Red Raiders harriers sweep Waynesburg
Jim Downey | 缅北禁地
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Daniel Layton works a short downhill on Uniontown鈥檚 course at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, during Tuesday鈥檚 non-section meet against the Red Raiders.
Jim Downey | 缅北禁地
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Daniel Layton works a small hill past alongside the baseball field at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus during Tuesday鈥檚 non-section meet against Uniontown.
Jim Downey | 缅北禁地
Uniontown鈥檚 Cameron Kutek leads teammate Sam Killinger up a small hill alongside the baseball field on the Red Raiders鈥� course on Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, in Tuesday鈥檚 non-section meet against Waynesburg Central.
Uniontown's Madison Bertovich cruises down a small hill during Tuesday's non-section match against Waynesburg Central at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
Uniontown's Cameron Kutek (left) and Sam Killinger lead the field during Tuesday's non-section meet against Waynesburg Central at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
Uniontown's Madison Bertovich looks around a corner on the Red Raiders' course at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus during Tuesday's non-section meet against Waynesburg Central.
The Uniontown boys and girls cross country teams were deeper than visiting Waynesburg Central, and both came away with easy non-section victories at home at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
The Red Raiders defeated the Raiders, 15-48, while the Lady Raiders beat the Waynesburg girls, 15-40.
Uniontown鈥檚 Sam Killinger and Cameron Kutek led most of the race with Killinger pulling away at the end of the race to finish first in 16:49.
Kutek was a close second in 16:52.
鈥淚 was just hoping to get first or a good time. It was a good day,鈥� said Killinger, who accomplished both.
The course on the grounds of Penn State Fayette was altered because of construction on campus, and the altered course was further altered Tuesday due to the combination construction of drainage and rains before the meet.
Uniontown opens the section schedule next Tuesday with Connellsville, Albert Gallatin, West Mifflin and McKeesport.
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping to to do big things this year,鈥� said the junior. 鈥淛ackson Core (from Albert Gallatin) is my main focus.
鈥淚t should be fast races every section meet. That鈥檚 a good thing to carry me to where I want to go.鈥�
Austen Metts (17:12), Ben Witt (17:48), and Logan Maust (18:02) gave Uniontown a sweep of the top five spots.
Ben Bumgarner, the Raiders鈥� top runner from last fall, graduated and now runs at Penn State University. Cade Rush, No. 2, moved to Carlisle. As a matter of fact, seven of the top nine performers from last fall are gone.
The top returnee is junior Daniel Layton, who finished sixth with a time of 18:18.
鈥淚 was not going for anything strong. What we got was pretty good,鈥� Layton said of the first official meet.
As for the top returning runner, Layton said, 鈥淚t feels a little more pressure on you. I鈥檓 the oldest starting returner.鈥�
Layton left the meet and headed off to the Raiders鈥� soccer match at Charleroi.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a little more than a warm-up,鈥� smiled Layton. 鈥淚 prefer running a cross country meet, then play a game.鈥�
Kullen Thorne also had a top-10 finish, placing ninth with a time of 19:02.
Uniontown鈥檚 Madison Bertovich attempted to pace off the boys, finishing 17th overall to be the first girl in 20:23.
鈥淒efinitely, the guys were motivating me. It was helpful,鈥� explained Bertovich. 鈥淲e knew they鈥檙e not too many girls on Waynesburg Central.
鈥淲e just ran this course for the first time yesterday, so it was a new course for us. I knew where I wanted to work. I was working certain areas to see where I need to pick it up. I know now how I want to run it.鈥�
Uniontown鈥檚 Megan Kaplan (22:32), Macy Mills (23:13), Brooke Bertovich (23:18), and Molly Killinger (23:48) round out the top-5 finishers.
Kaitlyn Pester finished 11th for Waynesburg with a time of 25:09.