What a race by former Shawnee middle-distance runner Kristen Niedrach Friday evening in Oregon!
Niedrach ran a personal-best 2:08.88 at the Stumptown Twilight Invitational at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore. Her previous PR was 2:08.93 in Grootebroek, Netherlands, on July 14, 2018
Not bad for a 2:21 high school runner!
Niedrach graduated in 2012 from Shawnee, where she had PRs of 2:21.55 from sectionals as a sophomore and 5:01.86 for 1,600 meters, which she ran indoors her senior year winning the state Group 3 title.
She went to Cornell, where she gradually lowered her 1,500 time — from 4:31.10 as a freshman to 4:29.39 as a sophomore, 4:26.85 as a junior and then 4:22.45 as a senior in a meet at Bucknell. That’s the equivalent of a 4:41.74 for 1,600 meters or a 4:43.37 for a full mile.
Niedrach’s progress was similar in the 800, where she ran 2:12.72 as a sophomore, 2:10.28 as a junior and then had that breakthrough race in the Netherlands last summer.
