Class AA Girls' Recap
Photo by Don Rich
When Ally Rome and Erin Feeney graduated last year, there needed to be a new hierarchy in girls' AA. But instead of the veterans coming to the front, it was two freshmen---Taryn Parks of Greencastle-Antrim and Marlee Starliper of Northern---who rose to the occasion.
Parks, who emerged onto the scene earlier this season with some big performances and wins, took control of the race early. But Starliper reeled her back in with a mile to go. But Parks, like she did at the District 3 Championships, closed hard and outkicked her freshman counterpart for the AA state title.
Parks and Starliper both agreed that a competitive District 3 meet helped prepare them for states. Oley Valley's Rebecca Snyder took third and Eastern York's Maddie McLain was sixth, all representing the Central PA D3.
Lansdale Catholic senior Kayla Connelly ran well to take fourth place and Allentown Central Catholic's Emily Deschler was fifth.
Taryn Parks checks and sees she has company in Marlee Starliper (Photo by Ethan Rissell)
The team race belonged to the girls from Villa Maria for a third straight year, but this one was a lot more difficult for the champs.
They lost top girl Claire Brown to graduation and then another top runner transferred away. But Villa Maria had some girls step up to help them claim title #3 in AA.
Constable and Brown lead the way for Villa Maria (Photo by Abby Huber)
Villa Maria made a nice comeback over the last mile to beat out second place Quaker Valley and third place Danville Area by a nice margin.Carlee Constable led the way with a tenth place finish and Grace Brown was 16th. Lexi Siefert snuck into the medals in 25th. Here's the team breakdown for Villa Maria:
| EVENT | PLACE | ATHLETE | RESULT | POINTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F 5000m | 10 | Carlee Constable | 19:29.00 | 4 | |
| F 5000m | 16 | Grace Brown | 19:38.00 | 8 | |
| F 5000m | 25 | Lexi Siefert | 20:03.00 | 15 | |
| F 5000m | 55 | Amy Messina | 20:47.00 | 27 | |
| F 5000m | 104 | Megan Dugan | 21:16.00 | 48 | |
| F 5000m | 114 | Leah Prischak | 21:24.00 | 54 | |
| F 5000m | 126 | Kelly Fessler | 21:32.00 | 60 | |
Watch an interview with the Villa Maria girls below: