D6-AA 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: Stella Kuntz (Central Cambria) - 19:51
- 2018 Team Champion: Central Cambria - 18 points
Individuals Preview
Stella Kuntz ignited Central Cambria last season, leading her squad to a state title with a terrific freshman campaign. Now a sophomore, Kuntz is looking for more of the same in 2019. Last year, Kuntz won the District 6 crown and then placed ninth at states in a loaded AA classification.
Kuntz was just one of three CC ninth graders to place inside the top four in the district last year. Faith Wilson took third, while Abby Walwro was fourth. At states, Wilson was 42nd. Ella Vrabel, a rising junior now, was 51st at states after placing ninth in the district. Those Central Cambria returners are expected to be among the frontrunners once again in D6-A.
The only girls to break up Central Cambria's scorers last fall was the Forest Hills duo of Katie Beyer and Paige Greathouse. Both are back this season. In 2018, Beyer took sixth a districts while Greathouse was right behind her in seventh. Greathouse was 40th at states to Beyer's 55th place finish at Hershey.
Forest Hills' Payton McGough and Juniata's Emily Houtz were tenth and 11th at districts last year, respectively, in their impressive freshman seasons.
Team Preview
Central Cambria proved to be the state's best AA squad last season with some tremendous talent and depth. It all resulted in a dominant performance at the District 6 Championships and then a strong state title, as the Red Devils returned to the top of the state.
Thanks to its onslaught of talented freshmen, Central Cambria left no doubt about it last year. Kuntz, Wilson, and Walwro all stepped up in a big way as ninth graders. Those now rising sophomores are back along with Vrabel. Look for the Devils to add more pieces to contend again for the district, and possibly even the state, title.
Forest Hills will look for the upset after taking second last year. The 2017 district champs have four varsity performers from a year ago, two of which were freshmen (Beyer and McGough). FH is likely a state caliber squad, but D6-AA unfortunately only gets one spot in the state meet.
Bedford and Bellefonte Area are among the other teams looking to get in the mix with the top two squads heading into this season.