Spartans ‘Golden Girl’ Addie Cohen completes difficult run back to the top
Addie Cohen spent nine days in a hospital bed in December with a blood infection that spread to her hip. It cost the elite Wyomissing runner her indoor season and, in all likelihood, the chance to repeat a spectacular junior season which saw her win three gold medals at the District 3 Championships.
Cohen struggled to regain her stamina and speed after returning to the track this spring. She didn’t break 12 minutes in the 3200 until the Shaner Meet, in early May; her winning 1600 time that day was still more than 20 seconds off her personal best, from last year’s state meet.
Still, she refused to lower her expectations.
“I didn’t want to be satisfied,” she said of a junior season that ended with a silver medal in the 1600 and a bronze in the 3200 at the PIAA Championships. “I was always hungry for more. I had goals of winning state gold.
“For some reason I didn’t let that leave my mind. I felt I could still make it possible, even though I had no reason (to believe that).”
| Class 2A girls | |
| Wyomissing | 105 |
| Annville-Cleona | 99 |
| Greenwood | 65 |
| Susquenita | 64.3 |
| Bermudian | 63.5 |
| Trinity | 58 |
Cohen’s faith and determination and relentlessness were rewarded Saturday when she completed another sweep at the District 3 Championships, winning the Class 2A 800 and 1600 one day after taking the 3200.
The Spartans’ ‘Golden Girl’ is back.
“I just finally felt like myself this weekend,” Cohen said. “That really deep competitive spirit, that fire, was relit in me. My body is finally capable again of running three really hard races. I feel back, finally.”
The highlight was the 800 on Saturday afternoon. Admittedly the race is an afterthought for Cohen; it’s a distant third in her mind to the longer runs. If she had her druthers she would’ve skipped the race and saved some energy for the meet-closing 4×400, which she anchors.
| Class 3A girls | |
| McCaskey | 72 |
| Spring Grove | 55 |
| Cedar Crest | 37 |
| Conestoga Valley | 29 |
| Carlisle | 28 |
| Wilson | 27 |
The team needed her though; that’s why she ran.
“Everyone’s exhausted at that point (of the weekend),” Cohen said, “but my team needed those points. I knew if I went out and won it, it would just pull us ahead and almost guarantee that win for us.”
She did, and they did. Cohen’s 10 points helped put the Spartans over the top. They finished with 105 points; Annville-Cleona was right on their heels, with 99.
“I definitely had a lot of determination in that (race),” she said. “The team component is such a motivator.”
Cohen had plenty of company on the medal stand at Shippensburg’s Seth Grove Stadium. Alexis Hardy won gold in the 200 and silver in the 100 and 400 relay, which she anchored. Ayla Snyder was the long jump champ; she also ran the opening leg of the 4×100, in front of Lily Paolini and Emily Cassler. Kylie Rosenberger was third in the 400. Aliah Contreras won medals in both hurdles and in the 1600 relay, along with Hannah Shimp, Rosenberger, and Cohen.
Overall, the Spartans girls scored in 12 events Saturday and 16 for the weekend. The championship is their second in three years and sixth overall; only Harrisburg and Milton Hershey have won more.
Cohen didn’t just win the 800: She crushed it, finishing in 2:21.35. That’s easily a season best, nine seconds better than her winning time on her home course at the Shaner Meet. She was in fifth place after the first lap but kicked it in with 300 meters to go. She was flying in that final lap, clocking a 1:09.54. That’s a faster pace than her PR of 2:19.49, at last year’s PIAA Championships.
“That probably has to be up there with one of my better (800) laps,” Cohen said. “I just completely opened up. I had a lot of people to pass, so I started making my move with 300 to go. Going down that back stretch I knew I had to go with it. (With 200 left) I was in first place, and I completely kicked it in.”
She ended up edging Trinity’s Lila Shore by 1.11 seconds.
She was just a step in front of Shore heading into the final lap in the 1600 before she opened it up; she finished with a 1:14.98 final leg to win the race by more than 10 seconds. Her 5:11.25 was nearly six seconds better than her time last week at the Firing Meet.
“I really love kicking it in with 300 to go,” she said. “I just get faster and faster each 100 from there.”
Cohen used the same script Friday to win the 3200. She didn’t take the lead until the midpoint of the race, then coasted to a 15-second victory – her third straight in the event at districts.
“That’s what I did all weekend,” she said, “hung out and waited for the perfect time to make a move. I did that in the mile; I made my move and was real sure about it.”
All told Cohen has 10 District 3 medals, seven of them colored gold.
A month ago no one, not even Cohen herself, was sure if she could again reach the medal stand at Shippensburg, let alone occupy the top rung.
“Every week, I’ve just tried to get a few seconds faster with the end goal being that I can be close to where I was last year at states,” she said. “I really just trusted God and put it in his hands. That’s all I could do, because it was all out of my control.
“There were times when no matter how hard I worked I wouldn’t see results. So I just prayed and prayed and stayed strong mentally . . . and here I am again.”
