Sep 20, 2006 By Jim Downey 3 min read

Connellsville and Laurel Highlands split the top six finishers with three each in Tuesday’s Section 2-AAA triangular at Laurel Highlands, but the Lady Falcons took the next four places to secure a sweep of the Fillies and Thomas Jefferson. Connellsville beat Laurel Highlands, 23-36, and the Lady Jaguars, 17-45, to remain perfect, improving to 4-0 in the section and 5-0 overall. The Fillies (2-1, 2-1) earned a split with a 19-36 win against Thomas Jefferson.

The Lady Falcons’ Mary Beth Giles led from start to finish, although the Fillies’ Hanna Yauger made a hard dash at her near the finish. Giles won in 21:51 with Yauger only seven seconds behind.

“I felt really good starting out,” said Giles. “I got a cramp in the last mile, but I saw (Yauger) coming so I had to keep going. I didn’t have a choice.”

Connellsville freshman Erica Brooks was second for a portion of the race, but settled for third in 22:13. Gabby Carbonara had enough left in her tank to pass Laurel Highlands’ Jordyn Hartsek for fourth place in 22:57, three seconds ahead of Hartsek.

The Fillies’ Cassie Wallace, fighting a cold, was sixth in 23:43 and Thomas Jefferson’s Natalie Generalovich was seventh.

Connellsville then secured the victory with April Shultz, Heidi Halfhill and Kayla Booher filing in from eighth through 10th place, only 11 seconds apart.

“We wanted Mary Beth to win,” Connellsville coach Joe Siecinski said of the pre-race strategy. “We figured Erica and Gabby would be in the next group, and we wanted the other girls to displace, just the way it did. Finishing eighth through 11th (against Laurel Highlands), that’s what you have to do to win in cross country.

“I thought Yauger ran a great race. She put pressure on Mary Beth. Erica Brooks is doing great. She’s a big plus for us. Julie Burns (who finished 12th) had a bad blister, but she hung in there.”

“Once in a 100 times it works out like you plan,” explained Laurel Highlands coach Bob Costello. “We thought Giles was beatable. We wanted to go second, third, fourth, eighth and 10th. If we could do that, we’d win.

“The race was run in the fourth through seventh girls. Theirs were stronger than ours. Connellsville should have all the accolades.”

The teams will meet for a second time in less than a week when the Lady Falcons and Fillies run in the A.J. Everhart Invitational Saturday at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.