Feb 11, 2005 By Dave Stofcheck 4 min read

Just minutes after losing most of his hair to a hopped-up bunch of teenage boys, Laurel Highlands swim coach Bill McCombie began to hear it. “I didn’t know your head was shaped like an egg,” said one of McCombie’s assistants, Darren DeCarlo.

Moments later, one of McCombie’s “friends” walked past and uttered, “Man, you look like hell!”

On this night, however, nothing could bring McCombie down.

The Mustangs and Fillies dominated their Section 5-AAA meet with cross-town rival Uniontown Thursday night, and in the process, made sure their remarkable regular seasons won’t soon be forgotten.

Adam Collins and Chris Hunchuck each claimed a pair of victories as Laurel Highlands breezed to a 103-66 win in boys action, while Kelly Huston and Theresa Reilley also came away with two wins apiece to lead the Fillies to a 91-87 victory that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicated.

Both LH teams claimed Section 5-AAA titles with their respective wins, and the boys’ victory capped the Mustang’s second perfect season in school history and first since 1989.

The Fillies, meanwhile, captured a section title for the first time since Jimmy Carter was president.

For the non-history buffs out there, the year was 1977.

“It feels awesome,” Reilley said. “I still can’t believe it … I’m still in shock.”

The Fillies won 9 of 12 events, but McCombie decided to swim the final two – 100 breaststroke and 400 freestyle relay – as exhibition only with LH leading comfortably, 91-62.

Along with Reilley and Huston, Abigail Painley, Jeanette Mayfield and Erin Perry also won events, as did the Fillies’ 200 freestyle and 200 medley relay teams.

The girls also won a bet with McCombie that was made before the season allowing them to shave his legs if they won a section title.

The boys had a similar bet, making a deal with McCombie that he’d give up his hair for an undefeated season. Shortly after Thursday’s dismantling of Uniontown, members of the boys’ squad took turns mowing patches of McCombie’s hair much like they would a lawn.

“(Going undefeated) was a great honor for us,” said Alex Mundel, one of the team’s captains. “We’ve worked so hard from the beginning of the season that anything less would have been a letdown.

“We had the work ethic, we had the commitment. We have worked so hard and we finally reached our goal.”

Tony Marghella, David Johnson, Jimmy Tesauro, Ben Mundel and Steve Hunchuck joined Collins and Chris Hunchuck as winners, as did all three relay squads. The Mustangs held a 103-45 advantage before swimming the last two events as exhibitions, and thus, forfeited the points that went along with each.

The victory pushed the Mustangs record to 20-0, with five of those wins coming in section meets.

“Going undefeated in any sport is so rare,” McCombie said. “The hard thing is trying to keep the kids motivated after every win. We really had a shot last year (to go undefeated) but we hit a few snags.

“Without the dedication this year’s team had, without them being here day in and day out and practicing, this wouldn’t have happened. As a team, I haven’t seen too many teams here at LH work harder.”

McCombie actually thought an influx of younger talent would eventually have the Fillies in this position, just not so soon.

“It was a surprise,” he said. “I really thought they were still a couple years away but after watching four or five matches earlier this season, I knew how well they were capable of doing.”

Uniontown’s Kaitlyn Johnson and Kelly Palya captured the Red Raiders’ two individual wins, while the 200 freestyle relay squad also brought home a victory.

A win by the Uniontown girls would have generated a three-way tie for first place with Laurel Highlands and Canon-McMillan.

“We did real well this year,” said Red Raiders coach Ryan Davis.

“A lot of our girls will get to go on and take part in the WPIALs. We had some injuries over the course of the season, but our girls battled back and always fought hard. We swam real well tonight as well, setting a lot of personal bests.”