Teams
Before last Friday's District 1 championships, you could have argued that the PIAA could have engraved Pennsbury's name into the championship trophy before the state meet even started. Olivia Sargent, Hannah Molloy, Mary Webb, and co. were undefeated against PA competition, with no one getting near them, they swept their league championship meet and finished 2nd at Manhattan behind national champions Fayetteville-Manlius.
Fast forward to today and everything has changed. Unionville have gone from lacking the depth behind their front four to having enough depth to win the title in a 3 week period. Anna Juul and Kacie Breeding have done the hard work up front, while Jillian Brislin's improvement since the October 12 Ches-Mont Championship meet has made Unionville capable to reclaiming the state title. Pennsbury were 9 point victors at District 1. At states last year, Pennsbury were 5 point winners. What will 2015 bring?
But as we like to say, anything can happen in a cross country race, especially at Hershey. Should the top two teams from the past six years have a bad day, expect one of these teams to go for the grand upset.
Perkiomen Valley made a statement early on that they were going to be a contender in 2015. They finished 2nd at the PTXC 7 meet, trailing only Easton, they won the Foundation Invite, finished 3rd at Paul Short, and have emerged victorious from two separate one point battles with league rivals Owen J Roberts. Annie Glodek has led this team up front with a group behind her all under 20 minutes. As for Owen J Roberts, they have been on a tear when it counted most. Their one point defeats to Perkiomen Valley in an 8 day period have made them top five state contenders. Allison Brunton leads the way for a team that have found their groove at the best time.
Cardinal O'Hara entered the season looking to improve on their 3rd place finish at states last year and make a serious run at breaking up the duopoly of Pennsbury and Unionville. Olivia Arizin's big improvement aside, it hasn't been the easiest road back to the state meet. They have runner up finishes at Briarwood and Paul Short (60 points behind Pennsbury) and have gone unbeaten since. Arizin's improvement as a cross country runner has been great to watch. She has won four major meets this season. A 3rd place finish would be a great achievement for the District 12 champions.
Easton Area were surprise winners at the PTXC 7 meet, but then they hit a bump in the road with a 5th place finish at Paul Short. They have recovered since, but they will be tested once again at states. Diana Hammerstone will lead the team that will be looking to prove they can perform well on a big stage when the chips are down.
District 7 squads Seneca Valley and Mount Lebanon will be boosted by their latest performances. Seneca Valley are running like the contenders they were hoping to be, while the return of Kelsey Potts have given Mount Lebanon new life. North Allegheny have coped with the departure of Madeleine Davison by making a return trip to states. Wilson (3) surged to the district 3 title and knocked off Cumberland Valley from the state meet altogether.
Individuals
Olivia Sargent of Pennsbury and Aislinn Devlin of Downingtown West have been taking turns holding on to the number 1 spot in the state until they went head to head at District 1. On that day, Devlin ran 17:24 to win by 12 seconds over Sargent, putting Devlin as the favorite for Saturday's state title race. Devlin is unbeaten on the season, while Sargent has a pair of runner up finishes on her resume. The rematch should be a good one. Sargent has one more chance at a state gold medal and will not go down without leaving everything in Hershey. Devlin wants to make up for the disappointment of missing out on state gold in track last spring.
Mady Clahane of Cumberland Valley is also taking a trip to the last chance saloon in an attempt to win her first ever gold medal at state level. Last season was her roughest state meet, finishing outside the top five for the very first time in a PA race. She hasn't missed out on the top five all season thus far and completed career sweeps at the Mid Penn and District 3 championships.
Hannah Molloy of Pennsbury may go down as the best #2 runner on any team in state history. Olivia Sargent's partner in running crime has three state medals in cross country, hasn't finished worse than 10th in any PA race since September 2013, and broke 18 minutes for the first time at Districts. In that district race, she was nipping at the heels of Sargent and Devlin, so expect her to be in title contention from the gun all the way through.
Allison Willingmyre of Wilson (3) had her breakthrough moment with her 4th place finish at the rain soaked Paul Short Run on October 2nd, introducing herself to the state. The two time Berks County Champion was 11th at states last year, but has run three personal bests in four races this season, making her one of the top runners of October.
Lauren Finikiotis of Oakland Catholic was the runner of September with her big early season performances. She won two invitationals, including the Red White and Blue Invite, and she was a top five finisher at PIAA Foundation. She won her first district title last Thursday and now it is her time to put it all together on the biggest stage.
Unionville's Anna Juul and Kacie Breeding will be contending for top ten finishes while chasing Pennsbury black jerseys. Brooke Hutton of Coatesville has avoided the sophomore slump with six top 6 finishes this season. Abby Yourkavitch of Chambersburg always puts herself in the mix, but is still waiting for her breakthrough moment. She hasn't finished worse than 4th in five major meets this season. Clara Savchik of North Allegheny, Maddie Villalba of Central Bucks West, Kelsey Potts of Mount Lebanon, and Arizin lead another group of girls looking to break into the top ten.