D8, D9, D10 Class AAA "Region" - Team & Individuals Breakdown
- Preseason Rankings: Team | Individual
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 1
- State Qualifying Spots For Individuals: 5
- 2019 Individual Champion: Claire Belton (McDowell) - 20:05
- 2019 Team Champions: McDowell - 16 points
New for this season, District 9 is added to the fold for this "region." That means that AA girls teams District 8, District 9, and District 10 will compete as one with one state qualifying spot for teams and five state qualifying spots for non-team qualified individuals on the line.
Individuals Breakdown
Expect a close race for the top spot in this region, with District 9 teams coming into the fold this fall. The defending region champ is McDowell's Claire Belton, who ran to the title at Buhl Park last year by 20 seconds over her second place teammate Kyla Kramer. Both girls are back, with a shot at the win.
But DuBois Area's Julia Wirths will have a shot at breaking up those two up front. Wirths was fifth at the District 6 Championships last season. Now DuBois will compete with the the District 8 and District 10 squads this season. Belton was the highest placed state meet finisher at 79th place, while Kramer was 92nd and Wirths was 129th.
Erie's Olivia Nola (third in the region last year) and McDowell's Lexi Pierce (fourth) will look to get back inside the top five this season, as well.
Team Preview
The race for the lone state qualifying spot in the region will likely come down to the defending champions from McDowell and the newcomer DuBois Area, which makes its way over after competing with District 6 last fall.
McDowell was the runaway champion last season, taking the region title with just 16 points. Its strong top three with Belton, Kramer, and Pierce are all back this season.
DuBois was second to D6 powerhouse State College last year. This time, it will have a shot at a possible trip to Hershey. It loses three varsity girls from last year's team to graduation, but it will look to backfill those loses and give McDowell a run for a trip to the state meet.
Taylor Allderdice, second last season, will look to gain some depth to get in the mix with those two squads.