Lady Rams edge Uniontown for title
CONNELLSVILLE — What was on the line was rather straightforward when the Uniontown, Ringgold, Laurel Highlands and Albert Gallatin girls cross country teams met at Connellsville on a sunny, pleasant Tuesday afternoon.
Uniontown wins over Ringgold and Laurel Highlands meant an undefeated season and the Section 2-AAA title, while the Lady Rams needed to defeat the Lady Raiders, Connellsville and Albert Gallatin.
Led by the 1-2 punch of Sarah Lucas and Janika Hutton, Ringgold swept the quintrangular meet to win its first cross country title since 1992.
Ringgold defeated Connellsville (16-47), Albert Gallatin (16-47), and Uniontown (25-31) to finish with an 8-0 record.
Uniontown (7-1) beat rival Laurel Highlands, 19-38, to take possession of the treasured “Town Cup” given to the winner of the Uniontown-Laurel Highlands meet.
The Fillies (6-2) defeated Connellsville, 20-38, to salvage a split. Connellsville finished with a 4-4 section record and an overall mark of 4-5.
The season-ending meet was the first time Lucas ran on the course, but that didn’t affect her much as she took control of the race before the second lap around on her way to the finish line in 21:04.04.
“(The course) has lots of rolling hills. I wanted to go hard up the hills and take it easy, but go fast on the down,” said Lucas. “After the first mile mark, we went downhill and I told myself I have to get away from these girls.”
As for the section title, a very proud Lucas said, “We wanted to get our name on that banner. We wanted the school to know we do have a cross country team, and we’re good.”
Hutton finished second in 21:45.67, but Madison Bertovich kept Uniontown’s flickering hopes alive when she swept past the Lady Rams’ Autumn Lusk for third place in 21:57.39. In cross country, a 1-2-3 finish guarantees a victory as long as five runners complete the race.
Lusk finished fourth, five seconds behind Bertovich.
Bertovich, a sophomore, was also on the Connellsville course for the first time after missing last year’s meet because of family responsibilities.
“I feel I could’ve done better. My mile splits were a little off. I feel like the last mile I could’ve done a lot better,” said Bertovich. “I didn’t run here last year, but I ran here in junior high. It’s basically the same course. You just do two loops.”
Ringgold had four runners in the top 10 when Kaylee Kassa finished seventh in 22:30.34.
Uniontown’s Celena DeLara (5, 22:15.82) and Megan Kaplan (6, 22:22:52), Connellsville’s Ally Wilson (8, 22:50.65), and Laurel Highlands’ Emily (9, 23:05.47) and Bailey Rohm (23:19.70) rounded out the top 10.
Wilson was looking to beat her school course record set last year when she ran 22:34 as a sophomore. She fell shy of the mark by 16 seconds.
“I hoped to beat my course record from last year. That was my biggest goal, to set it all four years. Oh well, I have one more season,” said Wilson.
As for the race, Wilson said, “They went out hard and pushed the pace. But, I run better races with competition. I ran my hardest.”
Now, attention turns to the annual county meet in just over a week at Penn State Fayette.
“I have nine days until the county meet. Coach (Pat Mullaney) is really pumped for this,” said Wilson. “Three Uniontown girls beat me. That scares me a little bit, but it gives me an idea. I’m really hoping for the top 10 (and all-county honors). I finished 12th last year.”
Albert Gallatin’s Skylar Bogus had a difficult finish, staggering across the finish in 16th place with a time 24:20.82.