PAISAA Girls - Team & Individuals Breakdown
- Preseason Rankings: Team | Individual
- 2018 Individual Champion: Isabelle Goldstein (Germantown Academy) - 19:13
- 2018 Team Champion: Penn Charter - 56 points
Individuals Preview
The PAISAA has been home to some of the state's biggest stars, particularly on the girls' side, over the past few years. And this season should be one of the best in recent memory with a wild amount of talent returning to the fold this season.
At the top is the reigning PAISAA champion, Isabelle Goldstein of Germantown Academy. She's been getting better and better each season. Last year, she ran away from the field to take the win. She ran a 4:46 for the full indoor mile this past indoor season, showing that she is ready to prove she's one of the state's best distance runners of all-time this year.
But she'll be challenged for sure for that top spot. Penn Charter's Emma Zwall won the PAISAA XC title as a freshman, but was fifth last season. But she did beat Goldstein for the Inter-Ac title, so that PAISAA race was just an off day for Zwall, who will be a serious factor for the win in her junior season.
Perhaps the one to steal the show, though, will be Friends' Central's Lydia Russell. She was sixth in the PAISAA last year in XC for a second straight year, but she really made a star turn on the track. At outdoor nationals, Russell broke the all-time PA state record in the 5K, running 16:18. If that track speed can translate over to the XC trails, the senior Russell will be in for a huge fall.
Russell's Friends' Central teammates will be up near the front, too. Rebecca Wusinich was second last season at PAISAAs behind Goldstein. She is the defending Friends League champ and can't be counted out of this field either. FCS's Micah Trusty (fourth last year) and Saul transfer Miracle Price (District 12 Class A champion last year) will also be in the mix for high finishes.
Annika Marcelis of Germantown Friends was third in the PAISAA as a freshman last year. Expect her to be in the front pack competing for the win. The Hill School's Olivia Tullman and Academy of Notre Dame's Lindsey Smith will also be ones to watch after finishing inside the top ten of the PAISAA last season.
Not only is this year very top-heavy as far as the talent is concerned, but it will also be an incredibly competitive battle for the individual state title this season.
Team Preview
The individual race will be hotly contested, but so will the team race, with a number of teams capable of taking the top spot.
Friends' Central enters the season as the PennTrackXC preseason No. 1 for independent schools. The Phoenix, which edged out Germantown Friends by a point for the Friends League crown last year, returns a great core with Wusinich, Trusty, and the track breakthrough Russell. Then it has added Price, a 4:51 1,500 meter runner to the fold. Suring up the back part of its varsity squad will be the key for FCS this season.
The defending PAISAA and Inter-Ac champions, Penn Charter will be strong again. PC loses two seniors from last year's team, but returns Zwall and some good depth that will make it a contender for its second straight PAISAA crown.
The Academy of Notre Dame is probably the most interesting team in the PAISAA. While it lacks a frontrunner like the other contenders, Notre Dame has some tremendous depth, which earned the team a second place finish last season. The team's top five is back, which managed just a 50-second 1 through 5 gap at PAISAAs last season.
Germantown Academy and Germantown Friends will both be looking to get in the mix. GA was fourth last season and also brings back its top five. If some of the young runners can bridge the gap up to Goldstein, this team could improve upon that 2018 finish. GFS is similarly built. Marcelis is a strong frontrunner, but it will hope for some improvements to the rest of the varsity squad to move up in the field.