D1-AAA Girls - Team & Individuals Breakdown
- Preseason Rankings: Team | Individual
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 6
- State Qualifying Spots For Non-Team Individuals: 30
- 2018 Individual Champion: Jenna Mulhern (West Chester Henderson) - 17:41
- 2018 Team Champion: Central Bucks West - 104 points
Individuals Preview
Last fall, Jenna Mulhern became the first freshman in Class AAA to win the individual state title. The West Chester Henderson frosh ran away with the District 1 title, running a season best of 17:41, before running away with the AAA state title.
She's back for her sophomore season and she will chase another district and state crown. It's a crowded field of AAA contenders, but Mulhern is the odds-on favorite to repeat in District 1.
West Chester East's Allyson Clarke had a terrific junior season last year that culminated with a second place finish at districts and then a third place run at states. She became a star on the trails last season and shouldn't be overshadowed by her cross-town opponent Mulhern; Clarke is one of the state's best.
The only other returning state medalists in D1-AAA are Central Bucks West's Julia Flood and Unionville's Sarah Coates. Flood paced CBW to the team title last season in D1, taking seventh before a 15th place finish at states. Coates was a major breakthrough at Hershey last year. She was 25th at districts and then 23rd at states. Both are worth keeping an eye on this fall.
There are a number of girls who have broken 19 minutes -- in fact 14 others went into the 18s at Lehigh last season. Downingtown West's Aliza Thir took fourth at districts with a big run. She'll be looking for a similar performance this season. Neshaminy's Kaylee McCullough and West Chester East's Michaela Schiele also placed inside the top ten of the district last year.
CB West's Piper Wilson, CB East's Mckenna Brophy, Cheltenham's Janelle Williams, Oxford Area's Taj Lanier, WC East's Sonia Piombino, and Council Rock South's Marisa Kilgarriff will also be worth keeping an eye on this fall out of District 1.
As usual, District 1 is packed to the brim with talent. But after the top few, it's relatively wide open. There's plenty of room for girls to make big jumps; it happens every year and this fall shouldn't be different.
Team Preview
Central Bucks West ran to its second straight District 1 Class AAA title last season. While it wasn't quite the dominating performance we saw in 2017, West was still impressive in winning last fall, putting up 104 points, led by Flood and Wilson. Three varsity girls have graduated, but West's top four from 2018 are back, and we can expect them to make a good run at the three-peat.
West Chester Henderson was just seven points off CBW for the district title last season, emerging as a top threat. Mulhern could very well put one point on the board again this fall. After that, Henderson loses its solid 2-3 from 2018, but the rest of the squad returns from the team that took second at the state meet behind North Allegheny. This is a team capable of a similar performance in 2019.
A couple of other Ches-Mont teams that should be in line for big seasons again are Avon Grove and Unionville. Avon Grove put it all together in 2018 and became one of the seasons biggest surprises, taking the sixth and final state qualifying spit and then placing ninth at states. They are a young team that was made up of four freshmen and three sophomores last season. This is going to be a very dangerous team again this season, led by rising junior Lauren O'Neill.
Unionville was third in 2018 at districts and sixth at states. It loses Madison McGovern, who led the team at districts, but brings back the other six varsity girls. Coates was a state medalist last year and Marcella Krautzel was a state medalist in 2017. Expect U'Ville, like most years, to be in the contention for high district and state meet finishes.
West Chester East was fourth in the district and eighth at states last year. It loses just one girl from its varsity squad that includes a terrific top three between Clarke, Schiele, and Piombino. The key for WCE will be finding a strong fifth runner, but the Vikings will be very strong again this season. Downingtown West was the first team out of state qualification last season (seventh at districts), but the Whippets will be motivated and strong this fall. Thir leads a good team that will certainly have a good shot at the top six.
A number of other teams will be looking to get into state qualification contention this season in D1-AAA. Council Rock North, Council Rock South, Upper Dublin, Owen J. Roberts, and Strath Haven are among the teams that will have a shot at Hershey this season.
The key for these teams is making sure their packs move up in the field. Of course, there's always the potential for impact freshmen to come in and shake things up. It will be another interesting season in District 1.