2. Pennsylvania
The Keystone State probably has one of the best runners in the country in Northern sophomore Marlee Starliper, but the underclassmen still has yet to truly prove herself at the state and national level.
She finished second in Class AA a year ago.
Of course, her performances in 2017 have been off the charts, with a phenomenal run at the Carlisle Invitational on Sept. 30 in 16:50 and a big win at the PIAA District 3 AA Championships, where she picked up a speed rating of 151 -- seventh best in the country -- after a time of 17:25.00.
Starliper has run just three meets this fall, but she's set course records at every event by at least 30 seconds and her 16:50 is the second fastest time in Pennsylvania history. She could go after former Pennsylvania great Aislinn Devlin's course record of 17:44 on Saturday as well.
Starliper, ranked No. 17 in the Flo50, seems to be heading for very big things this postseason, and that should begin at states.
Meanwhile, North Allegheny senior Clara Savchik should be another athlete to be aware of. The veteran scored a second-place nod at state in 2016 with a time of 17:46 and heads into the Class AAA race with a best of 18:05.20, which stands as the seventh best time in Pennsyvlania this season.
In Class A, the story will be all about Warrior Run's Lauren Trapani, who blew out of the gates with the state's second best effort this season with a 17:41.40. Can the freshman, who won her District 4 meet in 19:04.00, make a bigger statement at state?
Pennsylvania's championship course, located in Hershey, has been known to carve up runners -- with a massive hill finding runners just 200 meters from the finish.