2024 PIAA XC Preview: 3A Girls

It's one for the history books every time Pennsylvania's best distance runners gather on the first Saturday in November for the PIAA final.

How many chapters will be written this weekend in Hershey? Only time will tell, but there's a good chance that one story - in Class AAA - will grow longer.

Scheduled for an 11 a.m. start, the Class AAA girls race will feature North Allegheny, No. 1 in the most recent PennTrackXC rankings. John Neff's squad is running for its seventh consecutive state championship.

NA's unprecedented PIAA winning streak started in 2018, when the traditional WPIAL (District 7) power scored just 65 points and featured three state medalists. The next two years proved to be the closest any AAA squads would come to an NA girls team during this time as State College was No. 2 in 2019 with 152 points to NA's 137 and two runners in the top 11 overall. With a COVID-downsized field in the fall of 2020, NA won with 59 points to 73 for the Little Lions as only seven full teams and 104 runners total competed in AAA.

A new core group emerged at North Allegheny in the fall of 2021. As then ninth-graders, this year's seniors at NA kept the streak alive with a trio of Tigers in the top 25 overall, just 62 points and at least an 87-point cushion on the rest of the field. In 2022, NA had its lowest score yet during this streak, with just 60 points, four state medalists and the full scoring five in the top 29 overall to best State College again in second at 118.

A year ago, en route to a No. 5 finish at NXN, the Tigers had three in the top 18 overall and a winning score of 80 points.

Above: The 3A Girls District 7 Championship Race

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A week ago, the Tigers captured their seventh consecutive WPIAL title, compiling just 76 points to outpace state-ranked Norwin's 121. North Allegheny's 1-4 spread was just 70 seconds as senior and Wake Forest verbal commit Robin Kucler led the way in third overall at 18:02.2, with classmates Elizabeth Pizon, Camille Swirsding and Kendall Lucas next in the scoring order for NA.

North Allegheny once again will be without senior and Penn State commit Wren Kucler, who has been sidelined by injury since a DNF at the Boardman (OH) Spartan Invitational. Wren missed a large part of the 2023 XC season and did not race in the PIAA final before sparking the squad to a runner-up finish at NXR Northeast and 5th at NXN the next weekend.

Other AAA teams coming off district championships and taking a run at the defending champs are the top two teams in District 1 this year - Owen J. Roberts and Haverford Township. Haverford led after the first three runners crossed for each team, but the Wildcats claimed a two-point victory with a stronger final two scorers.

Can Anyone Top Lillian DiCola?

In the race for top individual honors, it looks to be Lillian DiCola against the rest of the field. Her perfect record in 2024 has included wins at PTXC 15, Foundation, Paul Short and the Suburban One League meet, with a 17:16.9 clocking on the Lehigh course that was one of only three sub-18s in this year's mega invite at Lehigh University.

A victory Saturday would put the Hatboro Horsham senior on par with older brother Brian and his 2022 AAA XC crown. The top returnee from a year ago, DiCola was the only non-senior in the top 10 in '23 with her sixth-place run of 18:43.

Senior Jane Kratz of Owen J. Roberts was second to DiCola in District 1 and has the second best 5K numbers in 2023 in AAA, with Julia Kelly of Downingtown West and Riley Rooney of Central Bucks South following at the district meet and on the yearly performance list.

Also one of the fastest and most consistent performers this season is Woodland Hills junior Annabel Johnson, who stepped away from soccer to focus on XC this fall. The only time she has not been victorious in '24 was a 2nd at Red, White & Blue almost two months ago.

In AA a year ago, Johnson was 15th in Hershey, but she improved more than a minute this year in the WPIAL meet on the same White Oak Park course.