County track meet set today
The girls MVPs on both the track and the field were shared last year, and three of the four so honored return in defense of their titles this morning in the 2007 Fayette County Coaches Association Track & Field Championships at Uniontown’s Bill Power Stadium. The field events will begin at 10 a.m. and will be done in three sessions. The first session includes girls high jump, boys javelin, girls javelin, boys long jump, boys triple jump, and girls pole vault. The second session has the boys shot put, girls discus, girls triple jump, girls long jump, boys high jump, and boys pole vault, with the boys discus and girls shot put closing the field events.
Preliminaries on the track begin at 11 a.m. with the 100/110 high hurdles, boys/girls 100, and 3,200 relay finals. After a 15-minute intermission, the final begin with the girls 100 high hurdles.
Uniontown’s Kelsie Herring and Laurel Highlands’ Breehana Jacobs shared the track MVP. Herring is a two-time defending MVP. The Lady Raiders’ Brea Belt shared the field MVP with since-graduated teammate Courtney Sanner.
The boys MVPs were also underclassmen last year, but it is unsure whether Connellsville’s Lance Straughters will be present to defend his track title. He did not run against Yough on Tuesday nor did he compete in the Section 2-AAA finale Thursday at Laurel Highlands.
The Field MVP is back and looking strong. The Falcons’ Rodney Richter has already thrown over 55 feet in the shot put and has topped 172 feet in the discus.
Although she wasn’t in the hunt for either the track or field MVP, Brownsville’s America Cardine was the top-scoring athlete last year with 30 points after winning the 100 high and 300 intermediate hurdles, finishing first in the long jump, and finishing second in the 200.
The Connellsville boys won the team title last year while the Laurel Highlands girls successfully defended their crown.
Both the boys and girls have very talented athletes that should provide a spirited competition. Albert Gallatin, Brownsville, Connellsville, Frazier, Laurel Highlands, and Uniontown, plus Belle Vernon, will be represented. Geibel Catholic will not because of the prom.
The boys field includes hurdler Scott Jones (Connellsville), sprinters Anthony Stevenson (Albert Gallatin), Jerel Coles (Connellsville), and Shane Curran (Belle Vernon), throwers Zach Girod (Laurel Highlands) and Zane Breakiron (Laurel Highlands), pole vaulters Zack Breakiron (Laurel Highlands) and Nathaniel Hensh (Laurel Highlands), jumpers Devin Miller (Uniontown), Stevenson, and Darius Reeves (Uniontown), and distance runners Jeff Palya (Laurel Highlands), Joe Villaneuva (Connellsville) and Derek Thomas (Uniontown).
The girls field includes sprinter Aleesha Washington (Laurel Highlands) and Annabel Mosco (Uniontown), distance runners Erika Coffey (Brownsville), Cassie Wallace (Laurel Highlands), and Aimee Radic (Belle Vernon), jumpers Paige Festa (Uniontown) and Jessica Zavatchen (Laurel Highlands), and throwers Maressa Guynn (Laurel Highlands), Demi Phillipy (Laurel Highlands) and Kayla Barkley (Connellsville).