D10-A Girls - Team & Individuals Breakdown
- Preseason Rankings: Team | Individual
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 2
- State Qualifying Spots For Individuals: 10
- 2020 Individual Champion: Hannah Wagner (Reynolds) - 18:44
- 2020 Team Champions: Wilmington - 33 points
Individuals Breakdown
It was a banner 2020 season for Hannah Wagner of Reynolds, who rolled to the district title in D10-A and then followed that up a week later with a second place finish overall at the state championship meet. Wagner has graduated, so we'll see a new champion in D10-A this season. We can probably expect a good battle between Mercer Area's Willow Myers and Seneca's Ashley Post.
Myers, a junior this year, was second in the district last year and 13th at the state meet. Myers had an impressive track season that included a fifth place AA state meet finish, where she went 5:08 for 1600m. Post was fourth in the district as a freshman, but had a remarkable state meet debut at Hershey, placing fifth in Class A. Myers and Post will be a matchup worth watching for this fall.
There is no shortage of talent in D10-A this season, even after the top two, though. There will be plenty of state medal contenders including Wilmington's Emma Mason (34th at states last year), Sharpsville's Lily Smith (39th), Lakeview's Mikayla Montgomery (40th), and Reynolds' Bethany Litwiler (49th).
Team Preview
Wilmington and Lakeview battled it out for the district title last year, and it looks like those two will be the teams to beat this year in D10-AA. Wilmington ran to the district title last year, earning the lone state qualifying spot with it. The Greyhounds went on to take third place at the state meet.
But Wilmington loses its top girl from last year, Grace Mason (third at the state meet individually) to graduation. However, it returns a good core of five varsity girls. Emma Mason will aim to lead this squad to a repeat district title. Wilmington lost its frontrunner, but still has some good depth.
Lakeview, meanwhile, will pose a strong threat to the title after its second place finish to Wilmington in 2020. This team brings back its top six girls from last year, led by Montgomery. This will be a hungry squad after missing out on the state meet last year, so this will be a good battle. The good news is D10-A gets two state qualifying spots this season; Wilmington and Lakeview are in the driver's seat for those two spots.
Surely, though, a number of teams will look to get in the mix for the top two. That includes Seneca, North East, Saegertown, and Sharpsville Area.