Kuss, DeGregorio Lead Highlanders at WPIAL Track & Field Championships

As the adage goes, leave it all on the field … or track. If you’re ’s Krista Kuss, leave it all in the garbage can.

Hey, that’s been working so far.

Kuss, who conducted an interview with the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch just moments after, well, “finishing” in a nearby trash container, said that vomiting after races has been the story for her over the last three seasons.

While Kuss and her coaches mostly agree that breathing differently during competition will help to curb that unwanted tradition, it’s hard to argue with what truly causes it: running hard and winning races.

She didn’t win anything on Thursday, but Kuss, one of the region’s top high-school sprinters, qualified for the PIAA championships in all three events that she entered, taking third place in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes in 12.54 seconds, 25.72 seconds and 57.44 seconds, respectively.

Officially, Kuss ran five times on Thursday, including qualifying heats for the 100 and 200. When asked if she ever tries to save anything for the final races of those events, she answered, “If you save something, you might not get into finals.”

By the looks of that garbage can, Kuss saved nothing.

“(Vomiting’s) typical for me after the 400,” she said, “but, occasionally, I do it in the 200.”

“That’s been her signature move since she was a sophomore,” Baldwin’s Head Coach Ed Helbig deadpanned.

Thursday marked the WPIAL’s annual individual track & field championships at Baldwin High, where the top four finishers in each event automatically qualify for the state meet next week in Shippensburg.

Though she would’ve liked to have earned a WPIAL title in at least one event, Kuss, still just a junior at Baldwin, will have a good chance to add some state medals to her now stocked WPIAL medals collection.

“I was hoping to win at least the 400 (on Thursday), but I pulled something,” Kuss said while pointing to an ice bag on her right hip. “And it kind of slowed me down. It just happened today during the 100 finals.”

Getting three more medals next week will surely not happen, though, as Kuss won’t be putting herself through that challenge again until next year.

“I’m probably not going to compete in the 100 (at states),” she said. “We were planning on doing it, but because of this, we’re probably gonna drop it …

“I want to medal—at least the top six—in both (the 200 and 400 at states).”

The top eight finishers at both the WPIAL and PIAA track & field championships earn medals.

Kuss, who lives on Fieldcrest Drive in , has been running track since she was a seventh-grader at .

Despite that, Helbig offered a critical, perhaps motivating assessment of Kuss.

“I still don’t think she’s in shape yet,” he said. “I think if she gets in shape and runs hard, and is able to run hard, she could go (under) 55 (seconds in the 400).”

Pretty scary stuff for Kuss’ competition, especially considering that she has a year of high school left.

When asked if she could win some WPIAL titles next year, Helbig said, “She could win all three of them (the 100, 200 and 400). I think she’s the only junior coming back.”

A girl from Penn Hills High School won both the AAA 100 and 200 on Thursday with times of 12.09 and 24.72 seconds, respectively. A North Hills High School runner won the 400 in 56.56 seconds.

As for the state meet this year, Helbig agreed that Kuss will stick to two events.

“It’s too hard (to do all three). It’s hard to go (to states) and do two events, let alone three … I’m going to try to persuade her to drop the 100 and go with the 200 and 400. I don’t think I should have too much trouble.”

Baldwin has hosted the WPIAL’s AAA and AA track & field championships together since 2009 and at least the AAA championships for the past 25 years.

The state meet begins on Friday. Put the Shippensburg garbage cans on notice.

Over on the boys side, Baldwin's senior Paul DeGregorio won a 2011 AAA title in the 3,200 run with a time of 9 minutes, 16.12 seconds, just edging the runner-up from North Hills by 0.06 seconds. Baldwin's junior Andrew Kuchta placed third in the 3,200 in 9:16.89 and will join Kuss and DeGregorio in Shippensburg.