Apr 27, 2007 By Jim Downey 4 min read

Laurel Highlands girls 93½, Connellsville 42½ The maelstrom that blew through Mustang Stadium midway through Thursday’s Section 2-AAA meet between Connellsville and Laurel Highlands dampened spirits and soaked athletes, but didn’t have much affect on the outcome with the Fillies capping an undefeated season with a 93½-42½ victory.

Laurel Highlands finished the regular season campaign with a 7-0 record to win its third-consecutive section crown, and will now continue the team portion of the season next Wednesday in the WPIAL Class AAA semifinals.

Connellsville closed the regular season at 2-5 in the section and 2-7 overall, and has one team event left at the Fayette County Coaches Association Track & Field Championships to be hosted by Uniontown on Saturday with the throwing events beginning at 10 a.m.

The rain put a damper on the Senior Day festivities at Laurel Highlands, and cost some athletes the opportunity to fully compete.

“It was ashame some of the seniors didn’t get to finish out what they started. We had them in limited races. The rain came and some didn’t get in a second race,” said Laurel Highlands coach Ron Morris.

One of the seniors affected by the storm was sprinter Breehana Jacobs. The senior speedster was to run in the 200 after breezing to victory in the 100 with a time of 12 seconds, but decided to skip the second sprint after the delay and the cool, damp weather that followed. “This was my last race on this track today,” said Jacobs. “I’m going to miss it. I can’t believe I’m a senior.”

The victory was truly shared around the Fillies with 12 different girls finishing first, in addition to the 400 relay.

Casey Conn (100 high hurdles, 16.8), Jessica Zavatchen (high jump, 4-10), Jordyn Hartsek (1,600, 5:47.9), Aliana Vignali (400, 1:04.7), Demi Phillipy (javelin, 117-9), Katy Alberts (200, 30.4), Cassie Wallace (3,200, 12:50), Maressa Guynn (shot put, 28-0), Leah Kaylor (pole vault, 7-6), and Melanie Medvitz (triple jump, 29-8) all added first-place points to the winning effort. That effort got off to an unlucky start; however, when Reilly’s shoe was lost after a Connellsville runner inadvertently stepped on her. Fearful of injury, Morris closed down the 3,200 relay at that point. Reilly came back later to win the 800 in 2:34.6.

“The meet with Connellsville was atypical,” Morris said of the strange beginning. “We had an auspicious start with the shoe and end because of the rain. There were a couple of things I wanted to find out and didn’t have the opportunity because of the rain.”

Given the misfortune in the opening relay, Morris praised Reilly, saying, “She ran a very nice 800 in the wind and the rain.”

While the meet was the last for the seniors, it was also the last home meet for Morris with the group.

“It’s bittersweet. This is the last regular season meet for the seniors, and we won and the boys lost,” said Morris. “I want to thank the seniors for their time spent here. They had only one regular season loss.”

Connellsville’s Amanda Villaneuva toughed out a win in the 300 intermediate hurdles in a time of 53 seconds and Kayla Barkley gave the Lady Falcons another first-place finish by winning the discus with a throw of 88-6. The 3,200 and 1,600 relay teams also finished first.

Connellsville coach Jeff Galand and his staff knew they would have their hands full with the Fillies, but were pleased with the effort of the Lady Falcons given the opposition and the weather conditions.

“Our girls competed the whole way through. They understood they were overmatched in some events, but they competed the whole way through the meet,” said Galand. “I will root for Laurel Highlands in the playoffs. They are capable of doing well in many events.”