1. Sports Section BMonday, April 25, 2016Live game updates @HSSports01
By Jim Downey
jdowney@heraldstandard.com
FARMINGTON — Over 600 partici-
pants decided to forego sleeping in on
Sunday, instead opting to course up
Interstate 40 East on a magnificent,
sunny morning.
Some faster, some slower, but all
with the same goal in mind: com-
plete the 34th annual Mount Summit
Challenge.
Pittsburgh’s Matt Lipsey, adorned
in red, white and blue racing shorts,
and Ohiopyle’s Brynn Cunningham
were the fastest of the 251 runners
up the 3.5-mile course, while Mason-
town’s Amanda Martin and Young-
wood’s Jason Lohr completed the
course faster than any of the other
362 walkers.
Hopwood’s Christopher Martin
won the Cruisers (175-199 pounds),
while Dunbar’s Charles Wortman
was the champion Clydesdale (200-
plus pounds) runner.
Lipsey completed the course that
winds from Hopwood to the historic
Summit Inn in 25:07. Fellow Pitts-
burgher Doug Basinski was second
in 27:13, while Venetia’s Stu Bewick
was third in 28:26.
Uniontown track coach Matt Girod
was in the mix early, but settled
back into fifth place overall with a
time of 29 minutes. Monessen’s Bob
Nedley was in fourth place, finishing
six seconds ahead of Girod.
“I got passed at the end,” said
Girod of Nedley’s finish. “I saw the
runner in third place. He was around
I guess I’ve really set the
bar pretty low when the most
excitement I experienced in
the 34th Mount Summit Chal-
lenge was when I saw where
the race would finish.
Yes, I did say where, not
how or when.
The past couple years the
finish of the 3.5-mile race
from Hopwood to the Summit
Inn concluded in the parking
lot below the front entrance.
One last bit of torturous up-
grade after a whole course of
it.
But, as I passed the lookout
and glanced to the finish 880
yards away, I saw crowds
gathered outside the lower
drive below the pool.
Yes!!!
Unbeknownst to me,
Uniontown football coach
John Fortugna was charging
hard over the final half-mile
and passed me on the afore-
mentioned downgrade finish,
one second ahead of me to
drop me to 26th place in the
field of 362 walkers.
At that point it really didn’t
matter, but 25th has a much
nicer ringer than 26th place.
Kudos to John for powering
through the finish.
As I was approaching the
3-mile mark, a man was ca-
joling his son to keep moving.
I pulled out a gem I used with
the nephews and niece.
“See that pine tree up
PITTSBURGH (AP)
— Sidney Crosby danced
through the neutral zone,
slipped across the New
York Rangers’ blue line
and waited for help. It
arrived in the form of a
blurring No. 43 black-
and-gold jersey, the one
worn by a player whose
speed and relentlessness
propelled him from
prospect to unlikely cat-
alyst for a Stanley Cup
contender in all of five
months.
On the surface, it
would seem impossible
that Conor Sheary would
call for a pass from one
of the best players in
the world and deliver a
sizzling wrist shot that
sailed over Henrik Lun-
dqvist’s glove and into
the top corner of the net
to help the Pittsburgh
Penguins exorcise two
years of postseason
misery, which is just
what the 23-year-old did
in Saturday’s playoff
series-clinching 6-3
victory.
Barely two years re-
moved from a solid if
not spectacular college
career at Massachusetts,
Sheary now finds himself
playing alongside Crosby
and Patric Hornqvist
on the top line of a team
heading into the Eastern
Conference semifinals
with some serious
momentum after van-
quishing the Rangers
in five mostly one-sided
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona
pitcher Shelby Miller played left
field and chased after Sean Rodri-
guez’s go-ahead double in the 13th
inning before striking out to end the
game, and the Pittsburgh Pirates
beat the Diamondbacks 12-10 on
Sunday.
Miller had to play the outfield
after shortstop Nick Ahmed was
ejected in the 12th for arguing balls
and strikes. Miller is the first Dia-
mondback pitcher to play a position
and the first major leaguer to do so
since Jason Gurka played right field
for the Colorado Rockies on Sept.
15, STATS said.
The Pirates had a season-high 20
hits and built a five-run lead after
three innings, but Arizona scored
twice in the eighth and Paul Gold-
schmidt tied it in the ninth with a
two-run homer, his second of the
game.
Pittsburgh scored twice in the
12th to go up 10-8, but Neftali Feliz
(1-0) couldn’t hold that lead.
Rodriguez lined his double off
Newfacesmakinginstant
impactduringPenguins’surge
Associated Press
Pittsburgh Penguins’ Trevor Daley, center, celebrates with
goalie Matt Murray (30) and teammates after a 6-3 win
over the New York Rangers in Pittsburgh, Saturday.
Jim Downey
Pens, Page B5
Lipsey, Cunningham win annual 5K
Martin, Lohr first
walkers to finish
Lori C. Padilla
Above left: The first male runner and overall winner of the Mount
Summit Challenge was Matt Lipsey with a winning time of 25:07.
Above right: The first female runner to cross the finish line Sunday
was Brynn Cunningham. Cunningham’s winning time was 30:32.
Top: Runners take off at the start of the 33rd annual Summit
Challenge, a 3.5-mile ascent toward the Summit along Route 40
on Sunday morning.
Ascending
theSummit
Summit, Page B6
Time flies when walking up the Summit
Time, Page B6
PiratesbeatD-backsin13
Associated Press
Pittsburgh Pirates’ Josh Harrison shouts in
celebration after scoring a run against the
Arizona Diamondbacks during the 13th inning,
Sunday, in Phoenix. The Pirates defeated the
Diamondbacks 12-10.Pirates, Page B4
Roberto M. Esquivel
|Herald-Standard