Saucon Source Athlete of the Week: Kiele Riefenstahl (Sponsored by C. Fluck Training)
Saucon freshman Kiele Riefenstahl made her varsity cross country debut in grand fashion by winning the Lion Invitational at Moravian Academy last Friday.
Not only was she able to beat the other 122 participants in the field, but Kiele beat the returning AA District Champion by 60 seconds and “out-sprinted” the returning AAA District Champion in the final 150 meters for the win! To knock off two returning District champions over the course of a season would be reason alone to celebrate, but to do that in the same day is an incredibly rare feat. Her time of 18:53 for 5,000 meters is a 6:06 per mile pace during the hottest and most humid part of the afternoon!
“Not many athletes can handle the responsibilities of school work and competing at a high level in two different sports in the same season,” said team coach Stevie Ochse. “Kiele is the exception. She is a phenomenal athlete who can win a cross country meet and come to soccer practice right after without missing a beat. Her soccer teammates have rallied around her and literally cheered her on–as she took a commanding lead–to victory at Saucon’s home XC meet.”
Saucon Source sat down with Kiele to find out more about her, how she’s gotten so good and what her goals are.
- Participating in two sports this fall, what is a typical week like for you?
Participating in two sports is definitely a bigger challenge than you’d expect, but a typical week for me is soccer Monday through Friday after school–either a two-hour practice or a game–and then sometimes on the weekend I go out on a run with Coach (Ed) Kolosky as cross country training.
- The Lion Invitational was on one of the hottest days this summer. Was there something specific done in training that enabled you to kick it into an extra gear and separate you from the second place finisher and win the event?
We had summer running throughout summer that was Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Then it ran Monday through Friday and then preseason started for soccer and the conditioning there also helped because our soccer coach, Coach (Stevie) Ochse, had us do conditioning such as sprints and campus runs–and we had two 2-hour practices a day even in 90 degree weather, so I guess I was used to running in the heat. But both soccer and cross country practices have helped me to prepare for the heat.
- What are your personal goals for the rest of the season? What are your team goals for the rest of the season?
My personal goals for the season include running my best at every race, and not finishing and regretting that I didn’t push myself harder. Also I am hopeful to make it to States. My team goals for the season are to go to States as a team, which I am confident we can do because we have a pretty strong team this year.
Notable Recent Achievements by Other Panthers
Senior soccer forward Paige Jones: Paige scored three goals in the first two games of the season. Her first goal was in an overtime loss to Fleetwood. Goals 2 and 3 came in a 3-1 win against Nazareth. The Blue Eagles were the AAA district runner up last season and were ranked pre-season #1 in the Express-Times.
Senior tennis player Katya Yeager: She won all four of her matches. Her wins against Bangor, Pen Argyl and Notre Dame-Green Pond helped secure the overall team win for Saucon. She fought back after losing her first set against a quality opponent from Liberty to win in three sets: 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Golfer Thomas Coakley: He has had an excellent start to the season. In two matches last week, he shot a 75 versus Northwestern Lehigh at Olde Homestead Golf Course in New Tripoli and a 72 versus Salisbury at Silver Creek Country Club in Hellertown. He was the catalyst for Saucon’s two wins last week and has played a huge role in their 5-2 record this season.
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