HAVERFORD — As the daughter of Polish immigrants, Haverford High graduate Olivia Cieslak admits she understands her parent’s native language better than she speaks it.
Cieslak has been brushing up on her Polish language skills lately. Next month, the Stanford commit will compete in the 800- and 1,500-meter runs at the Polish U20 national championships in her father’s hometown of Bydgoszcz, and then run for Poland in the 800 at the European U20 championships in Tampele, Finland from August 7-10.
“I’m thrilled,” Cieslak said. “It’s an experience of a lifetime, running for my parent’s heritage and where I came from. I’m excited to meet new people and have this experience. It’s super cool.”
This is Cieslak’s first foray into international competition. It comes on the heels of one of the most successful high school careers in Delaware County history.
Cieslak won seven individual gold medals in outdoor track this season and 31 in her career with the Fords, according to pa.milesplit.com. She also earned 13 gold medals in indoor track and 13 in cross country. She is a five-time gold medal winner at the PIAA Track and Field Championships. She won the Class 3A 800-meter run for the third year in a row this spring and the 1,600 for the second time in three years.
Cieslak is also a four-time winner in the 800 and a three-time champ in the 1,600 at the District 1 championship meets. She has so many medals that she has run out of room trying to display her hardware.
“I have to put some on my window sill,” said Cieslak, who holds dual U.S. and Polish citizenship through her parents, Marcin and Aga.
Cieslak’s impressive season earned her Athlete of the Year honors for the third year in a row and All-Delco recognition for the fourth straight season. She’s also the three-time Runner of the Year in cross country.
Only Penncrest’s Karen Shump was named Athlete of the Year in track more than Cieslak. She was a four-time selection from 2005-08. Penn Wood Olympian Dawn Burrell has more individual career state championship gold medals, winning six gold medals (three in the long and triple jumps and three in the 100 and 300 hurdles) in 1990 and 1991.
Joining Cieslak on the All-Delco team are Haverford High teammates Lucy Filkin and Abigail DeFruscio, Tamsen Allen Bey of Bonner & Prendergast, Chester’s JaNasia Dearry and Damira Allen, Garnet Valley’s Avery McCrimon, Felica Grimmelbein and Isabella Tront, Springfield’s Sophia Kurtis, Ava Cavanaugh and Kendra Williamson of Episcopal Academy, Upper Darby’s Janaye Haye, Kiala Bright of Academy Park, Kathryn Ohm of Penncrest and Notre Dame’s Temperance England. The relay teams are Upper Darby (4 x 100 and 4 x 400) and Penncrest (4 x 800).
The All-Delco team is selected in conjunction with the county coaches.
McCrimon, Allen, Grimmelbein and Haye are juniors, Cavanaugh is a sophomore and Williamson is a freshman. The rest are seniors.
Dearry and Allen are on the All-Delco first team for the third year in a row. DeFruscio, Grimmelbein, Tront, Cavanaugh, Kurtis, Bright, Ohm and Cavanaugh are two-time picks.
Cieslak’s success isn’t a surprise. Her father played professional basketball in Poland and had a tryout with the New Jersey Nets. Her mother is an avid runner who used to run with her daughter, and her brother, Allen, will be a senior on the Susquehanna University basketball team this coming season. He won a PIAA Class 3A state title as a senior at Devon Prep in 2022.
She has come to lean on their experiences.
“As athletes themselves they understand the highs and lows,” Cieslak said. “It’s nice to have that support full throttle, especially when you come home from a competition and have that someone to talk to. It’s great.”
Cieslak’s name is etched in the county record book. She broke the county mark in the 800 four times, the last time when she went 2:03.84 to win the PIAA Class 3A 800-meter championship in May. To give you an idea of just how good that time was, it would have placed her ninth at the NCAA Division I championships this year by .02 seconds.
She also topped the county mark in the 1,600 three times, the best was a 4:39.76 this season at the Arcadia Invitational in California earlier this spring. She ranks first in the state in the 800 and 1,600, and sixth nationally in the 800, 12th in the 1,600 and 17th in the 1,500.
“I worked hard for that progression,” Cieslak said. “I hope it continues at Stanford and years after that.”
For all of her individual success, though, it’s the team accomplishments that Cieslak cherishes the most. The Fords won the PIAA Class 3A title in track during her sophomore season in 2023 and in cross country last fall. They tied for second at the state track meet in 2024. The Fords also finished second at the District 1 championships three times and twice in cross country.
“Winning the state track championship my sophomore year was really cool because we had a lot of seniors and it was nice to be part of that with them,” Cieslak said. “Then cross country this past year was a surreal experience. We knew we could do it. In the beginning of the season we were like, let’s get top three and then at districts we realized we could do this. Then in mid-race the coaches and parents were yelling at us that we were in first and that was so exciting. Then we came home and had the police escort and then the parade in school. It was so fun. They treated us like royalty.
“We worked so hard for those team accomplishments. It was so great. I love being part of all that and everyone on those teams. Leaving those girls is going to be one of the hardest things for me. It’s like a family. I hope they get more and I believe they will.”
And now it’s off to Stanford, which has produced the last two NCAA Division I champions in the 800. Roisin Willis won the title this year after a second-place finish in 2024 to teammate Juliette Whittaker.
“I took seven visits but once I stepped on Stanford’s campus it was a wrap for me,” Cieslak said. “I loved it right away. The environment and the people were just my perfect place. Everyone was just so welcoming. Coach (J.J.) Clark (the head coach) and Coach Addy (Royal) are obviously the masterminds of the 800. It was just my perfect place academically and athletically.”
First, though, there’s that little trip to Europe.
“It’s going to be fun,” Cieslak said. “I’m going to enjoy it and make the most of it.”