Strong finish late carries Mustangs past Red Raiders
?The final meet of the Section 2-AAA schedule boiled down to three events Thursday afternoon — the pole vault, 1,600 relay and discus. Uniontown held a slight lead with the 1,600 relay the linchpin on how the meet would turn.
Zak Klippi, Tyler Wakala, Jacob Longley and Zach Partyka outgutted a feisty Uniontown quartet in the final relay to win the turn-around five points, and the Mustangs then swept the pole vault and won the discus for an 81-69 victory over the visiting Red Raiders.
The teams finish tied for second with 4-2 section records.
Uniontown boys coach Keith Jeffries succinctly expressed his view of the day’s events.
“Frustration.”
“We had a couple key injuries with kids that would’ve scored points,” explained Jeffries. “It was just a little bit of everything.”
One of those injuries was suffered by Daryl Ricks. He won the 100 in 11.3 seconds, but tweaked his hamstring, knocking him out of the high jump and 400 relay.
The Mustangs took 25 out of a possible 35 first-place points in the field events. Mike Morgan won the shot put (42-7½) to lead a Laurel Highlands sweep, and Joe Spinuzza was first in the discus (119-0). Jeff Jenkins led a sweep of the triple jump, leaping 43-1, and finished first in the long jump with a jump of 20-9. Jacob Hensh led a sweep of the pole vault points, clearing 15 feet for first place.
“The kids learned every point counts from Yough (a 71-70 victory),” said Laurel Highlands coach Bob Costello. “We had the score (before the meet) around 80-70, but it didn’t work out the way we thought it would. It never does.
“We did well in the triple jump and long jump, and I knew we would do well in the pole vault. I also knew we would have to win one, if not two, of the relays.”
According to Costello, the final score didn’t necessary reflect what fans watched on the track.
“It looked like a bloodbath if you were only watching the track. We came through in the field.”
It was all Uniontown early on the track, starting with the 3,200 relay of Lucas Edenfield, Greg Lerch, Bryce Markwardt and Torin Kelley. Dom Gibson powered through the finish line to win the 110 high hurdles in 11.3 seconds. After Ricks won the 100, Kelley led a sweep of the 1,600, winning in 4:45.9.
Klippi held off a pair of Red Raiders to win the 400 in 52.5, and David Lee, Tyler Wakala, Raphael Cannon and Zach Partyka won the 400 relay in 45.3 after Uniontown was disqualified for a bad handoff on the first exchange.
Dom Gibson gutted out a victory in the 300 intermediate hurdles in 41.2 seconds, and Kelley led another sweep, this time in the 800 with a winning time of 2:03.
According to Kelley, he and his teammates were able to build off the victory in the 3,200 relay.
“We got some momentum. I get excited after we won the relay,” said Kelley. “In the 1,600, I knew Michael (Cecchini) is an excellent runner. We used his pace and pushed it the last lap.
“It was a great day. It’s beautiful out. There’s something about (running against) LH. You want to do the best you can.”
Chris Zavage capped Uniontown’s first-place finishes on the track by winning the 3,200 in 10:42.5.