Coming into today’s District 9 Class AAA meet at Brookville High School, the conventional wisdom may be to tab DuBois as the prohibitive favorites to win the team title.
Over the last nine years, the Lady Beavers have won eight district titles and won 74 straight dual meets.
The lone district title missing in that nine-year stretch came in 2014, when Bradford High won the four-team meet, also at Brookville, with 110 points, out-pacing DuBois’ 92.
Not to mention the fact the Lady Owls handed DuBois its first dual-meet defeat in those nine years, winning 77-73 on the road in late April. Could Bradford High be primed for a return to the top?
Head coach Larry Stillman’s squad has the top-of-the-lineup athletes and requisite depth for a district title run.
“I think it will be a close meet,” Stillman said. “I expect it to be a very good meet.”
The Lady Owls will bring nearly 20 athletes to the meet. Among the returners from last year are the McGriff sisters, who combined for three first-place finishes, three runner-ups, and a third.
One factor working in advantage for the rest of the field is that an athlete can compete in only four events. Brooke, a senior, and Ashton, a junior, are both qualified in five competitions each in eight different races.
Brooke last year won the 100 hurdles in the day’s only PIAA qualifying time and came in second in the 400 relay and pole vault. This year, she’s the top seed in both events. She’s also entered in the 400 relay.
Ashton, meanwhile, is tops in the 400 dash, 300 hurdles, 200 dash and triple jump. At last year’s district meet, Ashton picked up wins in the 200 and 400 dashes, was third in the 100 meters and ran a leg on the second-place 1,600 relay team.
The sisters are entered together in the 1,600 relay, while Brooke is the seeded second to Ashton in the 300 hurdles.
All told, the Lady Owls have nine top seeds, two second seeds and four third seeds.
Stillman said he’s looking for a team effort today.
“We look forward to a good day of competition with our District 9 competitors,” Stillman said. “It should be great meet with many quality athletes on each team. We are ready to give our best efforts and we feel we are ready to go.”
Freshman Regan Johnson has the lone other individual top seeds. She leads the field in the 100 dash at 12.72, just ahead of St. Marys’ Arianna Kleppinger (12.74). Johnson is also the top seed in the long jump and is third in the 200 dash.
The 400 relay team –– set currently as Brooke McGriff, Alexis Huber, Payton Kloss and Johnson –– is the No. 1 seed at 50.74, while the 1,600 relay team of both McGriffs, Mikah Watkins and Logan Sunafrank is also a top seed ahead of St. Marys.
Relay lineups, though, are subject to change.
The third-seeded 3,200 relay team consists of Emily Little, Amanda Little, Morgan Tyger and Destinee Deitz.
Both Little sisters will also run in the 1,600, where Amanda, a junior, is seeded third and Emily, a senior, is ninth. Amanda Little also is set to run in the 3,200 meters.
Also on the track, Morgan Tyger (800 run), Alexandra Safran (100 and 300 hurdles), Kloss (100 and 200 dash) and Elizabeth Miller (100 dash) are set to compete.
Huber and Sophia Oliver are both second seeds in the field, with Huber having cleared 8-06 in the pole vault to give the Lady Owls the top two seeds. Oliver is second in the discus and will also compete in the shot put.
Abby Coffman is seeded fourth in both the shot put and javelin and sixth in the discus.
Alexis Brown is the third seed in the long jump, having leaped 15-03 earlier this season.
Also in the field, Katie O’Neil and Mikayla Bond are seeded fourth and fifth, respectively, in the high jump. O’Neil also will long jump, while Bond is entered in the triple jump. Taylar Magar will compete in the pole vault.
Events from Brookville High School begin at 3 p.m. with the commencement of the girls pole vault, girls long jump and girls shot put. Hurdles and 100 dash preliminaries begin at 4 p.m.
“Everybody knows what they have to do and they know they’ll give their very best,” Stillman said.
The top finisher –– or those reaching the state-qualifying standards –– in each event advances to the state meet at Shippensburg University on May 26.
