D11-A Girls - Team & Individuals Breakdown
- Preseason Rankings: Team | Individual
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 1
- State Qualifying Spots For Non-Team Individuals: 5
- 2018 Individual Champion: Reagan Pender (Northern Lehigh) - 19:14
- 2018 Team Champion: Notre Dame Green Pond - 42 points
Individuals Preview
The latter half 2018 and the first part of 2019 saw Northern Lehigh's Reagan Pender go from solid runner to one of the best in the state. Pender won the Colonial League crown before capturing the District 11 Class A win. She went on to take sixth at the state meet. Now a senior, look for Pender to be a major player in the state scene in 1A -- she could very well be the one to beat.
Notre Dame-Green Pond's Grace Medei is the other half of a strong 1-2 punch in D11-A. She was a relatively close second to Pender in D11 last year, running a strong district race. She was tenth at states and should be a factor as well as she heads into her junior season. As far as the district title is concerned, it will likely be another duel between Pender and Medei.
The Tri-Valley duo of Samantha Masser and Brooke Adams worked together well last year at districts, placing fourth and fifth respectively. Both are back again this fall. Moravian Academy's Lilly Eyvazzadeh, Notre Dame's Serena Azallina, and Tri-Valley's Paige Mitchell are ll back from the top 10, as well.
Team Preview
Notre Dame-Green Pond will be aiming to make it two-in-a-row in D11-A.
It only one graduates from that strong '18 NDGP squad, which scored 42 points to win the district by 48. It's got the frontrunner in Medei, but also good depth that will make the Crusaders the favorite. They should also be able to improve on their 12th place states finish in 1A from a year ago.
Only one team gets into states in D11-A, so there is a crowded group of teams looking to challenge Notre Dame this fall. Tri-Valley was second last season and returns it's full varsity squad. TV will look to close the 1-5 gap to make a run at the title. Northern Lehigh loses one from varsity. It, too, will look to add some depth to compete for the lone state qualifying spot. Marian Catholic has 5 varsity returners, but loses top girl from 2018 Nicole Capparell. Just eight points separated Tri-Valley, Northern Lehigh and Marian last year for second in the district.
Catasauqua was fifth in the district last year and Moravian Academy was sixth. Both return full varsity and could make a run at a higher finish, too.
Ultimately, for teams in D11-A, it will be about finding the depth to try and keep up with Notre Dame.