Girls Preview - PIAA District 2 Championships
Class A
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 1
Expect a good individual battle for the D2-A title. Defending champ Krista Jones of Elk Lake is back to try and repeat. The sophomore has had another strong season to this point and will look to go 2-for-2 at Lakeland and win another title. Montrose's Hannah Perkins, who has had a nice comeback season, will supply a good challenge. Jones earned a 13-second win over Perkins at Newark Valley (NY) a few weeks ago, but Perkins will look to reverse her fortune at districts.
Forest City's Rachel Korty, Holy Cross's Molly Repecki, and Elk Lake's Sadie Bosscher will be among the other contenders here.
The battle for the lone state qualifying spot figures to be very close here, just as it was last season when only three points separated the top three teams.
Montrose has been strong all season, picking up some big team results, including a win at McQuaid. led by Perkins, Montrose may be the squad to beat in this matchup. Last year's champs Holy Cross may have something to say about that. With some good depth to match Montrose, this will be a fight for every single point.
Lakeland was fourth last year in the district, but the hosts have been gathering strength as the season has progressed and they should be in the mix for the title, too. Elk Lake can't be counted out either. Second by just a couple points last year, they will be a team to watch.
Class AA
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 2
It's been quite the season for Crestwood sophomore Molly DeMarzo. After a strong freshman campaign that earned her a district title and a state medal in AA, she's back for more and running even better. The Wyoming Valley Conference champ has run 18:36 this season and will look to add her second straight D2-AA crown.
Lake Lehman's Abby Paczewski will aim to give her a good run for her money, though. The senior Paczewski was fifth at Foundation, 19 seconds off DeMarzo, who was third. She's not afraid to race aggressively and that could pay off on Wednesday afternoon.
The Holy Redeemer duo of Cameron Marcinkowski and Lexie Marcinkowski will be strong as well. Those two went 3-4 behind the DeMarzo and Paczewski and will look to get in the mix.
The team race should be interesting. Valley View hasn't raced much this season, but they are the defending district champs and they bring back six girls from last year's team that took seventh at states. VV will be in the mix for another title, or at least one of the two state spots.
Holy Redeemer has been impressive all season long. They scored just 27 points to win to win the WVC, and they may have the best depth in this race. HR may be the team to beat here. Scranton Preparatory and Lake Lehman are among the other teams with a shot at one of those two berths to Hershey.
Class AAA
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 1
Williamsport's Lydia Smith will be the heavy favorite to repeat as D2-AAA champ. The senior has had a strong season, including a 5K PR of 19:19 and a third place finish at the PHAC Invite. She's the only girl in the field to have run sub-20 this season and she did it three times. She'll go for a fourth on Wednesday and another district win.
Delaware Valley's Laina Bogusta, Scranton's Bella Noreika, and the Abington Heights duo of Abby Marion and Maia Arcangelo are among the girls that will compete for some of those individual state spots.
Williamsport Area looks to be the top team in this field and in a good spot to grab D2-AAA's lone states spot. With Smith up front, the Millionaires have good depth with four other girls that have run sub-21 this season.
Abington Heights and Hazleton Area will look to challenge Williamsport for that top spot.