Glodek remains on top, earns Mercury All-Area Runner of Year award
It figured, early on in her life, Annie Glodek would make a name for herself as a runner.
Even when she was participating in other athletic endeavors.
“I played all sports when I was young … field hockey and softball,” she recalled. “But my mom always said it appeared I liked the running aspects.”
Mom’s perception became a precursor to her daughter’s future. Annie ultimately focused on running, becoming a standout distance competitor … and a repeat showing as The Mercury’s girls cross country Runner of the Year for the 2015 season.
Glodek maintained her status as the face of cross-country excellence around The Mercury’s coverage area. The Perkiomen Valley junior repeated as champion of the Pioneer Athletic Conference girls’ race, then went on to record Top 10 finishes in the District 1-AAA and PIAA-AAA races.
Glodek also won the PIAA Foundation Invitational’s Gold race, placed fifth in a PTXC meet race at Kutztown University and finished 11th in the Paul Short Run’s Brown race, in the course of the season. That all figured in her being named to the All-PAC girls cross country first team.
“Annie’s biggest quality is her unrelenting goal to improve herself,” PV head coach Ryan Sullivan noted. “I’m a big fan of setting aggressive goals for the girls on the team. She attacked them.”
Glodek got involved with running back when she was in second grade with the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO). But she got away from it until seventh grade, joining friends who got into the sport.
Annie also recalled running 5K events the summer prior to her starting high school.
“I ran two over the summer before my freshman year,” she said. “It didn’t go well, but I was still getting used to the sport. I’ve run some the past couple summers.”
Glodek’s individual performance went a long way toward the success the PV girls’ team achieved this fall. Under her direction, the Vikings went 9-0 during the PAC-10 regular season before edging Owen J. Roberts (38-39) for the team championship. Placing third as a team in the District 1-AAA race qualified PV for the PIAA-AAA meet, where it finished fourth.
Following Glodek’s leading pace were classmate Hannah Stolpa, who was 10th in the PAC meet; sophomore Teaghan Steinbecker, who placed fifth; and freshman Jocelyn Rotay, who finished eighth. They and Michelle Daniels, a junior who placed 14th at PACs, joined Glodek on the all-league first team.
“I may be a captain, but I feel everybody is important to the team,” Glodek said. “I worked hard like everybody else, and tried to lead by example. I hoped to set the example for my teammates. I went into it (season) like last year, working hard and feeling like I didn’t deserve anything.”
The PIAA Foundation Invitational, run in late September on the same course in Hershey as the state meet, served both Glodek and her PV teammates well. Glodek nipped North Allegheny sophomore Clara Savchik for first place, and her 18:53 clocking led the Vikes to the team championship ahead of the Tigers.
“That was a big meet … me winning, and the team winning,” she said. “We knew the team was good, but this was really an indication of our progress.”
The Oct. 2 Paul Short Run at Lehigh saw Glodek miss a Top 10 finish in the girls’ Brown race, her 18:27 clocking one second behind Oakton’s Kendall Casey. As a team, Perk Valley placed third with 205 points, headed by team champ Pennsbury (67) and Cardinal O’Hara (199).
“The Paul Short meet is always big,” Annie said. “It’s a good gauge for states.”
Like Methacton senior Jeff Kirshenbaum — her male counterpart in domination of the Pioneer Athletic Conference — Glodek was unbeatable in league outings. She finished first in every one of PV’s regular-season meets, then won the PAC-10 championship with an 18:53 run on the Heebner Park course that was 25 seconds better than second-place Allison Brunton of Owen J. Roberts.
As was the case in the PAC-10 meet, where she made significant improvement on her time from her sophomore season — she ran a 19:25 in last year’s league meet — Glodek lowered her times in subsequent post-season races. Her 18:05 at districts shaved 41 seconds off her 2014 clocking, and her 18:44 at states was 48 seconds faster than her sophomore time.
“My goals always have changed during the season,” Glodek said. “I keep making adjustments based on what I can do.”
“I knew she would be good coming up,” Sullivan recalled. “She once said to me, ‘I didn’t think I’d be this good’. I said, ‘Neither did I’.”
While improving on her district and state times, Annie also finished better both times. She had placed 13th at Lehigh as a 10th-grader, and tied for 24th at Hershey that year.
“Annie has talent,” Sullivan said, “but she also feels she has to outwork everybody. She’ll do what she has to do to win.”
Glodek will have one more shot at becoming a three-time PAC-10 meet champ, as well as improving on her district and state-level meet performances, next fall. Until then, she is focused on competing with PV’s winter and spring track teams this year.
“She’s a pleasure to have … a kid who looks forward to practice,” Sullivan said.
