Class AAA Girls' Recap
Photo by Ethan Rissell
Aislinn Devlin wasn't going to let a repeat of 2015 happen.
Devlin, who was second at states last year, won a very close battle with North Allegheny's Clara Savchik to win the AAA girls' race and win the state title.
Last year, Devlin tried to pass Pennsbury's Olivia Sargent on Poop-Out Hill with about 200 meters to go in the race. Sargent rebuffed that attempt and won the state championship. Savchik tried Devlin's move on the final hill, but this year Devlin held her off and won a dramatic sprint to the finish. Devlin ran a time of 17:44 to Savchik's 17:46.
"I knew it was going to come down to Poop-Out," Devlin said. "Last year, my mistake was that I tried to pass Olivia Sargent on the hill and I just didn't have anything left for the straightaway.It's 150 meters---there's still a good amount of race once you get to the top of that hill. I wanted it so bad. I really wanted it."
In another wild story from the race, Unionville's Anna Juul lost her spike at about 500 meters in and ran the rest of the race with just one shoe. Despite that, Juul ran an incredible 18:11 to take third in the loaded field. Wilson's Alison Willingmyre ran well to take fourth in 18:23 and Perkiomen Valley's Annie Glodek rounded out the top five in a time of 18:32.
The Cardinal O'Hara girls brought their A game and will take home the first O'Hara state title in XC and the first O'Hara PIAA title in any sport. Olivia Arizin, running with an illness, led the way placing 13th in 18:55. Liz Mancini also grabbed a medal, taking 19th overall. Here is the team breakdown:
| EVENT | PLACE | ATHLETE | RESULT | POINTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F 5000m | 13 | Olivia Arizin | 18:55.00 | 10 | |
| F 5000m | 19 | Elizabeth Mancini | 19:01.00 | 13 | |
| F 5000m | 41 | Eleanor Mancini | 19:45.00 | 23 | |
| F 5000m | 48 | Christine Mancini | 19:52.00 | 25 | |
| F 5000m | 70 | Sara Hayes | 20:09.00 | 36 | |
| F 5000m | 108 | Katie Till | 20:32.00 | 53 | |
| F 5000m | 186 | Celia Pastore | 22:06.00 | 105 | |
O'Hara made a nice comeback over pre-race favorites Oakland Catholic. Thanks to RunHigh.com's mile and two mile splits, we see that Oakland led O'Hara by 17 at the mile and 4 at the two mile. But at the finish, O'Hara won by 39, winning 107-146 over Oakland.
After the top two, Perkiomen Valley completed a great season with a third place finish. State College, with a strong pack, was fourth, and North Penn took fifth.
Watch an interview with the Cardinal O'Hara girls and coach Tom Kennedy: