District 10 Class A Girls - Race Preview
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 2
- State Qualifying Spots For Individuals: 10
Individuals To Watch: Willow Myers (Mercer Area); Claire Anderson (Jamestown Area); Emma Mason (Wilmington); Karis McElhaney (Jamestown Area); Lia Bartholomew (West Middlesex)
Contending Teams: Lakeview, Seneca, North East, Reynolds, Wilmington, Sharpsville
The Skinny: Last year's top 10 included only two seniors, including race winner Hannah Wagner of Reynolds, so a new champion will be crowned Saturday in Titusville. So far in 2021, five have broken 20:00 in Class A. Willow Myers of Mercer Area is in that group and was the runner-up last year when the race moved to the flat and fast layout at Ed Myer's Complex.
In this year's Blue Devil Invitational on the former D10 course at Buhl Park, Lakeview had the upper hand over a number of district rivals. The Sailors showed at that meet the potential to group their lead trio within only a handful of seconds. Expect Seneca and North East to also contend for the team trophy.
District 10 Class AA Girls - Race Preview
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 2
- State Qualifying Spots For Individuals: 10
Individuals To Watch: Sarah Clark (Villa Maria); Sydney Bayle (General McLane); Hannah Palmer (Villa Maria); Natalie Ostheimer (Sharon); Abby Steffler (Grove City); Devyn Agnello (Girard); Katie Beyer (Warren Area)
Contending Teams: Villa Maria Academy, Mercyhurst Preparatory, Titusville, Corry Area, Grove City
The Skinny: Clark, Palmer and Bayle were separated by only four places and less than 20 seconds in top 10 finishes at the McQuaid Invitational. Those three plus Sharon's Natalie Ostheimer and Grove City's Abby Steffler have run under 20:05 this season. The winner most likely will come from this group where time can be made up by saving meters and seconds off the turns on this double-loop course.
Winners of eight of the past nine District 10 Class AA titles, Villa Maria looks ready to add another in its final year before forming a co-ed school with Cathedral Prep next fall. Therese Brown's team won the AA race at Foundation with Palmer and Clark back to back in the top four, ran up competitively at The Legends and Clark, a junior, is the fastest thus far in '21.
District 8/9/10 AAA Sub-Regional Girls - Race Preview
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 1
- State Qualifying Spots For Individuals: 5
Individuals To Watch: Morgan Roemer (DuBois Area); Ruthie Haworth (Taylor Allderdice); Sidney Beers (DuBois Area)
Contending Teams: DuBois Area, Taylor Allderdice, McDowell
The Skinny: The best 2021 times from the three fastest runners in this race are at 20:00 or faster. A sophomore, Roemer tops the charts at 19:17.79. Haworth won the District 8 race last week, while Beers finished second to her classmate and teammate at Ridgway three weeks ago.
Taylor Allderdice sports less than a 20-second gap for runners 2-4, while DuBois Area looks primed to challenge for a 1-2 finish individually. There's more than one way to punch a ticket to Hershey. Each team's 5-6-7 runners surely will play a factor in this team battle for a PIAA berth.