Class AAA Girls Individual Preview - PIAA State Championships
The race for the top spot will feature two of the last state champions in AAA girls. In 2018, West Chester Henderson's Jenna Mulhern ran to the title, while last year in 2019 Moon Area's Mia Cochran won the state title.
Those two junior girls will square off -- in separate races -- with the 2020 AAA title on the line.
Cochran has proven to be in good shape this season . It was a drama-filled last week for Cochran, who was originally notified that she could not compete in last week's District 7 (WPIAL) Championship because of exposure to a COVID-positive classmate, but she was able to race just minutes before her race, which she won handily.
So Cochran is ready to roll for states, and will toe the line with considerably less stress than a week prior. She won the Red, White & Blue Classic and the PIAA Foundation Invite at Hershey prior to her WPIAL win. The defending state champ is arguably more fit than her title-winning season last year and she'll aim for the repeat.
Her best challenge will likely come from Mulhern, though. The junior won the state meet as a freshman and placed third last year (last year's state runner-up Emily Carter will not race this weekend). Mulhern also comes in to states this year in very good shape. She ran a 16:40 for 5K on the track last month, the fifth fastest time in state history, and then cruised to wins at Ches-Monts and District 1. She's looking to take back that state title and it should be a very close one for that top spot.
Northeastern's Margaret Carroll should also pose a good challenge up front. The senior holds the state's fastest XC 5K this season -- a 17:31 from a dual meet. She went 17:58 to win the District 3 title last week and was fifth at the state meet last year. Second to Cochran at Foundation, Carroll seems to always run well at Hershey and she will be a big factor in this field. She will be in the same heat as Mulhern, so expect those two to push each other.
A bunch of others will have a great shot at the top five on Saturday. Wilson's Caryn Rippey was a close second to Rippey in District 3. Rippey was 12th last season. Greencastle-Antrim freshman Claire Paci was third in D3, and should be one to watch in her state meet debut. Another freshman to watch is Bethel Park's Jenna Lang, who was second to Cochran at WPIALs, should be on pace for a good showing at Hershey. North Allegheny's Keeley Misutka, third at WPIALs, was 11th last season and is running the best of her career entering the weekend. Misutka will be looking for a low score for her NA team, as well.
Claire Zubey was ninth at states as a freshman last year. Now the Owen J. Roberts sophomore returns to Hershey with good experience and should be a factor for the top five, as well, after a second place finish in District 1. Henderson's Liesl Scherrer, Pennridge's Ashley Gordon, and Downingtown West's Carolyn Tarpley are the other top District 1 finishers to watch for on Saturday.
Jordan Reed of State College won the District 6 title last week, and will be a major factor up front on Saturday. Reed and her teammate Marlee Kwasnica will be in the mix for high finishes. Kwasnica was 17th at states last year. District 11 champion Emily Jobes was 13th last year, and will be in the mix for the top ten this time around.
Other returning state medalists to watch include Chambersburg's Camryn Kiser (14th last year), Warwick's Anna Martin (16th), Central Bucks West's Julia Flood (20th), West Chester East's Sonia Piombino (21st), Dallastown's Lydia Tolerico (22nd), Crestwood's Molly DeMarzo (tenth in AA), and South Fayette's Lauren Iagnemma (13th in AA). Each of those girls have proven they can run well on the Hershey hills.
This, of course, is a deep field. Look out, too, for District 8/9/10 Sub-Regional champion Claire Belton of McDowell, Baldwin's Gina Bolla, JP McCaskey's Arielle Breuninger, Mifflin County's Kylee Cubbison, Ephrata's Alyssa Fedorshak, District 2 champion Abby Marion of Abington Heights, Emmaus' Ashleigh McNellis, Kiski freshman Eliza Miller, Perkiomen Valley freshman Sienna Miller, and Pine-Richland's Meredith Price.