Fillies breeze way to title
CONNELLSVILLE – Given the Section 2-AAA results of the past two weeks, the Laurel Highlands girls track and field team was expected to win the Fayette County Coaches’ Association Track and Field Meet team title once again. The Fillies did as planned Saturday at Connellsville Stadium, sweeping past the competition to place first with 165 points. Connellsville was second with 106 and Uniontown finished third with 87 points. Brownsville finished fifth with five points.
While the expected happened in the team scoring, a little bit of the unexpected occurred on the track as the day wore on.
When Laurel Highlands met Uniontown last Tuesday, Uniontown’s Scarlett Graham rode the Fillies’ Mikie Monaghan right shoulder for nearly 31/2 laps before the Laurel Highlands junior pulled away to win by four seconds.
Graham again rode Monaghan’s shoulder through three laps, but it was the Lady Red Raider junior who pulled away with a move at 200 meters to go for victory in the 1,600 with a time of 5:17, 10 seconds faster than her dual meet finish. Monaghan was second in 5:19.
“I just decided I had to go for it at 200 meters to go,” said Graham. “I just wanted to do my best. I’m happy with my race.”
Graham had a good individual day with a second place in the 3,200 and a third in the 800.
Monaghan had too much for the rest of the track performers, winning another Most Outstanding Track Performer trophy. The junior won the 800 and 3,200 and ran the anchor leg of the victorious 3,200 relay.
“I was disappointed in the mile. I started my kick too late. Scarlett ran a good race. I’m happy with second,” Monaghan said after running the 3,200. “I hope we do well as a team.”
The at opposite ends of the field events spectrum, Uniontown’s Michelle DeShields and Christina Roadman of Connellsville shared the Most Outstanding Field Performer award. DeShields won high and long jumps while Roadman finished first in the javelin and discus. Roadman’s sixth place finish in the shot put earned her a ribbon, but no points towards the individual award.
DeShields also competed in two track events. Connellsville freshman Shanielle Nobles surprised the DeShields and the rest of the field to win the 100 with the Uniontown senior a close second. A recent false start slowed DeShields out of the blocks, though she anchored the 400 relay team to a first place finish.
“I wanted first in the 100. I false started in the last meet (against Laurel Highlands). I was afraid I’d false start again,” DeShields said. “I wanted to win the 100 and 400 relay. We practiced hard in the 400 relay to come and win, and we did.”
Roadman was pleased with her day, save her effort in the shot put.
“Everything was good except for the shot put. I started out okay, but it got worse,” the junior said. “Overall, I’m pretty happy. I had my competition today and I was ready for it.”
Outside of teammates, most of Roadman’s competition came in the form of Diane Gmiter of Laurel Highlands. Gmiter set a meet and school record in the shot put with her throw of 38-41/2. She was second in the javelin.
“I was looking for a better mark in the javelin, but breaking the mark in the shot put made it okay,” a smiling Gmiter said. “It took a year to better my record. It’s about time.”
Connellsville’s Jaynece Stafford quietly had a strong day for the Lady Falcons. The second-year junior was pleased with the day’s effort, first in the triple jump, second place in the high jump and fifth in the long jump.
“I’m really pleased with the triple jump and high jump. The long jump’s not really my thing,” Stafford said. “I’m really tired, but it’s all worth it. I’m really thankful I can do all this. It was good enough for today, but not for me. I try to go as far as I can.”
Deena Blanc had a nice day for the Fillies. The versatile performer won the pole vault and 300 intermediate hurdles, was third in the 100 and ran the opening leg of the 400 relay.
Laurel Highlands continues into the team playoffs this week with all individual performers looking to the WPIAL qualifiers on Tuesday, May 7.