Moon’s Mia Cochran wins unprecedented ‘triple’ at PIAA championships, celebrates team title alone

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, May 28, 2022 | 10:25 PM

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Moon Area’s Mia Cochran admits the competitor in her likes a challenge, but she hasn’t found many on the track recently.

So, she created one.

The Arkansas recruit completed a distance “triple” this weekend that’s likely unprecedented, winning the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter titles at the PIAA Class 3A championship at Shippensburg University. In her final visit to Seth Grove Stadium, she challenged herself to make a statement about her place in track history.

Her three wins alone were also enough to earn Moon the girls team title in 3A.

“It feels amazing,” Cochran said. “I laid it all on the track. I think I might cry right now.”

Running all three events certainly isn’t easy. But before this season it was nearly impossible, until the PIAA eliminated preliminary races from the 1,600 and 800.

Now, the triple needed only three races — all finals.

Cochran breezed through the two longest races, events she entered with confidence as the defending state champion. She set a PIAA championship record in the 3,200 meters Saturday morning, winning by more than 22 seconds.

The 800 was a different story.

She called that event her biggest challenge, yet finished one second ahead of Mount Saint Joseph’s Ella Woehlck to complete her three-race trifecta.

“After running a state meet record and a 1,600 yesterday, an 800 at (2 minutes, 11 seconds) is going to be horrible,” she said. “Just getting through that was my biggest fear, honestly. It happened. I did it. I’m done. I’m going to go home now.”

She contributed greatly to a dominant weekend for WPIAL distance runners. They swept the four 3,200 races, won three of the four 1,600s and claimed two of the 800s. Deer Lakes’ Carson McCoy and Brownsville’s Jolena Quarzo each won two distance events. Eden Christian’s Sean Atkins and Butler’s C.J. Singleton won 3,200-meter races.

In all, the WPIAL won 14 events.

Hempfield thrower Liz Tapper swept the shot put and discus titles in 3A girls, and Shenango senior Emma Callahan won the 2A shot put with a record-tying throw. New Castle’s Maria Owens won the 3A girls long jump.

Quaker Valley’s Nora Johns defended her 2A title in the girls 300 hurdles

Cochran’s busy weekend started at 9 a.m. Friday with the 1,600 meters. She returned to the track at 9 a.m. Saturday for the 3,200. She then had to wait for the 800, with was run around 2:30 p.m.

Combined, she ran about three and a half miles.

She knew with almost certainty she wouldn’t lose either of those first two races, but she was putting her unbeatable reputation at stake in the 800. Along with her track success, she’s also a three-time reigning state cross country champion.

“Being gutsy is fun,” she said. “Getting out there and being competitive with some girls I don’t usually race against, and in a race I usually don’t run all season, is really fun. I had a good time.”

She’ll continue to run competitively this summer with an event in Seattle on her upcoming schedule. But she closed the door on her high school career in history-making fashion.

“I hope I leave a legacy that everyone knows of,” she said. “That’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to make a statement. I came here and made one.”

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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