Deanna Hager, track

Uniontown senior Deanna Hager plans to put her 4.75 grade point average to good use in college. She will attend either Virginia Tech or Georgia Tech and plans to study mechanical engineering.
Hager also runs track and ran cross country at Uniontown and qualified for the PIAA Cross Country Championships. As a distance specialist, Hager plans to always be a runner, but she doesn’t plan to run for the college team.
The daughter of Dan and Cathy Hager, of Farmington, is also Uniontown’s spring sports female selection in the Centennial Chevrolet Scholar/Athlete Spotlight program.
“I’m deciding between Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech, but I’m not going to run in college,” she said. “I might actually join a club, but they are both (NCAA) Division I programs and it will be tough enough just going to college. I will always run, though.
“They are both on the same level academically, so the way the campus feels might make a difference. I visited Virginia Tech, but not Georgia yet. I’m liking the idea of the bigger city (Atlanta vs. Blacksburg, Va.), so I’m leaning toward going to Georgia Tech.”
She has no family or friends in Atlanta, but wants to get out and see more of the country.
More importantly to her, she want to become a mechanical engineer so she can follow in the footsteps of a relative who works in the field.
“My uncle, Tim Pawlak, works as a mechanical engineer for Ansys,” she said. “They developed a software to test products for companies like Boeing. So he gets to test products with models of airplanes on a computer. I could work where he works or maybe at a place like Boeing or a company like that.”
Running, though, will always be a part of who Deanna Hager is. The pro athlete she admires most may be a name you are reading for the first time, but any runner knows Meb Keflezighi as the 2014 Boston Marathon champion.
“He runs marathons and came over from Africa and moved to America when he was young,” she said. “He won the Boston Marathon last year.”
Always a team player, Hager recalls the feeling of camaraderie and togetherness she felt at the WPIAL Cross Country Championships.
“For cross country, you take your top seven to the WPIAL meet and from there, they take the top finishers to states,” she said. “I was in the top seven, so I went to WPIALs. I came in 22nd and was able to qualify for states.
“It was just a really fun time being at WPIALs with the whole team. And, when I did find out that I qualified for states, I was so happy. The guys team had qualified, too, so it was a really special day.
“Going to states was a bit more intimidating, I was more nervous. WPIALs were definitely more fun that states.”
Hager is still in the running for a spot at the WPIAL Track and Field Championships in a few weeks. It could be a perfect cap to a very good high school running career.