ogan St. John Kletter ended her high school running career on a high note. The Ashland Avenue athlete won the Two-Mile at New Balance Outdoor Nationals in June. She is now in her freshman season at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a university that boasts a historic athletic record, with 45 NCAA team championships across seven different sports.

St. John Kletter is no stranger to national competitions, having raced at the Outdoor Nationals in 2023, and twice at the New Balance Indoor Nationals in 2023 and 2024, where she most recently placed third in the mile. She also competed at Footlocker Nationals, hosted in San Diego.

St. John Kletter has nearly a decade of training under her belt. After dabbling in various sports — tennis, soccer, basketball and softball — as a fifth grader, she realized the aspect she excelled at most in each of these sports was running.

Her favorite events are the one- and two-mile, partly because as a spectator it’s “entertaining to watch and goes by fast.” She trains six days a week, usually running in the 35-mile range, but she is building up to 40 to 45 miles a week. Typically, her week contains two running workouts, three “easy” runs, one long run and two cross-training workouts.

Her cross-training is targeted: she uses the elliptical’s sister, the arc trainer, which attempts to simulate a running body’s motion. It strengthens endurance without putting as much stress on a body, like a traditional road run. St. John Kletter prefers outdoor training to indoor most of the time, because she appreciates the scenery and vastness of the space.

“In cross country, I run more mileage and have to prepare to train and race in all different elements: hills, downhills, flat areas, trails, grass, muddy courses, dry courses and sometimes the road,” St. John Kletter said. “There are so many different things you encounter, and every course is different from the last.”

Like any runner, St. John Kletter’s body is at the mercy of the pavement, and she suffered two small injuries in her senior season. She credits Coach Oscar Shutt and the various assistant coaches of Mt. Lebanon’s staff with her recovery, as well as the physical therapists at Allegheny Health Network.

St. John Kletter believes running is one of the most mentally demanding sports.

“You have to run at all-out effort for long periods of time and have to fight against a mind that wants you to quit,” St. John Kletter said. “I usually visualize the race before it happens and do breathing exercises to relax.”

St. John Kletter communicated with about 30 schools across the United States but narrowed her list to three official visits: North Carolina, University of Virginia and Furman.

“At UNC, every girl on the team shared the same love and drive for the sport as I do,” St. John Kletter said. “It seemed like the perfect environment to balance athletics and academics and be a part of a team that will push me to become the best version of myself.”