Oct 11, 2006 By Jim Downey 2 min read

Connellsville’s Mary Beth Giles had a dilemma as she approached Tuesday’s Section 2-AAA finale against Uniontown and Elizabeth-Forward at Penn State Fayette She wanted to keep her perfect section record intact, but the senior also wanted to remain fresh for Thursday’s Fayette County Coaches Association Championship on the same course.

Giles did everything she set out to do, winning the triangular in 22:27 to lead the Lady Falcons to wins over Uniontown (18-45) and the Lady Warriors (15-50) to wrap up Connellsville’s third straight section title with a record of 7-0. Uniontown earned a split with a 15-50 win over Elizabeth-Forward.

E-F’s Dana Hyde didn’t run, messing up Giles’ plans a bit.

“I was planning on going behind her in the first mile and see how it went,” said Giles. “It’s pretty hard (running a controlled race). I want to do my best every time. I listened to (coach) Joe Siecinski.

“I like to run behind other people so I get pushed, but today I didn’t.”

The closest anyone came to pushing Giles was teammate Erica Brooks. The freshman finished 27 seconds behind her.

After E-F’s Angie Dyer finished third, Connellsville and Uniontown (3-4, 5-4) alternated spots in the finish.

Connellsville’s Kayla Booher was fourth, Uniontown’s Sammie Brame fifth and the Lady Falcons’ April Shultz finished sixth. Uniontown had seventh and ninth place in Laura Swanson and Michelle Naymick while the Lady Falcons grabbed eighth and 10th with Heidi Halfhill and Lindzi Flanders.

“We wanted the girls to save some for Thursday,” said Connellsville coach Joe Siecinski of the race strategy. “We wanted to go out hard. Mary Beth looked good, didn’t she?”