Oct 13, 2004 By Jim Downey 3 min read

ELIZABETH TWP. – Even the most casual fan of cycling knows of Lance Armstrong, but only the most ardent followers of the sport would be able to name any of the domestiques of the former U.S. Postal Team, the riders who supported and protected the team’s top rider. The Section 2-AAA boys cross country team title was on the line Tuesday afternoon when Connellsville and Uniontown met at Elizabeth-Forward. A sweep of the triangular meet would mean the section title and that’s exactly what the Falcons did.

Behind its star Kenny King and his more than supportive team, Connellsville swept the day’s event with a 24-33 win over the Red Raiders and a 15-50 victory over the Warriors.

King matched his course record time set in 2003 to the second, a winning time of 17:14. The senior was the known, what would happen behind him was the subject of pre-race conjecture.

“(Kevin Monaghan and Jasper Hawker) went out with me. I thought ‘Wow, they’re going to run with me,'” said King. “I decided to keep up the hard pace and hope they’d fall off.”

Uniontown’s Kevin Monaghan had a strong effort, finishing second in a time of 18:17. Connellsville’s Brad Showman was nine seconds behind and the Red Raiders’ Jasper Hawker matched Falcons’ Wade Schnorr furious sprint with one of his own through the chute at the finish line, nipping Schnorr by a second.

“I was trying to catch up and get the best position I could,” said Schnorr, who passed Hawker on the down slope leading to the finish line. “I was running out of gas, too. I run my all to the finish. There’s no guarantee.”

Uniontown’s Kyle Markwardt kept the alternating finish going in sixth place, but the race began to develop, as it so often does, long after the top runners were home. A sea of blue and white shirts flooded the finish line in Nick Vinoverski, Joe Villanueva and Arlo Helms within 12 seconds from seventh to ninth to clinch the close victory.

Aaron Moyer finished 10th for Uniontown, followed by John O’Neil and Derek Thomas.

Connellsville finishes 7-0 in the section and 8-0 overall, unseating defending champion Laurel Highlands. Uniontown completes the section at 6-1 and 8-1 overall.

“This was big teamwise,” said King, who now looks to defend his county championship at Linden Hall Golf Course on Thursday. “This might at least give cross country a little recognition at school. We haven’t lost yet.”

Schnorr, a member of the senior crew of King, Vinoverski and Aaron King, had nothing but positives as he looked back to the season and forward to the FCCA and WPIAL meets.

“I’m glad I participated in cross country,” said Schnorr, who came out as a junior. “We have good teamwork, especially in practice.”

The two head coaches expected a close meet, not sure of how their teams would respond.

“Brad (Showman), Nick (Vinoverski), Wade (Schnorr) and Arlo (Helms), it takes a team to win the title and that’s what we’ve done this year. Our 4-5-6 guys really came through today,” said Connellsville head coach Joe Siecinski. “Brad’s really coming along.

“Now, if we could only get him to smile a little bit.”

“We were pleased to be in the situation to win the section, but it’s not as we hope it would be,” Uniontown head coach Joe Everhart said of the close score. “Everyone gave 100 percent. I’m a little disappointed, but we’re still peaking. We haven’t reached our best times.”