Lady Vikings take triangular from Yough, Uniontown
Uniontown's Khani Young clears the bar in the girls high jump during Tuesday's Section 2-AAA triangular meet with Yough and the Lady Vikings at Mount Pleasant High School.
Noelle Elliot tosses the shot for the Lady Raiders during Tuesday's Section 2-AAA triangular meet Tuesday with Mount Pleasant and Yough at Mount Pleasant High School.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Uniontown’s Cilena Francis clears the final hurdle and takes first place in the 100-meter high hurdles for the Lady Red Raiders during Tuesday’s Section 2-AAA triangular meet with Mount Pleasant and Yough at Mount Pleasant High School.
MOUNT PLEASANT — The Uniontown girls fared well on the track, but the homestanding Lady Vikings were too strong in the field Tuesday afternoon to sweep a Section 2-AAA triangular from the Lady Raiders and Yough, securing second place and a playoff berth.
Uniontown lost to Mount Pleasant, 91-59, but beat the Lady Cougars, 101-45.
The Lady Raiders (3-2, 3-3) close the regular season Thursday against Belle Vernon at Laurel Highlands.
The meet had an ominous start as a severe thunderstorm blew through as the girls were on the seventh lap of the 3,200 relay. Coaches shepherded the athletes off the track into the fieldhouse, calling the relay where it stood with Uniontown in first place.
After heavy winds, driving rains and a little hail, the meet resumed about 55 minutes later.
The Lady Raiders’ Cilena Francis then secured the first of her two first-place finishes by dashing over the 110 high hurdles in 13.2. She returned near the end of the meet to win the 300 intermediate hurdles in 50.5 seconds.
She closed her productive day by running a leg on the victorious 1,600 relay.
The wind blew down the homestretch, but was punishing along the backstretch.
“The wind helps in the 100 (hurdles). It pushes me forward,” explained Francis. “I doesn’t affect me at all (in the 300 intermediate hurdles). I just deal with it.”
Julie Gerber had a part in three first-place finishes for the Lady Raiders, winning the 1,600 (5:26) and 800 (2:27.7), and running the anchor leg of the storm-affected 3,200 relay.
Katie Burgess was the lone Uniontown girl in the 3,200, but she came through with a first-place finish in 12:53.
The Lady Raiders did not fare well in the field events, save Laura Ansell’s first-place finish in the pole vault (6-0). Khani Young hit a PR of 5-2 to finish second behind the Lady Vikings’ Kadey Donitzen’s winning jump of 5-4.
Hannah Wagner returned to the track to finish second in 27.5 seconds to Mount Pleasant’s Jordan Toohey (26.9). Toohey also won the 100 in 12.8 seconds.
Mount Pleasant’s Alexis Salopek won both the triple jump (34-7) and long jump. Bailey Benteler finished first overall in the javelin (116-1).