’s teammates. No one wants to touch yogurt before a big race.
Cohen’s trip to states was memorable for the wrong reasons last year. Wyomissing’s junior stopped and gagged during the 1,600. It was her first individual event at the PIAA Track and Field Championships.
Breakfast was given the blame. The truth is it was probably butterflies. Those typically go away once the gun sounds. They didn’t this time.
“I was freaking out,” Cohen said. “I was so nervous I felt sick.”
A new-and-improved distance runner showed up at Seth Grove Stadium this May. One who was no longer intimidated by the state’s biggest stage.
Cohen took second in the Class 2A 1600 and third in the 3200 in the span of 24 hours. She set PRs in both events and nearly broke one of her sport’s biggest barriers. The performance put Cohen on a path for a special senior season.
“Looking at other girls’ results throughout the county, district and state, I know I did it right,” she said. “Peaking at the perfect time. To be at states and PR twice is really incredible. That’s when you want to be doing it. “
There were still nerves for Cohen. They were the good kind. The kind that disappeared during the first lap.
Cohen finished the 1600 Friday morning in 5:00.51. She nearly became the seventh Berks County girl to complete a mile in less than five minutes. Brownsville senior Jolena Quarzo won the race at 4:55.45. The two-time PIAA champ and North Carolina State recruit was the only obstacle that kept Cohen from PIAA gold.
Cohen’s 10:52.04 in the 3200 Saturday morning shaved nine seconds off her previous best. Quarzo was also the champion in that event.
“Addie is the best female I’ve ever had the privilege of coaching,” Wyomissing distance coach Erik Uliasz said. “She’s a fierce competitor. She’s a gamer. You put her in a competition and she rises to the occasion.”
The PIAA meet was, in some ways, the perfect result for Cohen. She raised her personal bar and still has some goals dangling in front of her. She will be the top returner in the state in Class 2A in both distance events next season.
If the clock at Shippensburg University was working when Cohen ran the 1600, she might have found that extra gear to break 5 minutes. Instead, she was a half-second short. She believes it was meant to be that way.
“It’s definitely leaving me not completely satisfied,” Cohen said. “I’m still itching for that right now. I think I didn’t break 5 for a reason. If I ran a 4:59 instead of 5 flat, I wouldn’t have had something to really go after for next year.”
Cohen’s most revealing moment of the postseason may have been her final race. The one in which she didn’t medal.
The junior added the 800 to her list during the District 3 meet and blazed to a first-place finish when she hit the line in 2:19.49. It was only her second time running the event and the victory gave her a sweep, the 800, 1600 and 3200, at districts.
Cohen decided to run all three again at states. She placed ninth in the 800, one one-hundredth of a second from a spot on the podium.
“She wanted that third medal really badly,” Uliasz said. “She was slightly disappointed. I told her to smell the roses. Take a step back and look at all you accomplished this year. It has been almost a dream season.”
The elite distance runners dedicate themselves to the grind year-round. Cohen made the commitment after her freshman season. She quit basketball, started indoor track and began to make huge drops in her times.
Cohen already ranks among the greats in county history. She could be the first Berks Class 2A runner to make it under 5 minutes in the mile. That’s her No. 1 event. It combines her speed and endurance.
“The trajectory is up and up,” Uliasz said. “I don’t think she’s going to slow down next year. There are more lofty goals.”
Cohen still hasn’t figured out the perfect breakfast for race days. All she knows for sure is yogurt will never again be on the menu.
This time she chose half-a-banana and some peanut butter toast. It came with two state medals on the side.
