PIAA District 11
The last two AAA Girls State Champions come from District 11. That may very well be the case again in 2002, as both those teams, Parkland (2000 champ) and Allentown Central Catholic (2001 champ), were separated by a mere point as they went one-two in the District 11 showdown - Parkland (2-3-9-12-17) with 43 points, and ACC (1-5-10-13-15) with 44 points. The race came down to the 5th runners, with Katie Stepp, just returning in the past two weeks from an injury, gutted out a tough 20:24.3 to finish two places behind ACC #5. But it was the 2-3 finish of recent injury-returnee Paula Giguere, with teammate Erin Roberts that gave the upfront points to counter the win by ACC's Frances Koons in 18:38.4. In the Girls AA Race, Nativity B.V.M. dominated the field with 41 points, going 4-5-6-9-17. Saucon Valley was 2nd with 69 points. Palisades' C. Plummer captured the individual title with her 19:13.7. The Parkland boys duplicated the effort of their girls' team, placing five in the top 21 behind Greg Macri's 16:49.2 and Steven Finley's 16:50.0. Easton tallied 94 points to qualify as the other D11 team. Pottsville's Shane Clauser (above leading near halfway) posted a strong 16:23.6 to win the individual title. In boys' AA, Saucon Valley went 3-4-5-7-15 for just 34 points. Notre Dame, behind the 1-2 finishes of J. Casciole (17:02.0) and R. Panella (17:06.9), propelled their team to take the other States berth.