Elizabeth Cunningham, First PIAA State Champion in the Mile

Over the last two weeks we have presented the current state of Pennsylvania cross country elite. Now, we are going to travel down memory lane, back to 1974. Why 1974? Because 1974 was the first year the mile would be raced at the PIAA state championships. The race was held at Penn State, the track circled the football field inside Beaver Stadium. The girls racing that day would have the chance to be the first-ever PIAA mile state champion and set the bar for years to come. On that day, Elizabeth Cunningham emerged from the field to run 5:13 for the victory. We were able to sit down with her last week and ask a few questions about her running career and how she got into the sport. It was a very inspiring interview and it amazing to see how far the sport has come on the women's side in the last 33 years. Her championship effort laid the foundation for the performances we are seeing today.