Denmark’s Kralovetz on a dominating run

Leah Kralovetz can be tough to spot at times.

The Denmark junior’s small stature and quiet demeanor makes her easily blend in among her peers.

That’s not the case when she steps on the track.

Kralovetz is easy to locate because she’s usually at the front of the pack.

The Denmark distance runner is having a dominating season. She leads the Green Bay area for both the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs.

Her personal-best time of 5 minutes, 14.61 in the 1,600 ranks third in Division 2, while her personal-best time of 11:05.44 in the 3,200 is second in the state among all divisions, according to Wisconsin Track Online.

“No, I did not expect this,” Kralovetz said. “I didn’t even expect to be doing track at all.”

Kralovetz made the difficult decision to trade in her soccer cleats this spring for running ones.

Her older brother, Cory, played a key role in starting the boys soccer team at Denmark.

Although she always enjoyed soccer, there was no denying her calling was to be a runner.

That was made evident when she went out for cross-country during the fall and won the North Eastern Conference title before placing fifth in Division 2 at the WIAA state meet with a time of 19:21.62.

“Soccer has been in my family since I was really little,” Kralovetz said. “I’ve always played soccer, so it’s kind of hard to give that up. But I really enjoy the team aspect of track.”

Kralovetz sparingly ran track as a freshman, when she went out for both track and soccer. She competed in the 800, but soccer was her No. 1 focus.

Kralovetz is focused on finishing strong this season. She’s off to a good start.

She won NEC titles in both distance events May 12 and won WIAA regional championships in both Monday at Brillion.

Her winning time of 11:13.84 in the 3,200 was over a minute faster than the second-place finisher. She recorded a time of 5:16.42 in the 1,600 to best the rest of the field by at least 39 seconds.

Kralovetz is attracting attention from college cross-country and track programs, including the University of Iowa.

“She’s such a humble, young woman,” Denmark assistant coach Terry Wetzel said. “Her accomplishments just keep stacking up.

“She’s just a hardworking, good student. She’s everything you want to see in an athlete that’s succeeding.”

Kralovetz will attempt to punch her ticket to the WIAA state track and field meet at the Freedom sectional on Thursday.

If she’s successful in making it to the big, red track in La Crosse, Kralovetz will attempt to make a run at becoming only the fourth WIAA state champion in the history of the Denmark track and field program.

LuAnn Bruss won Class B state titles for the 300-meter hurdles in 1987 and 1989 on the girls side, while Adam Duckart’s Division 2 state title for the boys 1,600 run in 2006 was the last state title overall for the program.

“I think her goals are to finish high at state if not to win one of those events,” Wetzel said. “I think you have to go down there thinking I could win this. But we’ll see. There is a lot of talent in Division 2 right now for girls distance.”

It includes Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau junior Dana Feyen, whose time of 10:45.54 in the 3,200 leads the entire state. Feyen won the D2 state title in cross-country and won the D2 state title in the 3,200.

Although she’ll be facing tough competition, Kralovetz will keep putting her best foot forward.

“I don’t really think about much when I run. I just run,” Kralovetz said.

“My coach always tells me when I’m running to think ‘a little faster, a little faster,’ That’s what I try to do.”

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