Meet the 10 girls runners to watch during the 2026 PIAA cross country season
The defending Butler County Girls Runner of the Year and a trio of Butler runners are back.
And that’s not all. Nine all-county first-team selections make up this year’s girls cross country runners to watch list, a mix of veterans and sophomores, plus medalists and PIAA qualifiers.
It’s a similar story on the boys side.
The 2026 season begins Saturday and will conclude in Hershey for the state championships in November. The two-plus months in between will go quickly.
Here are 10 girls runners from Butler County, in alphabetical order, to keep an eye on this fall:
Kirschner followed an 18th-place finish in the District 9 Class 1A championship race (22:06) with a 22:25 at the PIAA championship in Hershey to finish 85th. Butler County coaches voted her all-county second team in 2025.
The reigning Butler County Girls Runner of the Year, as voted on by local coaches, is back to headline an experienced group of talent on this list after Long logged medals at the TSTCA championships (fifth, 18:32.73), WPIAL Class 3A championship (fourth, 18:26.50 and a PR) and PIAA championship (14th, 19:16).
Golojuh, an all-county first-teamer, is trying to make it three straight trips to Hersheypark’s Parkview Cross Country Course after she finished 74th (20:31) there a year ago in 3A. She qualified for states with a 27th-place finish at WPIALs (19:31.80) and claimed 19th before that at TSTCAs.
Like Golojuh, McLister is a returning all-county first-team runner. She ran a 19:56.70 at the WPIAL 3A championship last year to finish 40th, missing the cut for states. She, Golojuh and another Tornado runner to come give the team a trio capable of leading the team to section-title contention.
The Trojanettes once again return some top-end talent in Class 2A. Morris’ 21:12 at the state championships (good for 63rd) was a tough follow-up to a solid ninth-place finish (19:56.00) at the WPIAL championships, but she’s a returning first-team all-county runner who can improve on that Hershey mark.
Sell, another all-county first-teamer, is one to watch because she’s a talented runner but also because the timeline for her return off March ACL surgery puts her right up against the cross country postseason in October, according to head coach Tim Souders. Can she make it back in time to run in TSTCAs, WPIALs and maybe even states? The latter two she finished 11th and 41st in last year.
The third of three Tornado medal contenders, Sintz is coming off a 42nd-place finish at WPIALs last year (20:05.80). She also made Butler County first team last year by vote of the area’s coaches.
Heading up to District 10, where Springirth had an impressive rookie season during which she finished 74th at the PIAA Class 2A championship in 21:23 and 15th before that at districts (19:55) to earn all-county first team. She won the D10 high jump title at 4-11 to make states last spring.
Yeager made the state championships as a freshman and sophomore, but she didn’t make the trip last year due to health issues before the District 10 championships. Still, the all-county first-teamer ran in the 20-minute range before the postseason.
And the last returning all-county first-team runner, Zolinas won sixth-place medals at TSTCAs and then WPIALs (19:42.80) to punch her ticket to Hershey. There, she finished 87th in 2A with a 21:39.
