Lady Falcons strong in field events for 93-56 victory
CONNELLSVILLE – The Connellsville girls swept the field events Tuesday afternoon as the Lady Falcons opened the Section 2-AAA schedule with a 93-56 victory over visiting Albert Gallatin at Connellsville Stadium.
Hannah Jones (long jump, triple jump) and Allison Painter (discus, javelin) won two events, while Khyler Tony (high jump), Halie Pletcher (pole vault), and Madelynn Johnson (shot put) secured 35 first-place points in the field events.
Zoey Thomas anchored the Lady Falcons’ 3,200 relay to a first-place finish in 12:05, and placed second in the 800.
Thomas had a solid cross country season last fall, placing fifth in the county meet.
“Track’s not my thing. I like cross country. I’m definitely better at cross country than track,” said Thomas. “I get nervous. I don’t think it’s pressure. I’m more nervous for this than cross country.”
With that in mind, Thomas set her outlook for her junior track season.
“I’d like to try the two-mile. I like longer distances,” said Thomas, adding, “Honestly, I want to run a 2:30 in the 800 and beat some runners.”
Sophia Morrison (100 high hurdles), Pletcher (100), and Lily Show (300 intermediate hurdles) had first-place finishes on the track for the Lady Falcons.
The Lady Colonials’ Mia Medved won two races, finishing first in the 800 (2:28) and 1,600 (5:24), and ran the first leg of the 1,600 relay that won in 4:44.
“I knew I worked hard the last couple months, so I wanted to go, push it and see what I could do,” explained Medved. “Today, I just wanted to see where I’m at. I’m in a lot better running shape than I was last year.
“I PR’d a lot in the 800, by 10 seconds. and , I PR’d in the mile by 16 seconds.”
Medved had an interesting approach to her races.
“It was more racing myself from last year,” said Medved, adding with a smile, “I beat myself (from last year) by a lot.”
The junior has her sights set on a big season.
“I log all my runs in a journal. I just recently started that. I put in all my PRs and I set goals this year,” said Medved. “And, it’s really nice to see them actually happen.
“I want to run 5:20 (in the 1,600). That’s four seconds (faster), which I think I can do.
“I don’t normally do the 800. That’s not my race, but I think it would be cool to get around 2:20.”
Teammate Grayce Panos also had two first-place finishes, winning the 400 (1:09) and 200 (29.2). Veronica Conn won the 3,200 in 14:19.