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In good Grace: Trimmer leads Lady Raiders to Section 2-AAA title

By Jim Downey 3 min read
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UniontownĢƵ Grace Trimmer (right) leads the field at the start of the Section 2-AAA meet Thursday afternoon at Mingo Creek Park. Trimmer cruised to a first-place finish in 19:38.
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Laurel Highlands’ Isabella Baker maintains her pace in the second half of ThursdayĢƵ Section 2-AAA meet at Mingo Creek Park. Baker finished second in a time of 21:19.
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ConnellsvilleĢƵ Abigail Zavatchan leads a line of runners through the Mingo Creek Park course in ThursdayĢƵ Section 2-AAA meet.
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RinggoldĢƵ Emma Bartkus works her way through her home course at Mingo Creek Park in ThursdayĢƵ Section 2-AAA meet.
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ConnellsvilleĢƵ Hannah TInkey runs in ThursdayĢƵ Section 2-AAA meet at Mingo Creek Park.
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ConnellsvilleĢƵ Zoey Thomas holds a slight lead on Laurel Highlands’ Ally Mattey in the first half of Thursday's Section 2-AAA meet at Mingo Creek Park.
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Albert GallatinĢƵ Mia Medved runs through the first half of the Mingo Creek Park course in ThursdayĢƵ Section 2-AAA meet. Medved withdrew midway through the race.
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ConnellsvilleĢƵ Zoey Thomas sprints down the last hill during ThursdayĢƵ Section 2-AAA meet at Mingo Creek Park.

FINLEYVILLE – UniontownĢƵ Grace Trimmer missed most of the season while in concussion protocol, but she returned in time to help her teammates secure the Section 2-AAA title on Thursday at Mingo Creek Park.

Trimmer breezed to a first-place finish in 19:38 on her first time on the course. She ran her first race last week at Connellsville and is just happy to be doing what she enjoys.

“I’m glad to be back,” Trimmer said with a big smile. “I am trying to take it slowly. ItĢƵ been really rough. I feel like I’m back with my lungs.

“It was so frustrating for four weeks. I couldn’t run over a mile. It was agony just sitting there.”

Trimmer noted she improved over last weekĢƵ run at Connellsville.

“I did feel better today than I did last week at Connellsville,” said Trimmer. “I’ll take that break so I can peak at the right time.”

Laurel Highlands’ Isabella Baker was second in 21:19 and teammate Taylor Schwertfeger was third in 21:54.

“ItĢƵ nice to have Grace back. ItĢƵ nice to have that person ahead of you to push you,” said Baker.

Baker ran the course recently and picked up a pointer or two on where and how to attack.

“I learned to go out a little quicker and pick up time on the hills,” said Baker. “The hills are worse on the way back.

“My goal was to PR today and I had a five-second PR.”

Baker has her sights set on the district meet.

“My goal is to get my time down in the 20:30s by the WPIAL meet,” said Baker.

Connellsville freshman Abigail Zavatchan was fourth with a time of 22:12.

Uniontown began its run to clinch the section title by taking five of the next six finishers.

Arrington Scott (5, 22:18), Charley Murtha (6, 22:35), Paisley Murtha (7, 22:36), Hannah Foster (9, 22:56), and Emma Young (10, 23:10) all had top-10 finishes.

The Lady Raiders defeated Albert Gallatin (15-50), Connellsville (18-45), Ringgold (16-47), and Laurel Highlands (23-37) to finish with an 8-0 record.

Laurel Highlands picked up wins against Albert Gallatin (15-50), Ringgold (25-30), and Connellsville (25-30) to close with a 6-2 record. Ringgold edged Connellsville (27-29) and beat Albert Gallatin (15-50) for a 3-5 record.

The Lady Falcons defeated Albert Gallatin, 15-50, for a 5-3 record.

Connellsville senior Zoey Thomas was 12th with a time of 24:28 after moving up in the pack throughout the race.

“I picked them off one at a time. I was just passing schools in different jerseys,” said Thomas. “My pace was pretty steady. I picked off people in the second half of the race.

“We wanted to finish with a winning record. There was some pressure, but we went out and did our job.”

With Lily Brenneman nursing an injury, Emma Bartkus was the top finisher for Ringgold in eighth place with a time of 22:39.

Albert GallatinĢƵ Mia Medved was with the leaders, but dropped out midway through the race.

Teammate Ashley Comaty was 15th with a time of 26:19.

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