Kosek Receives Citation From Senator Yaw

By: Ed Weaver  /  April 20, 2026

Junior Lauren Kosek was awarded a Citation from Pennsylvania Senator Gene Yaw (R-23) on February 12, recognizing her District IV Cross Country championship back on October 23.

Senate Citations are formal greetings for an acknowledgement or accomplishment of a constituent or organization who have reached a significant personal or professional milestone. They're issued for academic and athletic achievements, birthdays, condolence resolutions, heroic actions, individual honors, military service awards and retirements, organization awards, state-level pageants, presidents of state organizations, retirements, scouting and wedding anniversaries.

Kosek bested her 2024 2nd place finish of 18:21 by running a 17:59 to win the Class 2A title in 2025. She was the only female in both classifications to run a sub-18 time. Kosek went on to finish 3rd at this season's PIAA Championships in 18:45.

"Lauren's achievement is a testament to her talent, discipline, determination and the pride she brings to Wellsboro High School and our entire region," Yaw said. "To earn a PIAA District Championship is no small feat and I'm pleased to recognize her on this remarkable accomplishment."

The award came as a complete surprise to Kosek.

"When I saw I got a box in the mail from Senator Yaw I was really excited," she said. "It was exciting to see my achievements be honored by the state senate. I've had a district championship as one of my goals for awhile now, but when you achieve a goal you reset and make new ones. Receiving an award of this level makes you take a step back and realize just how big of an accomplishment some things are. It's been a few years since our school has been competitive at the state level in cross country, and distance running in general, so it's cool to feel like I'm doing my part in building our program."

Eric Kosek, Lauren's father and Wellsboro head cross country coach, was just as surprised as his daughter when she received the Citation.

"As her father the award is amazing and it was even cooler that it was a surprise I think," he said. "Neither of us knew it was coming. It's very neat to see that this type of accomplishment is recognized by the state. Her winning districts this last year was a little bit of a surprise to both of us. It wasn't necessarily in the cards, she knows who runs and her competition, so that was a focus on this coming year. She trained hard and ran a good enough race to pull it off, and we're both very proud of that. Both her mother and I have instilled a love of running into her at a very young age. Everything she does now I can't take any credit for, she's driven, she's motivated, and has her eyes on being the best runner that she could be. Any parent can appreciate that."

Kosek now has three top-10 District IV XC championship finishes and two top-10 finishes at the PIAA XC championships in her career. On the track she holds two school records, one in the 1600m and the other in the 3200m, to go along with a pair of state qualifying runs in both events at last year's District IV Track & Field championships.

Kosek is now using the award as extra motivation as this track season ramps up and as cross country season begins later this fall.