D1-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: Abigail Brown (Calvary Christian) - 19:05
- 2018 Team Champion: Calvary Christian Academy - 24 points
Individuals Preview
Abigail Brown of Calvary Christian cruised to the District 1 Class A individual title last season, capturing the win by over a minute before going on to take eighth at the state meet. So the door is open for a new champ in D1-A, and a number of girls will be in contention to take that spot.
Dock Mennonite's Lauren Birch is the top returner from both the district meet and the state meet in D1-A. Last year as a sophomore, she went 20:06 on Lehigh's course to take second to Brown. She placed 34th and states, and will be looking to move up into state medal position now as a junior.
Calvary Christian's Leah Angstadt should give her a good run. She was fourth at districts and then 36th at states, coming in just behind Birch. Expect a good race up front there.
Sacred Heart's Kayleigh Doyle and Chiara O'Keefe, Calvary's Lydia Brown, and Dock's Sara Kennel are among the other returners from the top ten in the district from last year.
Team Preview
Calvary Christian Academy ruled the district last season, cruising to the D1-A team title and then taking sixth at the state meet, the program's best season in its history. But Calvary loses its frontrunner from last season in Abigail Brown and two other varsity runners. It will look to rebuild the backend of its varsity team this season to compete for the lone state qualifying spot in the district.
Meanwhile, last year's team runner-up in the district -- Dock Mennonite Academy -- will look to seize the top spot. Dock returns six of its top seven runners from last season, led by Birch and Kennel, who both qualified for states individually last season. Dock looks to have the best depth and should be the team to beat.
Jenkintown, third last season, graduated a number of its varsity girls from last season, but has some good up-and-comers, who could look to keep it interesting for a high finish this season.