Girls Race Previews - PIAA Foundation Invitational
White Race
Class A appears to be fairly wide open this season on the individual side. Saturday will see many of the top 1A names toeing the line on the very course they'll return to in six weeks time.
The top returner the state meet in Class A is entered: Carissa Flynn of Mountain View. She'll look for another strong Hershey performance on the heels of her fourth place state finish last year. Her District 2 counterparts, Lacey Danilovitz (sixth at states last year) and Krista Jones of Elk Lake will offer a good challenge, and all three will likely all be near the front.
Portage's Lauren Shaffer should be in the mix. Shaffer went 18:48 to take third at Lock Haven a few weeks ago, and looks to be in a good spot to race near the top. Chestnut Ridge's Ava Whysong (ninth) and Aquinas Academy's Alexis Abbett (11th) are a pair of top state meet performers from lasr year in this field. Mercer Area's Willow Myers, Winchester Thurston's Cyd Kennard, Annville-Cleona's Braetan Peters, Penns Valley's Anna Stitzer, and SJCA's Amber Fisher will be among the other girls to watch for in this fairly wide open field. Things could get close up front.
The team race will be interesting. It will be a good opportunity to see some of the state's top Class A team go head-to-head. Winchester Thurston, on the heels of an impressive team victory in the 1A race at Red, White & Blue, has shown to be a powerful squad early on this season.
But the Bears will be challenged be Marion Center Area, Saint Joseph's Catholic Academy, Our Lady of Sacred Heart, Elk County Catholic, and the reigning state champions from Penns Valley Area. York Catholic and Portage Area will be worth keeping an eye on, too. While top-ranked Class A squad Mohawk is not in the field, this will give us a good idea of where these teams stand at this point of the season.
Blue Race
The individual favorite for the Blue Race is Olivia Haas of Blue Mountain. The NC State commit has started out her senior season on a roll, winning at the Lions Invite and then again at DeSales, dropping a strong 18:10 on a tough course. The defending AA XC state champ is quite possibly in the best form of her career at this point in the season and will go after a Foundation win on Saturday.
A pair of other top ten state meet finishers from last fall are also in the field: Bradford Area's Korie Dixon and Montour's Lakyn Schaltenbrand. Dixon was fourth at states last year, while Schaltenbrand was seventh. Both should be in the mix for the top five finishes.
This is a strong field overall. Plenty of others should challenge for the top five. Those girls include Selinsgrove's Shaela Kruskie, Villa Maria's Sarah Clark, North Schuylkill's Ryley Schwalm, PJPII's Gianna Cagliola, Danville's Coyla Bartholomew, Grove City's Abby Steffler, and Ringgold's Charlee Leach.
On the team side, a number of the state's top AA teams are in the field. The PA AA No. 1 team Central Cambria is not entered, but a lot of firepower is. Danville Area, Montour, Beaver Area, and North Catholic are each in the field. This will be the invitational opener for Danville, while Montour opened up with a victory at the Marty Uher Invite over North Catholic. Meanwhile, Beaver was the No. 2 team at Red, White & Blue behind only Central Cambria.
Shikellamy, Villa Maria Academy, and Ringgold should all make some noise in the team standings as well. Like the 1A race, this will do quite a bit in finding out how the top AA squads from different corners of PA stack up against each other.
Gold Race
It's been an incredibly strong start to the season for the WPIAL AAA powers on the girls' side. These top squads have seen quite a bit of each other in the opening weeks of the season and that will continue on Saturday. The state's top-ranked team North Allegheny will toe the line, and the Tigers will once again be the team to beat. After season opening wins at Red, White & Blue and then Boardman in Ohio, NA is proving to be very strong. NA has won three straight state titles in AAA and on Saturday, it will get a look at the course that it will go for four-in-a-row six weeks from now.
The WPIAL powers will look to challenge the Tigers again on Saturday. Pine-Richland will be strong after a second place RWB team finish. Mount Lebanon and Upper Saint Clair -- also strong starters this fall -- are in the field and looking for strong finishes on Saturday.
But the WPIAL isn't the only district bringing some strong teams. District 1 teams Mount Saint Joseph Academy, Strath Haven, and Perkiomen Valley are entered. MSJA is fresh off a win at Briarwood. Haven was second there after a solid PTXC showing. Perkiomen Valley was second at the Unionville 2 Mile Bash earlier this season and will be making its invitational season debut at 5K this week. State College Area is a team to watch, too. The Little Lions won at Spiked Shoe earlier this season.
District 3's Mechanicsburg Area and Manheim Township should be right in the mix for top five finishes. South Fayette, Seneca Valley, Pennridge, and Southern Lehigh are among the other teams to keep an eye on in this loaded team field.
Individually, it should be a close one up front, and it should be a good battle between some top WPIAL girls. The top contenders include Pine-Richland's Meredith Price, Mount Lebanon's Logan St. John Kletter, and North Allegheny's Wren Kucler. At RWB, St. John Kletter got the advantage out of the three, placing third (behind Mia Cochran and WV's Irene Riggs) with Price fourth and Kucler fifth. The order flipped at Boardman last week with Kucler third, Price fourth, and St. John Kletter fifth. With all three meeting again this week, it should be very close up front with a potential win on the line.
Those girls could see company up front, though. Bensalem's Shana Kearney and Owen J. Roberts' Claire Zubey were ninth and 11th at the state meet last year, respectively. Both will likely put themselves right in the mix near the front. Other strong WPIAL girls in this field outside of the top three are NA's Eva Kynaston and Robin Kucler, Shaler's Samantha Hennen, and Kiski Area's Eliza Miller, and Fox Chapel's Laura Carter.
PIAA newcomer, Ella Woehlcke of Mount Saint Joseph, a Springside Chesnut Hill transfer, is fresh off a win at Briarwood and will look for a stong showing in her Hershey debut. Mechanicsburg's Olivia Walter has had a strong start to her season, running some quick dual meet times. This week, along with her teammate Hope McKenney, she will be looking for a big invite opener. State College's Marlee Kwasnica, Mifflin County's Kylee Cubbison, Seneca Valley's Ruthie Hughes, Pine-Richland's Angelina Hunkele, Manheim Township's Ava Shirk, South Fayette's Lauren Iagnemma, and the Perkiomen Valley duo of Sienna Miller and Summer Watts will all be in contention for top ten finishes, too.