Dallastown, Northeastern, and Red Lion put on a show last year at the YAIAA championships. Only 18 points separated 1st through 3rd place, with Dallastown taking the team title. Dallastown would ultimately advance to the state championships where they placed 10th overall. Dallastown and Red Lion were both hit hard by graduation and will have key roles to fill. Northeastern, on the other hand, returns their top 5, and 6 of their top 7. The Bobcats also have one of the areas top freshman classes. They head into 2020 as the favorites to take home the YAIAA crown and should have a very good chance of moving onto the state championships.
Individually, Northeastern’s Margaret Carroll (sr) returns to defend the title she won in 2019. She had a fantastic junior season that resulted in a 3rd place finish at districts and 5th place finish at states. Dallastown junior Lydia Tolerico finished her sophomore season 17th in the district and then 22nd in the state. She’ll push Carroll for the YAIAA title this year. Dover’s Summer Hogan burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2019. She placed 6th at both the YAIAA and District III championships before placing 33rd at states. Marissa Pritchett (jr) and Bella Treglia (jr), both of Northeastern, are the #4 and #5 returnees in the YAIAA and both have consistently shown the ability to run sub-20. Freshman Winter Oaster of Gettysburg will look to make a name for herself this season. She ran 20:50 at the Footlocker Northeast Championships to place 6th in the 13-14 year old age group last November. Look for her to push for a top 10 finish at YAIAAs this fall.
Team by Team Previews and Pre-Season Rank:
1. Northeastern (AAA) – Northeastern is primed to lock down one of the 5 team state qualifying positions in District III class AAA this season. They return an impressive group of upperclassman and welcome a few potential impact freshman. They will be led by all-state performer Margaret Carroll (sr). Follow along with Margaret in our senior journal series here. Juniors Marissa Pritchett, Bella Treglia, and Hannah Herr are all top 5 contenders. Trinity Schraudner (sr) had a great 2020 indoor campaign, setting PRs in everything from the 400m-1600m runs. She could be set up for a big senior season. Rylie Kurilla (so) ran her strongest race at the 2019 district XC meet and will look to carry that momentum forward this fall. Freshmen Thalia Reihm, Destynn McClane, and Makayla Calder could all push for a top 7 spot. The Bobcats have established one of the premier programs in District III and are set-up for both short and long-term success. This team has state qualifying aspirations this season.
2. Dallastown (AAA) – The Wildcats have been at or near the top of the YAIAA for years and 2020 will be no different. The graduation of Emily Schuler (now running for Temple) and Allison Myers (now running at West Chester Univ) hurts, but state medalist Lydia Tolerico (jr) returns to lead the way. Tolerico got stronger as the year went on and could challenge for the individual title this season. Helen Zardus (sr) is a top 5 contender in the YAIAA and is a potential individual state qualifier. Dallastown has solid depth. Kennedy Boger (so) was the #3 ranked freshman last season and will push for a top 10 finish this year. Nicole Register (jr) and freshmen Olivia Brenneman and Mae Treml could round out a very solid top 7. This team has a nice mix of underclassman and upperclassman, ensuring their fixture at the top of the York-Adams rankings for years to come.
3. Gettysburg (AAA) – Marrin Crist (sr) and Anne Bair (jr) return to provide solid leadership to the Warriors in 2020. They both could challenge for top 10 finishes in the YAIAA this season. Crist is a returning medalist from the 2019 District III class AA Championships (19th place). Bair, as a rising junior, is already one of the state’s top basketball recruits and she recently received her first D1 offer from Siena College. Gettysburg also welcomes one of the area’s top freshman in Winter Oaster. Oaster finished 6th at the Footlocker Northeast Championships in the 13-14 age division last fall. Sophomore Megan Hurst and junior Katherine Wagner also return to give Gettysburg a strong top 5. Gettysburg moves up to class AAA this season.
4. York Suburban (AAA) – Suburban returns 5 from their 2019 top 7, including a top 4 with minimal spread. Ella Smith (jr) is the top returnee and should battle for a top 10 spot at YAIAAs. Sarah Stark (jr) and Sarah Gleba (so) could battle for top 20-25 places. Anissa Lytle (jr) ran her best race at Districts a year ago and will hope to carry that momentum forward this year. Suburban and Dover are closely matched, but Suburban’s depth gives them a slight advantage heading into 2020.
5. Dover (AAA) – Summer Hogan (so) burst onto the scene in a big way as a freshman in 2019. She finished 6th in a loaded YAIAA field a year ago. A week later she placed 6th again, this time in the class AAA District Championships where she ran an 18:46 PR. She would finish 33rd at states and was the #4 freshman finisher. Hogan ended the season with a very respectable 39th place finish at Footlocker Northeast Championships. Hannah Hogan (jr) also returns and will be looking for post-season success in 2020. She is the #11 returner in the YAIAA. Depth could be an issue as only 6 athletes competed at YAIAAs and only 5 ran at Districts.
6. York Catholic (A) – York Catholic returns their top 4 from their 2019 10th place YAIAA team. They are the leagues highest riser this season. If they can find quality depth to fill out their top 7 they could be state bound this year (2 class A teams qualify in 2020 & 2021). Camp Hill looks to be the class of the field in District III, but this York Catholic squad could push them. Gabbie Tully (jr) and Magdalene Motter (so) will look to lead the Figniting Irish this fall. Tully is the #6 returnee in District III class A. Aleya Miller (jr) and Adelynn McKee (so) round out a solid group of returnees.
7. Red Lion (AAA) – No team lost as much up front as did Red Lion. The graduation of Kiersten (now at Lock Haven) and Gwendolyn Lloyd (now at Towson), and Lily Hare hurts. While they drop to #7 in our pre-season ranks they will still be a team to be reckoned with. Returning to lead in 2020 will be Victoria Mattioli (sr) and Mera D’Aquilla (sr). Both are YAIAA top 20 returning runners from 2019. Developing some underclassmen depth this season will be key for Red Lion’s long-term success.
8. South Western (AAA) – The Mustangs were 7th a year ago, but graduated 3 of their top 4 from 2019. Paige Watson (so) returns and gives South Western a legit top 10 performer. She was the #2 freshman performer in the YAIAA last year (behind Dover’s Summer Hogan). This team could have a tight pack after Watson, led by Emily Frock (sr).
9. Delone Catholic (A) – Delone Catholic returns a solid 1-2 punch in Julia O’Brien (sr) and Becky Hernandez (sr). Both are top 20 returnees within the YAIAA. O’Brien had a strong indoor season and lowered her mile PR to 5:49. She is the #3 returning runner in District III class A. Hernandez also set several indoor PRs. She is the #9 returnee in District III. If indoor is any indication of their drive they could both be looking to move up from their YAIAA returning ranks.
10. Central York (AAA) – The team returns 4 of their top 6 from 2019. While they may lack a low-stick, they do bring nice depth and pack running. Allison Minich (jr), Alivia Scheidegg (sr), and Emily Pringle (sr) were only separated by 45 seconds at YAIAAs. Central York will welcome newcomer, Hayley Green this year. Green was one of the area’s top 8th grade runners in 2019 when she ran for West York. She could develop into that low-stick performer Central York needs.
11. West York (AA) – West York had one of the area’s younger teams in 2019. 5 of their top 6 return for 2020. Olivia Grimes (so) was the team’s #1 runner as a freshman. She will look to build upon those experiences this season. She is the #24 returning runner from last year’s YAIAA Championship.
12. Eastern York (AA) – The team’s top 6 runners from 2019 all return. If the Golden Knights can develop a couple of runners to compete amongst the top 25 in the league then they could move way up from this ranking. Freshmen Rory Hengst and Emma Nace will push Fiona Valore (sr) for the team’s top spot in 2020.
13. Bermudian Springs (AA) – Return 5/6 from 2019, led by Rebecca Durbin (sr).
NR. Biglerville (AA) – Returns all 4 runners from 2019 and will look to add to those numbers this fall. If successful, this could be the start of something good for Biglerville. Kaiti Kline (so) is back and was the team’s #1 last year.
NR. Fairfield (A) – Returns 1 of 2 from the 2019 post-season team. That 1 returning runner will make some noise. Morgan Dennison (sr) is a top 20 returner in the YAIAA and is the #7 returning performer in District III class A.
NR. Kennard-Dale (AA) – The Rams return 3 of their 4 runners from last season’s post-season team, but do graduate top 15 performer Delaney Barts (now at York College). Charlotte Crowl (so) and Ava Strickland (jr) should push each other to higher finishes this year.
NR. Littlestown (AA) – Return all 3 athletes that competed at YAIAAs last October. Abigail Riedel (so) had a good freshman season that she will look to build upon this year.
NR. New Oxford (AAA) – Freshman Wrena Wentz could find herself as the team’s #1 runner this fall. She placed 5th at the 2019 Gettysburg MS Invitational. New Oxford will hope for a larger turnout in 2020 as only 3 athletes competed at the YAIAA championships last season. Wentz could provide a critical building block for the Colonials over the next several years.
NR. Spring Grove (AAA) – 3 sophomores return and they will hope to recruit additional runners to build the Spring Grove program. Sophia Dotterweich (so) was the team’s #1 performer in 2019 and will look to keep progressing this season.
NR. Susquehannock (AAA) – Only 3 athletes competed at leagues last season with 2 returning for 2020. Susquehannock can absolutely compete within the league, but will need a larger turnout to prove it. Sabreena Fahringer (jr) and Kylie Martin (so) provide the Warriors two strong runners to build around. Fahringer is a sprinter during track, but owns a 21:15 5k PR and will be a top 15 contender in XC this year.