Medal collection growing for 10-year-old Penn Hills sprinter
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Sunday, August 24, 2025 | 11:01 AM
Kaleah Young started running on the Future Stars Athletic summer track team when she was 6. Now 10, the Penn Hills resident was always interested in going fast.
Kaleah was naturally drawn to the sprints and short distance events, and she will be interested in stacking medals after a strong summer.
She won two medals at the Junior Olympics, earning All-American status twice by placing fifth in the 200 and sixth in the 400. She also qualified in the 100, but missed making the finals after finishing ninth.
“Getting better,” said Kaleah about what her goal is. “Improving on times and winning more medals.”
Her mom, Terri Collington, who is a Penn Hills graduate, said Kaleah has become more interested in trying to beat her previous times. Collington also was a track athlete and ran a lot of the shorter distance races for the Indians.
She also ran on the 400 and 1,600 relay teams.
“She understood what the times meant,” Collington said. “She wants to get as close as possible to the times she’s strived to achieve. She broke two records, one at championships and one at regionals.”
While competing on the track at Slippery Rock University, Kaleah set the track record in the 200 at regionals, finishing in a time of 28.40 seconds, which broke a six-year-old record of 29.24.
“I was surprised,” Kaleah said. “I was mostly excited and happy.”
Kaleah said she enjoyed competing against the other top athletes. When she was at the Junior Olympics, she saw competitors from all over the country.
“It was enjoyable,” Kaleah said. “It was cool and nice.”
Collington said she is happy with how Kaleah has progressed.
“I think her confidence has risen,” Collington said. “She always knew she was a good runner. She dominated her season.”
She feels her daughter is well ahead of where she was at the same age.
Kaleah’s best time in the 100 is 13.73 seconds while her top time in the 200 is 27.83.
“Her best time in the 400 is 1 minute, 3 seconds,” Collington said. “I ran that at 14. She just turned 10. Seeing her conquer those feats has been amazing.”
Tags: Penn Hills
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