LH girls swim past Connellsville, Uniontown
Christine Pocratsky
Laurel Highlands’ Brooke Mansberry competes in the 50-yard freestyle during Monday’s non-section triangular meet against Connellsville and Uniontown at Uniontown. Mansberry finished first with a winning time of 26.20 seconds.
Connellsville's Bayle Shreve does the butterfly in the 200-yard medley relay during Monday's non-section triangular meet against Laurel Highlands and Uniontown at Uniontown. Shreve and the Lady Falcons finished second with a time of 2:06.27.
Uniontown and Laurel Highlands swimmers already know each other pretty well, considering the squads share the same Uniontown pool and most belong to the same swim club together.
Throw in Connellsville, which has faced the two teams already this season, and the makings of an interesting meet were in place.
The Fillies swept the non-section meet with 87 points. The Lady Falcons finished with 59 points, with the Uniontown girls totaling 37.
The three teams combined for 12 WPIAL qualifying times.
Laurel Highlands took first in two relays, winning the 200 medley (1:55) and 200 freestyle (1:46.29).
Lexi Kostelnik had an eventful day for the Fillies, winning the 200 freestyle (2:01.23) and 500 freestyle (5:19.75) with qualifying times. She was also on the 200 freestyle relay which had a WPIAL qualifying time.
“I was really excited. I got to swim against my friends,” Kostelnik said of her approach to the meet. “I’m looking for my times coming into the WPIALs. I try to race the clock.”
Emily Yarish (200 IM, 2:12.16; 100 breaststroke, 1:08.87), Brooke Mansberry (50 freestyle, 26.20; 100 freestyle), and Mackenzie Robatin (100 backstroke, 1:04.54) all had individual first-place finishes for the Fillies.
The Lady Raiders’ Elizabeth Klingensmith was part of a second-place finish, two thirds and a fourth. She swam a leg on the 200 freestyle relay to second place, and was on the 400 freestyle relay’s third-place finish.
Individually, Klingensmith was fourth in the 200 IM (2:27.12) and third in the 100 butterfly (1:05.45).
“I thought (the meet) was fun. I like to think positive,” said the sophomore. “I had good times and got close to PRs (personal bests). These are the fastest teams we swim all year.”
The Lady Falcons’ Alyson Urie won the 100 butterfly in a qualifying time of 1:03.73, and swam a leg on the victorious 400 freestyle relay. Teammate Kristina Tomechko won the diving with 140.30 points.
“I swam my best times today. I feel I’m peaking at the right times,” said Urie. “I like how we have everyone here. It’s a lot more fun to have three teams than just two.”
The coaches seemed pleased with the performances and outcomes.
“It’s a lot of fun swimming crosstown rivals,” said Uniontown’s April Dowling. “We wanted to swim some PRs and qualifying times.”
“To beat Uniontown was one of my goals. This was a nice way to finish out the season,” said Connellsville’s Marie Nedley.
“Our No. 2 swimmers stepped up, for both the boys and girls,” said Laurel Highlands coach Ed Yauger. “We had a bunch of PRs, and Emily Yarish (200 IM) and the 200 medley relay had school records.”
“This is what you want at the end of the season.”
The season is over for Connellsville, but Uniontown and Laurel Highlands meet again on Thursday. Then, the two Uniontown schools will participate in the Section 3-AA meet Friday at Elizabeth-Forward.