D4-A Girls - Team & Individuals Breakdown
- Preseason Rankings: Team | Individual
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 2
- State Qualifying Spots For Individuals: 10
- 2019 Individual Champion: Caroline Fletcher (Mount Carmel Area) - 21:19
- 2019 Team Champions: Wyalusing Valley Area - 55 points
Individuals Breakdown
Mount Carmel's Caroline Fletcher will look to win her second straight District 4 individual title. A year ago, she held off some hard chargers to win the crown at Bloomsburg in 21:19. It will be close again up front this season, though.
Southern Columbia's Annabelle Reck had a strong freshman campaign last year, placing third in the district, just four ticks off Fletcher. Wyalusing Valley's Catherine Brown was fourth in the district last fall, also not far off. Then at states, it was Brown that was the top performing D4 runner, placing 54th at Hershey. Fletcher was 60th and Reck was 67th. This has all the makings off a great battle up front this season.
Troy's Sydney Taylor (sixth in the district last year) and Rachel Kingsley (ninth), Canton's Camille McRoberts (seventh), and Wyalusing Valley's Kayla Beebe (eighth) are among the other returners from the top ten of the district that will look to mix it up for top five district finishes this season.
Team Preview
In a close battle last fall, it was Wyalusing Valley Area that pulled out the district title, 55-64, over Troy. Fast forward to this year and it could be a close one again. The twist is that this year an extra state qualifying spot has been added to District 4, up from just one in past years.
Wyalusing Valley is still the team to beat, with its full crop of six varsity girls back from last year's title. Brown is a solid No. 1 runner, while Kayla Beebe and Carina Beebe add depth after her. WVA placed 14th at the state meet last year and could certainly improve upon that with everyone back.
Troy was an unlucky second last year, just missing a state meet berth. But its top four from last year are back. If Troy can add some depth, it could certainly challenge for the title, or at least be in good position to get a spot in Hershey.
Mount Carmel, Canton Area, and Towanda are among the other teams looking to get in the mix for the top two in D4-A this season.