Pennsylvania teams and athletes are set to attend one of two Regional Championship meets tomorrow (11/26) in New York; Champs Northeast Regionals at Van Cortlandt Park and the Team Nationals Northeast Regionals in Bowdoin Park. Pennsylvanias are poised to tear up the New York dirt and we're excited to give you a run down of things to watch.
Team Nationals Northeast Regional Girls:
The girls' Championship is considerably less complex than the boys' Championship, and the North Allegheny girls gave a solid opportunity to compete for an automatic bid.
MileSplit 50 has North Allegheny as the Top team in the region.
Coming off of a fifth straight State Title, the Tigers are synonymous with winning. They've only been beaten by the No. 11 ranked team in the Nation, Morgantown (WV), but otherwise have enjoyed a flawless record on the season.
Best positioned to challenge them may be the Union Catholic (NJ) girls, who posted a 111-speed rating to win the NJ Meet of Champions. But North Allegheny posted a 117-speed rating at the PIAA State Championship. Union Catholic does not nearly have the depth that NA does, and Wren Kucler may be able to challenge UC's Kaleigh Gunsiorowski towards the front.
PIAA 1A State Championship team Notre Dame Green Pond is also expected to race. Though they won't be in the running for a Top 2, they are an exciting squad to watch, and we look forward to seeing where they finish.
Individually, there are a few stars out of Pennsylvania that we're keeping an eye on. Look out for the duo from North Allegheny of Wren Kucler and Eva Kynaston, who both finished inside the Top 10 at the PIAA 3A Championship, but look further, and you'll see JoJo Quarzo, Carolyn Tarpley, and Claire Zubey in the mix.
Quarzo enters with one of the best personal bests in the field. She has run 17:17 on the XC course and sub-17 on the track. She most recently added a 2A State Championship to her resume. The NC State commit enters as one of the favorites to take the individual crown. She posted a 145-speed rating at the state meet.
Carolyn Tarpley finished the year 8th in the 3A State Meet, slightly ahead of Zubey in 13th. The District 1 Standouts have enjoyed stellar senior campaigns and committed to compete for Penn State University in 2023. They can compete for All-Region honors, and we look forward to seeing how the future teammates can mesh and work together.
Middle School standout, Sophia Rodriguez, is set to compete in the open race. She won the PA Middle School State Championship earlier this year and ran in the 10:40s on the track a couple of weeks ago. She's on our list of ones to watch.