All-Delco Cross Country: Haverford’s Cieslak, Lawson on similarly stellar trajectories
HAVERFORD — The similarities between Haverford teammates Olivia Cieslak and Patrick Lawson are myriad.
Both started running at an early age under the guidance of their parents. Both enjoy being part of the Fords’ strong team culture, one of the factors that brought Cieslak to Haverford after spending part of her freshman year at Friends’ Central.
Both also possess an intense desire to succeed, and did so at the highest level this cross country season, even if both prefer competing on the track.
Neither runner was beaten by a Delco athlete in any of the major races in which they entered. Both won Delco titles and medals at the District 1 and PIAA Class 3A championship (for Lawson, it was his second state medal in cross country).
And both are easy selections as Daily Times Cross Country Runners of the Year.
Cieslak is the first Haverford girl to earn the honor since Tess Meehan in 2012. Lawson is the second straight Haverford athlete named boys Runner of the Year and the fourth since 2009.
Joining Cieslak and Lawson on the All-Delco cross country first team are Haverford teammates Camryn McGeehan and Quentin Ryan; Dakin Ebmeyer, Aidan McHugh and Michael Woolery from Episcopal Academy; Radnor’s Zoe Margolies and Luke Bodden; Garnet Valley’s Avery Lustgarten; Therese Trainer of Notre Dame; Hannah Prokup from Strath Haven; Gavin Mogck from Penncrest and Upper Darby’s Loralei Golembiewski.
Lawson, McGeehan, Ryan, Bodden, Trainer, Prokup and Mogck are repeat selections. Trainer is the only senior on the girls portion of the first team. Golembiewski, Margolies and Prokup are juniors. Cieslak and McGeehan are sophomores. Lustgarten is the only freshman on the squad. Woolery, a junior, is the only underclassman on the boys team.
The All-Delco team was selected by the Daily Times staff in consultation with county coaches.
“They’re just two good kids who are very coachable and love the sport,” said Ryan Comstock, who coaches the boys track teams at Haverford and is a cross country assistant.
Cieslak has her parents to thank for introducing her to running in kindergarten or first grade. Her dad, Macin, was a professional basketball player in Poland. Her mom, Aga, was a runner in Europe before they moved to the United States.
“They just kind of brought me into sports,” she said.
Cieslak said she took to running right away and has enjoyed success at every level, mainly in track, where she is ranked No. 2 in Pennsylvania and No. 14 nationally in the Class of 2025. After finishing fourth in the 800 at the PIAA Class 3A Track & Field championships last season, Cieslak won the freshman mile and was the top ninth-grader in the 800 (12th overall) at the New Balance Nationals at Franklin Field last June.
The victory in the mile was her third national title. Earlier that year, she won the 1,500 and the mile at the Nike Indoor Nationals.
She continued that success in the cross country season. Cieslak won the Unionville Two-Mile Bash in a personal-best time of 11:23.20. She also took first in the Brown Race at the Paul Short Run (17:42.75), the Delco Championships and Central League championships. She finished second at the District 1 Class 3A meet and 15th in Hershey at the PIAA championships. Cieslak closed out her cross country season by earning 25th place at the Champs Northeast Regional.
“I think my best race was at Paul Short when I ran 17:42,” said Cieslak, who earned All-Delco track honors last spring. “We started off at Unionville, that was only two miles, but it was fun. I think the training was really impactful. It ended on the highest note. Trusting the process was big for me this season.”
Being on a strong team — the Fords won the Delco and Central League titles and finished fourth at districts and eighth at states — has only made her better.
“Running with Camryn McGeehan, she’s always pushing me,” Cieslak said. “It’s good to have a good team culture around you because everyone is just as motivated as you are and it’s good to have the team come together all as one.”
Like Cieslak, Lawson was pushed every day by his teammates, especially Ryan.
“We have a really good team environment, a really strong culture when it comes to workouts,” Lawson said. “Everyone is trying to be the best version of themselves, so it’s really good to be surrounded by hard-working people. It makes you better.”
It was a carryover from track where Lawson finished fourth in the 1,600 at the PIAA Class 3A championships, set the school record in the 3,200 and helped the Fords win the 4 x 800 at Districts and take second at states.
“Every season is cumulative so you’re always going to be stronger with more and more training,” said Lawson, who is still weighing his college options. “Also, the way I learned to race, I look at races differently now. I started races from the back last season. In many races, I would be in last place for most of the race and I would just keep working my way up to the lead. I carried that over into cross country where I learned to be patient in races and wait until the latter half of the race to make my move.”
It was a successful strategy. Lawson was sixth in the Brown Race at Paul Short, won the Delco and Central League titles, took second at the District 1 meet and fifth at states, where he had been 16th in 2021.
Lawson, who began running in kindergarten under the direction of his father, John, had an early indication that he was going to have a strong senior season. He opened the year with a victory at the Unionville Two-Mile Bash in 9:43.80, a nearly 30-second improvement from the year before when he finished fourth.
“I was really happy with that time,” Lawson said. “To see where I was starting out, in a lot better place than last year, I just knew it was going to be a really successful year from there on out.”
