The Mid-Penn will be breaking their championship into 2 separate races this year, with class A and class AA racing together in the morning and class AAA racing in the afternoon. That said, we will break down each race separately below.
Where: Big Spring High School
When: Saturday, October 24th
Class A/AA – 10:45 am
Class AAA – 2:45 pm
Class AAA Preview:
Someone not named Parks or Starliper will win the 2020 Mid-Penn Girl’s XC Title this season. The top 3 returnees from 2019 are Boiling Spring’s Peyton Ellis (so), State College Area’s Marlee Kwasnica (so), and Mechanicsburg’s Hope McKenney (jr). Ellis will be the favorite in the class A/AA race, detailed later. The favorite heading into the AAA championship race may be newcomer, Claire Paci (fr) of Greencastle-Antrim. She’s defeated the likes of Ellis and Chambersburg’s Camryn Kiser (so) throughout the season and ran a faster time at the PIAA Foundation meet than did McKenney, Kwasnica, and Jordan Reed (sr, State College). In Reed’s most recent race she broke the 19-min barrier, so she looks to be in top form heading into the weekend. Someone else to keep a close eye on is Mifflin County’s Kylee Cubbsion (jr). She most recently claimed individual victory over Carlisle and Cumberland Valley, both of whom have strong performers. Any of these girls mentioned are capable of bringing home the title. This is likely the most competitive girl’s championship we will see prior to the district meet.
Other girls looking to break into the 2020 top 10 include Hershey’s Brooke Preputnick (so) and Emma Taylor (jr), Chambersburg’s Maddie Kinton (sr), Bethany Stacey (sr), and Olivia Rieck (jr), Mechanicsburg’s Olivia Walter (jr) and Raihana Yameogo (jr), Cumberland Valley’s Brianna Wagner (sr), and Northern’s Allie Engle (jr). Stacey isn’t a newcomer to post-season success. In 2019, she was the 12th place finisher in the state of Wisconsin (Div 2, think AA equivalent).
The team race for one of the two district qualifying spots will also be incredibly competitive. We have had Chambersburg ranked #1 in the district all year and they have yet to show any let-up. They are our pick to bring home the conference title. Mechanicsburg and Hershey will likely compete for the 2nd district qualifying spot. District 6’s State College also figures to factor into the team race. They are the heavy favorites to win another District 6 title next weekend.
Class A/AA Preview:
Peyton Ellis is the heavy favorite in the class A/AA race. She has won all but one race on record so far this season. While I don’t have many results from teams in A/AA from the Mid-Penn, I do believe that Bishop McDevitt’s Katelyn Deitrick (jr) and Anna Burke (so) could be in for a strong performance. Katryn Yocum (sr, Boiling Springs) and Mikaela Ward (so, Big Spring) have also run well this season and could factor into top finishes.
Note – I have not seen any results for Camp Hill this season; however, based on who they had returning this season you should expect to see them battle for the Class A/AA team title.