Below you will find the 2019 Pre-Season Top 30 individual performer rankings for the Mid-Penn (MP) Conference. Rankings were based off of individuals 2018 XC performances at the MP and PIAA District III Championships. The individual’s 2019 returning ranks from those meets are listed in columns 2 and 3. 2019 Outdoor track and field performances for distances 800m-3200m also factored into the 2019 pre-season rankings. The Central PA Runner Pre-Season Rankings are seen in column 1 and that is how the list below is sorted.
This is a loaded senior class in the Mid-Penn Conference this season. 9 of the top 12 ranked girls are seniors. College coaches have to be drooling over the amount of talent here and in the rest of Central PA this year. How good is the MP Conference? How about 2 national champions in this field good? Northern’s Marlee Starliper won the US U20 National Title at 3k and the New Balance National 1-mile Championship this past spring. Greencastle-Antrim’s Taryn Parks won the New Balance National Indoor 1-mile Championship this past winter. Parks ended the 2019 Outdoor season ranked #1 in the US at 1600m; Starliper was US #2. They have won the past 3 PIAA AA State titles in XC with Parks winning in 2016 and Starliper claiming victories in 2017 and 2018. They will once again be the favorites in 2019 with Starliper getting the edge at the 5k distance.
Carlisle’s Sophia Toti and Hershey’s Olivia Wilson come in as our #3 and #4 ranked runners entering the 2019 season. These two seniors both had PR-setting junior track and field campaigns. Toti finished 5th at the PIAA AAA State Meet at 3200m setting a new PR of 10:23.84 in the process. She will be one of the states best in AAA this season. Looking to join Toti as AAA medal winner will be Wilson. She lowered her 3200m and 1600m PRs this spring.
State College Area’s Jordan Reed (jr) is the top ranked runner in District VI AAA. She finished 22nd at the PIAA AAA State Meet this outdoor season at 3200m. The Little Lions could sweep the top 5 places at District VI this year.
The top underclassman in the conference is likely Mechanicsburg’s Hope McKenney (so) or Bishop McDevitt’s Katelyn Deitrick (so). Deitrick is the top underclassman from last year’s championship, coming back as the #7 returner this season. McKenney seemed to set new 3200m PRs each week during the outdoor season. She finished her freshman year with a PR of 11:16.30. That time was the third fastest time posted by a freshman in the state of PA.
The top 2 freshman in the conference this season could be Boiling Springs Peyton Ellis and Chambersburg’s Camryn Kiser. Ellis won the the Carlisle MS Meet of Champions over Kiser, 11:43 to 11:46. Ellis just won the 800m at the USATF Mid-Atlantic Junior Olympics in a new PR of 2:16.71! Kiser set a new Altoona MS Invite Meet Record this spring for 3200m running 11:44.14.