Girls Preview - PIAA District 11 Championships
Class A
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 1
Reagan Pender of Northern Lehigh will be going for her second straight district crown on Wednesday. She earned three runner-up finishes at major invites this season before running away with the Colonial League title last week. Back on the DeSales course, look for Pender to make this another runaway.
Notre Dame-Green Pond's Grace Medei, Tri-Valley's Samantha Masser, and Palmerton Area's Natalie Mosier should be in the mix for high finishes in this field.
Notre Dame-Green Pond will be the team to beat in its bid to repeat as D11-A champion. Medei is a strong No. 1 runner, and NDGP will be tough for other teams to overcome for that lone team state qualifying spot.
Catasauqua and Tri-Valley are among the teams that will go for the upset over the Crusaders.
Class AA
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 1
Just like a year ago, one of the most interesting intra-district battles of districts week will come in the D11-AA race. Blue Mountain's Olivia Haas will look to retain her district crown over North Schuylkill's Cori McCormick.
Haas took the win last year and holds the DeSales course record, but it was McCormick that set the course record at the Schuylkill League Championships. Both are having terrific seasons, and the race for the win on Wednesday afternoon. Expect this to be a close one.
After that, a number of girls have run in the low-20s. North Schuylkill's Ryley Schwalm, Wilson Area's Jillian Pote, Northwestern Lehigh's Angelina Klein, Allentown Central Catholic's Isabel Devos, Tamaqua's Grace Stegemerten, and Lehighton's Kelsey Gaston are among the other contenders in D11-AA.
There's just one team qualifying spot on the line and it should be interesting. Northwestern Lehigh has retooled in a big way after losing a number of runners from its third place state team from a year ago. It very well may be the team to beat after a second place Colonial League finish.
The Schuylkill League champions North Schuylkill has some good frontrunning and should be in the mix. Tamaqua Area was second in the Schuylkill League and will look to reverse its fortune over NS this week. It will be a heated battle for the single spot in Hershey.
Class AAA
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 2
Liberty's Emily Jobes will look to keep her breakthrough senior season rolling on Wednesday. After running a quick 18:17 at Paul Short, Jobes ran to the EPC crown last week on the DeSales course decisively. She was tenth in D11-AAA last year, but she'll be the one to beat this time around.
Stroudsburg's Ciara Conboy was second to Jobes at EPCs and second in the district last year. The junior, who nearly captured the district title last year, will look to bridge the gap to Jobes this week. Northampton's Georgia Wiswesser, the Emmaus duo of Keerstin Augustin and Isabella Lees, and Liberty's Belle Weikert are among the others that will be competing for top five spots.
After capturing the EPC title, in a de facto D11-AAA preview of sorts, the Hornets from Emmaus will be the team to beat on Wednesday. A state team last year, Emmaus is having another strong season and is in the driver's seat with a 1-5 gap right around a minute and a strong top two in Augustin and Lees.
Liberty has a strong top two as well. If its 3-4-5 can bridge the gap towards the front, the Canes could make a run at the title, but it will surely be in the mix for one of the two state spots after a second place EPC finish. Parkland, third at EPCs, will also figure to be in the mix for the top two.
Southern Lehigh scored just 32 points to win the Colonial League. Jenna Groeber leads the Spartans, which has the talent to go after a Hershey spot. Easton Area has won the last three district title in D11-AAA and can't be counted out here, despite a fifth place EPC finish.