Uniontown girls survive battle of the unbeatens
That perfect storm hit Connellsville Tuesday afternoon, and Uniontown emerged unscathed by defeating the Fillies, 23-32, and the Lady Falcons, 21-35. The Lady Raiders improve to 5-0 in the section and 7-0 overall, finishing the regular season next Tuesday at home against Ringgold and Thomas Jefferson. Laurel Highlands (4-1, 4-1) salvaged a split of the triangular with a 23-32 win over Connellsville.
“Having all three teams undefeated this late in the season is awesome,” said Uniontown coach Joe Everhart.
Uniontown’s Colleen O’Neil breezed to the finish line, easily winning in 21:37. Though she didn’t factor in the final score, Mount Pleasant’s Krista Rittenhouse was second in 23:24 with the Fillies’ Jordyn Hartsek third in 23:26.
Laurel Highlands’ Brandi Liptock was fourth in 23:43 and Connellsville’s Kayla Booher was fifth 10 seconds later.
The race was decided was the next five runners crossed the finish line with only the Lady Falcons’ April Shultz breaking the sea of maroon and white in eighth place with a time of 24:48.
Violet Kern (6th, 23:59), Caileigh Carei (7th, 24:38), Jen Naymick (9th, 24:59), and Erika Stanish (10th, 25:11) streamed across the finish line to keep the Lady Raiders undefeated on the season.
“We wanted Colleen to go out and win it,” said Everhart. “The other four girls couldn’t leave her by herself. They had to pack it in.
“I was real pleased they were able to pack it in the way they did.”
“We knew we’d get first or second,” said Laurel Highlands coach Bob Costello. “To be successful, we had to break up their 2-3-4 runners. We did, but we didn’t do it enough.”
Despite entering without a loss, Connellsville coach Steve Kuhns knew his girls were in for a tough run on their home course.
“The girls had a rough haul. Kayla Booher ran well. I knew the top two (Booher and Shultz) would do well,” said Kuhns.
Connellsville (4-2, 5-2) travels to Albert Gallatin for the section finale next Tuesday. Laurel Highlands runs along with West Mifflin at Elizabeth-Forward next week.