Natalie Bower

Natalie Bower will always be the first, the first athlete, girl or boy, to win four consecutive WPIAL championships in cross country. Though Vincentian's Marianne Abdalah tied that record in 2016, it can never be eclipsed. Natalie excelled as a runner, adding eight WPIAL track and field gold medals to the four gold she captured in cross country. She also added four varsity letters swimming for Greater Latrobe High School.

One of the most accomplished female runners in Western Pennsylvania high school history, Natalie started running 5K’s at the age of 7, and competing for her middle school team in seventh grade. Excelling at cross country demands speed, strength, discipline, and especially, mental fortitude. For Bower to achieve four consecutive WPIAL championships, she had to focus on each race and manage the pressure to succeed. As she described it, “Winning as a freshman, really set me up to accomplish my feat. There was little or no pressure that year. There was more pressure on me the following years to keep winning, with that target on my back, but I took it as a challenge.” 1

Coaches and fellow competitors came to recognize and appreciate Bower’s drive to succeed, and they rarely got the best of her. One surprise did come in Natalie’s sophomore year at the Red, White, and Blue Invitational in Pittsburgh’s Schenley Park. Natalie had won the year before and the name Bower was expected to be on the winner’s medal again. But it was Samantha Bower, Natalie’s cousin, running for Greensburg Salem, who claimed the gold that year. She passed Natalie at the two-mile mark and finished nine seconds in front of her. 2

Few runners bested Natalie Bower during her high school career. In addition to the consecutive WPIAL titles, she captured between 2005 and 2008, Bower won track and field gold in the 1600 run three times (2006, 2008, 2009), the 3200 twice (2008, 2009), and as a member of three 3200 relay teams that captured consecutive titles in 2007, 2008, and 2009. Natalie considered her biggest accomplishment to be winning gold in the 1600 at the state PIAA competition her senior year, after taking home silver in 2008.

Several noted programs recruited Bower. She chose Penn State both for the coach and so her parents could continue to see her compete. Bower had great success, lettering all four-years, and qualifying for the NCAA cross country championships each year, a feat accomplished by only six previous Penn State female athletes. In Bower’s senior year, she earned second-team All-America status by placing 15th nationally in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and winning the Penn Relay's Steeplechase. Recently inducted into the WPIAL Hall of Fame, Bower now works as a pediatric physical therapist.