Girls Preview - PIAA District 3 Championships
Class A
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 1
Camp Hill's young squad narrowly won the District title a year ago over York Catholic, 65-67; the Lions will be much heavier favorites this time around and should earn the only PIAA team qualifying place available. Mark Haywood's underclassman-heavy squad, which has been sharing some of its runners with other sports, should only show its full potential over the next two weeks.
Individually, Laura Sakol has made big strides for Camp Hill in 2018 as well after finishing 13th at Districts a year ago. The diminutive junior ranks just behind High Point Baptist's Anna Steich on time (19:58 to 20:05) this year, but beat Steich head-to-head by 22 seconds just two weeks ago at the Gettysburg Invitational.
Class AA
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 3
Two-time defending champion Northern is heavily favored to win their third straight title on Saturday; the Polar Bears very nearly dethroned 3A state title contender State College at Mid-Penns.
Marlee Starliper and company have grown tighter as a team while head coach Al Houser recovers from injuries he suffered in a motorcycle accident earlier this fall; District and PIAA trophies would be a well-deserved present for Houser. Donegal, York Suburban and Gettysburg will battle for the two remaining PIAA qualifying spots.
Individually, it's yet another round between Starliper and Greencastle-Antrim's Taryn Parks. The juniors, Foot Locker finalists and multiple-time state champions will return to Big Spring two weeks after Starliper ran away from Parks in their first head-to-head race of 2018, 17:37 to 18:05.
Parks recovered from a fall to win the Carlisle Invite in 17:59 and she's shown resilience in big moments before; taking down Starliper at either Districts or States is far from impossible.
Eastern York's Olivia McLain, Bishop McDevitt's Katelyn Deitrick, Wyomissing's Grace Kuhn, and Northern's Katie Anthony will be on the hunt for top 5 spots on Saturday.
Class AAA
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 4
As is the case with the individual battle, the 3A girls' team race is very much up for grabs. Manheim Township won this race a year ago with a 19-second spread, and the Blue Streaks' pack did enough last week to hold off Elizabethtown's superior low-end scoring.
Dallastown and Governor Mifflin, the YAIAA and Berks champions, respectively, are good bets to push on to states, while Carlisle and Hershey will battle at Big Spring once again after the Herd bested the Trojans by just four points at Mid-Penns. Exeter finished second to Governor Mifflin in the Berks County meet, but boast a tighter pack that could benefit their score at the larger District meet.
The individual battle should be very interesting, as any of a handful of girls can easily step up to win her first district title. Cedar Crest soph Gwyneth Young has the fastest time on paper-an 18:33 at muddy Carlisle last month -- but was bested by Elizabethtown junior Katie Locker last week at the Lancaster-Lebanon League championships, 18:41 to 18:45.
Schuler ran 18:39 to win the YAIAA meet, and is the highest returning finisher from last year's District race (2nd). CD East's Makenna Krebs was the highest 3A finisher at the Mid-Penn championships, continuing her breakout senior year in which she's posted an 18:43 personal best. Berks County champ Andrea Miller of Governor Mifflin and Red Lion's Kiersten Lloyd could also be factors.