Girls Preview - NXR Northeast
- Championship Girls Race Time: Saturday, 1:45 P.M.
Individuals
Jenna Mulhern will shoot for a return trip to Portland. The West Chester Henderson sophomore was seventh at NXR last year and earned a trip to NXN where she placed 44th in the country. She took third at the state meet after winning in 2018, but she ran faster on the Hershey course this time around. She'll be a factor up front for the regional win and another trip to nationals.
Lydia Russell of Friends' Central will also be squarely in the hunt for a spot in nationals. The PAISAA champ and Oregon signee was in Argentina a few weeks ago for the World Mountain Running Championships, where she placed 27th in the Junior Race on a 6.6 kilometer course. If she's recovered well from that, she'll be a factor for a national qualifying spot behind her impressive fall XC season.
Another contender is Brownsville's Gionna Quarzo. She was third in the state in Class AA and is having the best XC season of her career. She's battled-tested this season and should be right in the mix for a nationals spot. She'll also be joined on the line by her freshman sister Jolena Quarzo, who will aim for a strong regionals debut.
Other strong PA entries include North Allegheny's Keeley Misutka (11th at AAA states), State College's Marlee Kwasnica (17th at AAA states), Greensburg Central Catholic's Corinn Brewer (third at A states), Boiling Spring's Peyton Ellis (14th at AA states)
Teams
The AAA state champions from North Allegheny will not be bringing a full team to Bowdoin like last year, where it place third in the region. Only Misutka will toe the line for the Tigers on Saturday.
The PA teams in the field will have "dark horse" status when it comes to the nationals qualification. State College Area was second to NA at the state meet in Class AAA. Kwasnica will lead the way for the Little Lions as the freshman will get her first taste of the regional action. Lizzie Gilpatrick and Jordan Reed add strong depth for this team.
The Class AA state champs from South Fayette will head to Bowdoin. The Lions scored just 62 points to take home the state crown at Hershey four weeks ago. Now SF will try its hand against the region's best. Lauren Iagnemma (13th) and freshman Angelina Gabriel (24th) are among SF's state medalists in the field.
West Chester Henderson is in the field as well. The Warriors will look for some redemption after a 13th place state meet finish. Mulhern will lead the way up front for Henderson.
Unionville, which placed sixth at the state meet in AAA, is also bringing its squad to Wappingers Falls. Marcella Krautzel, who was 25th at states, leads U'Ville into Saturday.