I was not at all surprised by the performance of Strath Haven's Hannah Grossman at districts. She's been the top girls runner in Delaware County all season and had her best race in the biggest race of the season. And now with THE biggest race of the season set for Saturday, given health, she could very well have another good run.
As a sophomore last year, Grossman was 62nd in the state meet up at Hershey. She's a good bet to make a marked improvement on that mark this year.
Last year, Pennsbury's Sara Sargeant won the District 1 Class AAA race in 17:39 and then took the state race in 18:35. So, if you add approximately a minute from Grossman's District 1 time of 18:02 to the state course in Hershey, she's a good bet to finish in the top 10 Saturday. Last year, Haverford's Tess Meehan finished 10th in the states as a freshman in 19:21. and yes, don't forget about the Sophia and Tess Meehan in this race. They've been in plenty of big-meet situations and it wouldn't be a surprise to either one of them challenge for a top 10 spot as well.
Sometimes, runners get in a big meet like the states and feel they have to do something different to have that extra-special race. However, if Grossman just races the way she has all year, then a good showing at states is a high probability.
The two best individual bets to place on the boys side from Delaware County are Glen Mills' Mahdi Koliso and Cardinal O'Hara's Chris Garrity. Garrity nipped Koliso at the Delaware County meet. Koliso ran a 16:02 at Districts to reach the states. So, if those two are still comparable, and can run something in the 16:15-25 range, they would have a shot at making the top 10. Tenth place last year at states in the Class AAA race was 16:24. It will be interesting to see how Garrity and Koliso respond to the tough competition because they could go even faster than expected.
In terms of the team scoring, the Cardinal O'Hara boys could make a big jump from last year's 18th place finish. The scoring five last year were Garrity, Dan Savage, Mike Bilotta, Jake Saccetti and Chris Pastore. They all returned this year and Garrity is the only senior. The addition of Christian Ostrowski and Mike Hess into the mix, with Ostrowski being the No. 2 O'Hara runner at the Catholic League Championships, makes the Lions even stronger this year.

QUOTE TO RUN BY
Here is this week's Quote to Run By: It comes from William Faulkner, which hopefully some of you have read. "Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself."