A.J. Everhart Cross Country meet
LH’s Monaghan dominates girls’ field A famous cinematic line, “Run, Forrest, run,” could easily be adapted to “Run, Mikie, run” given the season Laurel Highlands senior Mikie Monaghan is having.
Monaghan broke 19 minutes Tuesday at Mingo Park and left the field in her wake Saturday in the A.J. Everhart Uniontown Invitational in a record time of 19:03.38. Bethel Park’s Kate Vaughn was 50 seconds behind in second place with Uniontown’s Scarlett Graham in third.
None of the top three girls was able to carry their team to the title with Allderdice barely edging Gateway, 83-87, for the trophy. The Bethel Park girls were third with 90 points.
Monaghan flew out of the gate, taking the lead from the 114-girl pack before the field hit the midway point of the first lap. She just steadily pulled away, running most of the race by her lonesome as she pared nine seconds off the mark set by West Allegheny’s Lauren Shaffer in 2000.
“I tried to get out. My first mile was 5:20. I have little benchmarks I try to get. I just tried to focus on my race,” Monaghan said of her race strategy. “I didn’t know who was going to be here. I was a little surprised there was no one by me.”
The invitational kicked off a busy week for Monaghan. The Fillies host Albert Gallatin and West Mifflin in the Section 2-AAA finale Tuesday and will run in the FCCA Meet Thursday afternoon at Penn State-Fayette. She’s also on the girls soccer team with matches on Monday and Wednesday, but she already has her sights on what she wants to accomplish.
“I want to go for my PR (personal best) at home Tuesday and hope to better my time in the county meet. I’d like to break 19 minutes,” Monaghan said.
Graham was second to Monaghan for most of the race, but Vaughan made her move two miles into the race and the Uniontown senior was unable to answer.
“I could hear her,” Graham said of Vaughan. “She came past me and I couldn’t catch up.”
Graham was complementary of her opposition at Laurel Highlands.
“I wanted to do better than I did today. I’m satisfied with my time. I hope (Mikie) goes and wins the state championship. It makes me want to get closer to her.”
Connellsville’s Shannon Kovack was all smiles after the race. The junior finished seventh in a time of 20:28.73, her best time since early in the season at Hempfield. She was part of a small pack of runners that finished within six seconds of each other.
“I’m happy with my time. There was a group of us. It came down to who had the most left going up the last hill. I pushed up the last hill. There were four of us together. I passed three girls,” Kovack said. “I like to make it exciting for people, especially for my mom. I wanted a medal. I was spazzing for a little while.”
Julie Kromer was the first Brownsville girl to finish, placing 42nd in a time of 23:11.94. Frazier’s Rebecca Leary finished 39th with a time of 23:05.21. Southmoreland’s Jorgie Jacobs was 56th overall with Albert Gallatin’s Rachel Karpency not far behind in 62nd place.
Jessica Thompson led the small Waynesburg Central contingent home in 106th place.
Brownsville’s Amber Jackson won the junior varsity race 22:20. Canon-McMillan’s Sarah Grossi won the junior high race in 10:33. Connellsville’s Heidi Halfhill finished second in 11:00 with teammates Alexis Dolde in fifth and Michelle Rugg finishing sixth.
The regular section season closes this week with both the Fayette and Westmoreland County meets to be held Thursday.