Oct 4, 2002 By Jim Downey 4 min read

There was no mystery who would be the top 10 finishers in the Fayette County Coaches Association Thursday afternoon at Penn State-Fayette. With the rain falling hard in the latter part of the race, the uncertainty was which team would win the team title. The team title was decided nearly 19 minutes into the race when Uniontown’s Joe Murtha finished the race in 14th place, breaking a 43-43 tie with Connellsville to win by displacement. Laurel Highlands was third with 66 points. Brownsville was fourth, Albert Gallatin fifth and Frazier finished sixth. Geibel Catholic did not field five runners.

While the unknown drama unfolded later in the race, Connellsville’s Kenny King breezed through Uniontown’s home course in a winning time of 17:13. The sophomore made his move in the final mile and no one was able to stay with him.

“It just happened that way,” King said of when he separated himself from the field. “Everybody was cheering like he was right behind me. I didn’t know where he was. I wanted to go out and win. I’m looking forward to the WPIAL finals. I want to run well there and make it to states.”

Falling off the pace were teammates Brad Showman and Pat Mullaney. Larry Brink was able to hold the Falcon duo at bay with the Laurel Highlands sophomore finishing second in a time of 17:32.

“I wanted to sit on Kenny until the end of the race. I know the course pretty well by now,” Brink said. “I wanted to sit back and run my own race. I wanted to see how it would unfold at the end of the race.”

Showman didn’t show the nervousness of a freshman, finishing third with a time of 17:41.

“I was real nervous (at the start of the race). I came out here to win,” Showman said. “I’m proud I was third. I was a little disappointed I wasn’t second.”

The run of underclassmen continued when Uniontown sophomore Kevin Monaghan finished fourth in a time of 17:43. He felt comfortable on his home course, though Monaghan didn’t have a decided advantage with so many meets held on the campus course.

“I wanted to go out, run my race and hit my PR (personal best). Running here was for the good. I learned where to speed up. (Showman) pulled away. I tried to go, but I wanted to hold on to what I had,” Monaghan said.

Mullaney made his first all-county team. The senior was two seconds behind Monaghan.

“I just didn’t run good. I haven’t run good since the beginning of the year,” a disappointed Mullaney said. “I went out hard. I didn’t stick with it”

Shinsky missed out on his goal of a top five finish, though he wasn’t disappointed with sixth place. The sophomore started out too strong, then had to regroup in the next two miles.

“I went out in the first mile a little faster than I usually do. The second mile was where I wanted to be so I slowed down a little,” Shinsky said. “They were within reach. I wanted to go, but my body didn’t.”

Josh Crable was the lone Class AA runner to earn all-county honors. The Brownsville senior ran his last county race in a time of 18:02, good enough for seventh place despite re-injuring his knee in the home stretch.

“I hyper-extended my knee in the Uniontown Invitational. I was coming down the hill behind the backstop and it went out again,” explained Crable. “I went out too hard. I wasn’t able to catch up until the race was almost over. Coach Carei and coach Logan had me ready today. The field was a lot faster than last year.

As far as this being his last county meet, Crable said, “It’s all I’ve been thinking about for a week.”

Though Murtha was the final difference, Uniontown put a chokehold on the county title by taking the eighth, ninth and tenth places. Andy Gleason was in first, soon followed by Jasper Hawker and Paul O’Neil.

“I picked it up on top of the last hill. I had to keep my place for us to win this race,” Gleason said. “I knew I had to keep my place for the team.”

Hawker said the Red Raiders had a hard week, but believed the effort was worth the rewards.

“We’ve had a real hard week, but the team came together today.”

O’Neil picked off one runner on the final hill and let the momentum carry him to the finish line, four seconds ahead of Connellsville’s Nick Bailey.

Frazier was led by freshman Kenny Miller in 15th place. Geibel Catholic’s Sam Brooks finished 17th in his final county meet with Albert Gallatin’s Chris Moore in 24th overall.