Oct 2, 2002 By Jim Downey 3 min read

With the county meet only two days away, the Laurel Highlands and Albert Gallatin girls cross country teams wrestled with the dilemma of doing what had to be done to be successful in the final Section 2-AAA triangular meet of the year and preparing for Thursday’s meet. The Fillies did what had to be done at home Tuesday, defeating West Mifflin, 24-34, and Albert Gallatin, 15-50, to win their sixth section title in a row with a 7-0 record and improve their dual and triangular meet streak to 45 consecutive victories.

Mikie Monaghan pulled away from the field early, then the Laurel Highlands senior coasted through the course in a winning time of 20:25.

West Mifflin kept the race close by taking second and third with Erin Walendziewicz placing second with a time of 22:01. Jessi Evans, Danielle LaPresta, Rachel Chrash and Rachel Perry dashed any hopes of a West Mifflin win by taking fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth. Sarah Workman closed the deal for the Fillies by finishing ninth.

The Fillies carried out coach Ron Morris’ plan just as he had hoped they would with the triangular being Monaghan’s final home race and so close to the county meet.

“We wanted Mikie to run hard enough to win the race. We wanted her to enjoy her last race at home,” explained Morris, who admitted he made a coaching faux pas. “We were peeking ahead a bit (to the county meet). We were trying some things with our mid-pack runners, trying to pull the group up. Danielle and Jessi ran well today.”

The Lady Colonials weren’t able to fill a full squad due to injuries, but coach Ken Milliken was pleased with the effort he had, as he also looked forward to the county meet. Rachel Karpency was first to finish, placing 11th in a time of 25:07. Alex Cuppet was 18th and Erica Olech finished 25th overall for the depleted Albert Gallatin squad.

“Based on times from last year, the girls improved. Alex Cuppett improved by over a minute. This is the first time she’s been healthy this season,” Milliken said. “Some injuries have set us back. Some day we’ll have the numbers like Laurel Highlands.”

The seven county schools will gather at Penn State-Fayette Thursday afternoon for the Fayette County Coaches Association Meet. The first varsity race is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. in a slate that includes boys and girls varsity, junior varsity and junior high races.