Balanced effort carries Mustangs past Falcons
Connellsville's Garrett Snyder prepares to throw during the shot put event at the Section 2 AAA track and field meet at Laurel Highlands High School on Thursday.
Joel Brewton/HeraldStandard.com
Laurel Highlands’ Dyquan Scott (left) is handed the baton from teammate Jake Longley during the 1,600 relay event at the Section 2-AAA track and field meet at LH on Thursday.
Laurel Highlands displayed a balanced attack Thursday afternoon in the Mustangs’ 121-29 Section 2-AAA track and field victory over visiting Connellsville with only Pat Conn winning more than one individual event.
Conn won the 110 high hurdles in 15.3 seconds, just ahead of teammate Jake Longley. He just nipped the field to win the 200 in 23.2 seconds, and leapt 20-3½ feet to finish first in the long jump.
The well-rounded effort pleased Mustangs coach Bob Costello.
“We spread it out. Yes, that’s good,” said Costello after his squad opened the section schedule with a victory. “We’re not great, but we don’t have any glaring weaknesses. The marks are pretty solid.”
The Mustangs finished first in 15 of the 18 events.
Adam Ennis won the 800 in 2:01.5 and ran legs on the victorious 3,200 and 1,600 relays.
Zack Klippi (100, 11.6), Ryan Teets (1,600, 4:50), Longley (300 IM hurdles, 41.5), Jake Hensh (pole vault, 14-0), E.J. Blaszczak (triple jump, 44-7½), Joe Pegg (high jump, 5-9) and Shane Guthrie (discus, 130-8) all had first-place finishes for the Mustangs.
Although Hensh won the pole vault, teammate Jesse Laverdiere also cleared 14 feet before he crashed down on the bar, snapping the fiberglass in two with the small of his back.
That mishap ended the pole vault competition, otherwise both vaulters would have continued.
Laverdiere tied a personal best last Saturday when he won the South Hills Classic with a meet-record vault of 15 feet. With Hensh just coming around after a leg injury, the Mustangs have a potent 1-2 punch in the pole vault.
“I have nowhere to go but up,” said Laverdiere, who seemed no worse for the wear after his awkward landing. “My biggest competition is with me every meet. I absolutely feed off Jake Hensh.”
The Falcons had strong performances from sprinter Jeremy Basinger, who won the 400 (52.2) and had third-place finishes in both the 100 and 200; Dylan Meyer, a first in the javelin (158-6); Jake Nicholson, who won the discus (130-8), and Jeremy Welsh, a third-place finish in the pole vault (11-0).
Connellsville coach Jeff Galand said it’s a day-to-day, meet-to-meet process for the Falcons.
“They need to keep your head up and keep working,” said Galand. “We are just trying to help young athletes get better. We just have to get better at things. We’re just learning how to work hard.”
Connellsville (0-2, 1-5) hosts Belle Vernon Tuesday, while Laurel Highlands (1-0, 1-0) travels to Albert Gallatin on Thursday.