D5-A Girls - Team & Individuals Breakdown
- Preseason Rankings: Team | Individual
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 2
- State Qualifying Spots For Individuals: 10
- 2020 Individual Champion: Ava Whysong (Chestnut Ridge) - 20:19
- 2020 Team Champions: Windber Area - 29 points
Individuals Breakdown
It was a season to remember for Ava Whysong of Chestnut Ridge last season. After taking fourth in the district and 100th in the state as a freshman, Whysong had a huge 2020 fall, winning the D5-A title before placing ninth at the state meet. With even more experience under her belt, Whysong could be in store for an even bigger junior season. She'll be the one to beat in the district.
Each of the top 14 finishers in last year's district meet are back this season in D5-A. Unity Miller of Johnstown Christian School was third in the district and 56th at the state meet to wrap up a solid freshman season. She was the highest placed D5-A girl at the state meet besides Whysong. Riley Brubaker, also a freshman last year, of Windber Area was second in the district.
Northern Bedford's Emilee Sherlock and Windber Area's Paige Bennethum are also back this year after placing in the top five at the district meet last season
Team Preview
Windber Area cruised to the team title last year at the District 5 1A Championships, scoring just 29 points. Windber put five in the top 11 and easily claimed the district's lone state qualifying spot. They went on to place ninth at the state meet. Now, Windber brings back six of its top seven from last year, and looks to be in the driver's seat to claim another district title. This will be a hard team to beat.
Last year, D5-A was supposed to get a second state qualifying spot, but with the pandemic, each district/classification was only allotted one state spot. It's back to two for D5-A this year, and that means an opportunity for another full team to get to Hershey.
That could be a close battle between Meyersdale Area, Chestnut Ridge, and Southern Fulton. Meyersdale was second in the district by only a point to Chestnut Ridge. Southern Fulton was just a few points off in fourth. Meyersdale loses one of its top five and three of its top seven, while Chestnut Ridge returns five of its top six and Southern Fulton brings back five of its top seven.
Overall, it is set to be a close race for second with Windber coming in as the big favorite to snag the title. This is a matchup worth keeping an eye on because it could be similarly close like last year. The difference this time around is there is a state spot on the line.