AAA Girls Preseason Ranking

Top 10 Girls AAA

1. Chelsea Jarvis (Capital) – You’ll see.

2. Allison Pettit (Morgantown)– I’m a Pettit fan . I know she’s often hurt, and doesn’t have the track times that some of these other girls do, but if she can catch a stretch of 3-4 months with uninterrupted training then she will win the state title. She led 99.9999% of the race at the state meet last year only to get nipped at the line. It was heartbreaking (unless you’re Propst), and I think, more than anyone, that she’s got an axe to grind this year. I don’t think we’ve even come close to seeing what she’s capable of and that bit of the unknown makes me put her higher up than Propst.

3. Letitia Propst (Elkins) – I know it’s hard not to pick her after last year’s outstanding win. She was on a roll like no other the whole season. But track showed that she was beatable, and maybe now some of the top names aren’t as intimidated as they were when this mysterious freshman showed up at the front of all her races last year. I’d say she’s outright the toughest in the group, and that’s what it takes in Cross Country. If she has the fitness to go along with that, then this girl could be the next big thing in WV running.

4. Courtney Yeager (Wheeling Park) – She’s coming off an absolutely dominant track season, where she killed everyone at the state meet, and made it look easy. But will her track skills transfer over to a 5K cross country? I guess we’ll find out. Last year’s state meet the top two runners got away and they put 30 seconds on the chase pack. That’s a big margin to make up. If she can commit to the front and sit and wait, and let her massive kick do the work, then her place is inevitable. It’s the same thing she did in track to win two state titles.

5. Alex Dent (Hurricane) – Dent has had moments of brilliance over the past few years, where she races so tough she looks invincible. She’s learning the ropes and this past track season showed she’s maturing into a well-rounded racer. With Coach Posey pulling the strings she’ll be in the mix when it matters and help lead her team to a big finish.

6. Rachel Williams (Midland) – This girl has been coming on for a long time, and she’s finally going to get a chance to shine this year. She’s coming off an impressive track season where she’s ran some good times in the 3200m, in spite of her coach training her for the 4x200 and doing nothing but working on hand-offs for 3 months. That’s no exaggeration. Now she is finally back in the capable hands of Chris Parsons, and I think we’ll see big things from her this fall.

7. Jordan McDonald (North Marion) – Here’s someone that has slowly been sneaking up on everyone for the past year. She went from finishing 20th at her Regionals meet in Cross Country to running an 11:32 3200m on the track in the spring. She’s come a long way in a short amount of time and this is going to be the year she mixes it up with the best runners in the state.

8. Jennifer van der Sloot (University) – With a new found confidence in her running, after becoming one of the state top mid-distance stars, van der Sloot looks to wreak havoc this cross country season. She’s a rarity among runners, with the type of talent to cross over into all events. If she can run this cross season the same way she did on track then she’ll be a hard one to shake off.

9. Josie Crouch (Hurricane) – That’s right. Can she go from a 400/800 runner to an All-State Cross Country runner in 5 months? You better believe it. This girl has the talent level of college mid-distance super stars, and I’m just waiting for her to come into her own and dominate this state. But, first things first. Learn to run (love) Cross.

10. Lydia Martinelli (University) - I have to have at least one of the Mini-Martinelli sisters in the top ten. Track didn’t go so hot for Lydia (at least compared to the level she was at in Cross) but at least she ran, which is why I’m giving this spot to her instead of her sister. I want to put her higher but I know everyone that I put above her has been working pretty hard in the off-season. They’ve stepped up their game and it might be hard for Lydia to sneak into the top 10. I also know that she only needs to train for a month before she goes in and does what she did last year, because she’s a freak.

Runners to Watch - The top 10 is never set in stone. There are still a bunch of runners on the bubble that will be fighting to disrupt the order. One slip up on race day and these guys will be gobbling up the competition on their way to All-State honors (in no particular order).
DeeDee Winningham (Midland) - Super talent who can run cross well.
Sarah Martinelli (University) – Finished in the top 10 last year!
Ari Kasprowicz (Preston) – Preston superstar. She’ll be there.
Rana Conneway (Hampshire) – Came from nowhere to finish 11th!
Megan Truelove (Winfield) – Making the big move up to AAA. She can hang.

AAA Girls Teams

1. Midland – With a lot of young talent and 3 runners who have a chance at being All-State (Williams, Taft, Winningham) this team is going to be tough to take down. Not only that but they’ll have home field advantage and the roar of the crowd to push them on. Coach Parsons will get these girls to where they need to be, then it’s up to them.

2. University – These ladies match up to Midland pretty well with 3 runners who have a chance at being All-State, but they could be in trouble when it comes to the 4th and 5th spot. They’ll need some runners to step it up if they want to win the title.

3. Hurricane – This group of girls has the chance to do some amazing things. But I wonder if they’re a year away from it. You can see things building and if all the pieces fall in places this year they could very well take the win. After this season though, you can go ahead and convert to Hurricanism because it’s going to be a hostile takeover and these young ladies will own the running scene for the next couple years.