Ally Rome of Dallas was all set to defend her state championship and keep her hot form rolling. One of her biggest threats came from her own district in Erin Feeney of Scranton Prep, who spent most of the cross country season battling mononucleosis. Feeney competed at the district meet to see if she was even fit enough to make to states. It's a good thing she made that attempt.
Feeney looked like the runner who won PTXC's first Athlete of the Week award of the season. Feeney ran step for step with the champion, giving it everything she could based on the fitness she was able to gain in a short period of time. Some would argue her efforts were done in vein as she finished 2nd to the now 2-time champions Ally Rome (18:30). But an 18:49 performance with little training and health is a commendable performance for Feeney in her final cross country state meet.
Kayla Connelly of Lansdale Catholic recorded her 3rd consecutive state top ten finish with a career best 3rd place performance. Claire Brown of Villa Maria Academy recorded a 4th place finish, and Mackenzie Jones of Danville celebrated her first career district 4 title with a 5th place finish at states.
Unlike the individual battle, the team title race was not that competitive. That was all thanks to Villa Maria Academy running like the team they've been all season long, which was all their coach was asking for. They recorded three individual medalists and a top five that were 65 seconds apart and inside the top 32 overall places to score a strong 50 points to win by the largest margin of victory of the day, 67. Danville won the race for 2nd with 117 points, 3rd place went to Villa Joseph Marie with 122, Abington Heights finished 4th, and Quaker Valley earned 5th.