County’s best set for FCCA T&F Championships

The section schedule came to a close this past week, so attention for many track & field athletes turns to individual pursuits with the goal to advance to the WPIAL and PIAA championships.
The road to those championships begins Saturday at the annual FCCA Track & Field Championships hosted by Laurel Highlands.
Field events begin at 9 a.m., with the track events scheduled to start at 10. Not surprisingly, given the way the spring weather has gone to date, rain is in the projected forecast.
FAT (fully automatic timing) will be used to time all running events, giving the track athletes another opportunity to post a mark for the WPIAL performance lists.
The Connellsville girls and the Uniontown boys are the defending team champions.
The race for the boys’ Track and Field MVPs is wide open with the graduation of the Falcons’ Chris Stahl and Red Raiders’ John Guseman. Connellsville’s Callie Cunningham and Rachael Grimm return to defend their Track MVP honors, with Field MVP Annya Kossol, of Frazier, graduated.
Brownsville’s Gionna Quarzo (1,600, 3,200), Laurel Highlands’ Autumn Buchheit (100 high hurdles), Grimm (400), Cunningham (800), and Frazier’s Khristyne Barch (javelin) are the only returning female individual champions.
The boys competition is also wide open due to graduation. Connellsville’s George Trimbath (400), Mason Franks (pole vault), and Dom Prestipino (800), and Uniontown’s Isaiah Melvin (300 intermediate hurdles) and Sam Killinger (3,200) return to defend their county titles.
Other notables expected to make their mark Saturday include Frazier sprinter Skye Eicher, Brownsville youngsters Tyler Mayers and Jamilah Copeland, along with sisters Sara and Jessica Vance, Laurel Highlands jumper Eli Mitchell, and Connellsville distance runner Logan Gonzales.