There are pros and cons to the on-raging debate of specialization in scholastic sports. The answer may be somewhere in the middle, that the benefits of specialization may vary on an individual basis.

There are very little few doubts that Gage Kral has benfitted from focusing on one particular athletic discipline.

On Tuesday afternoon at Ephrata Middle School, that was blatanly apparent for Krall, during the annual running of the Lancaster-Lebanon League Cross Country Championships. A former two-sport competitor who also used to play soccer in the fall, the Northern Lebanon junior was the top Lebanon County finisher among male individuals at the league meet.

The gutsy Krall covered the up-and-down, 3.1-mile course in 16:40.5 to come in a satisfying eighth overall. The seven runners who finished ahead of Krall were all seniors.

Krall’s performance was just ticks off his personal best time.

Krall went out hard, and when the lead pack picked up the pace, he went with it. Although he didn’t finish as strong as the seniors ahead of him, Krall was within striking distance when the end of the race came into view.

Krall has also qualified for the District Three championships, which will be contested on October 27th at Big Spring High School.

– Jeff Falk