Red Raiders, Falcons open with Section 2-AAA meet sweep
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
Uniontown’s Cooper Gilleland (left) and Parker King grab the early lead in Tuesday’s Section 2-AAA meet at Connellsville. Gilleland finished first with a time of 17:56.
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
The Falcons’ Jonah Lindstrom turns towards the finish line in Tuesday’s Section 2-AAA meet held at Connellsville. Lindstrom placed second with a time of 18:19.
CONNELLSVILLE — Uniontown’s boys cross country team lost most of its top runners to graduation, so the pacesetter role is open for one of the returnees to step up.
Cooper Gilleland made a move to fill those shoes Tuesday afternoon with his first-place finish in a Section 2-AAA meet hosted by Connellsville.
Connellsville, Uniontown and Albert Gallatin ran against West Mifflin and McKeesport with the Titans, Tigers and Colonials not having enough runners to field a full squad.
The Falcons and Red Raiders won 15-50 decisions against West Mifflin and McKeesport, while Albert Gallatin did not score against either team.
Gilleland cruised around Connellsville’s course in 17:56.
“I wanted to stay off (the pace) of my teammate Parker (King) and then hopefully outsprint him at the end,” explained Gilleland. “I really pushed the down hills and got a big gap.
“I was not expecting first place. I wanted anything better than 18:30.”
While King dropped off the pace, Connellsville’s Jonah Lindstrom kept applying the pressure in second place.
“I was listening to everyone. I was looking back (on the field). That kept me going, it pushed me a lot,” said Gilleland.
Uniontown doesn’t have a take-charge runner as of yet, so the Red Raiders’ pack mentality will likely take the lead this fall.
“We have a very good, younger group helping us with our gap time,” said Gilleland.
Lindstrom placed second with a time of 18:19.
“I tried to stick with the Uniontown runners. I was looking for Parker and Cooper, and then Cooper stepped it up around 1¼, 1½ into the race,” said Lindstrom. “He pulled ahead. That was awesome.”
Lindstrom was quite please with his run.
“I improved by 40 seconds. The goal I set today was to really push myself,” closed Lindstrom.
Uniontown’s Ethan Syner (3, 18:38), King (4, 18:48), Donta Rugola (7, 19:15), Logan Davis (8, 19:22), and Chase King (9, 19:38), Connellsville’s Elijah Saylor (5, 19:00) and Jonathan Mariotti (10, 19:50), and McKeesport’s Cameron Goldinger (6, 19:11) rounded out the top-10 finishes.