Baldwin high school sports notebook: Spirit team takes 4th at Hershey

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, January 28, 2018 | 10:12 AM

Notebook Items from around the Baldwin-Whitehall sports landscape:

• The Baldwin cheerleaders placed fourth in the medium squad division at the recent PIAA competitive spirit championships at Hershey's Giant Center.

St. Hubert's from Philadelphia took first place with 90.23 points, followed by Springfield (88.10), Johnstown (83.97), Baldwin (80.90) and North Allegheny (80.53).

“It was a new division for us as we've always competed in large,” said Taryn Madden, who shares Baldwin's coaching duties with Dena Mihalsky. “But we feel like we held our own with some really tough teams in medium, including the defending UCA national champions (St. Hubert's).

“We did not have our best performance on Day 1, and the girls worked their hardest to have their best performance by far this season on Day 2. We were very happy with the results and are looking forward to nationals.”

Seniors Kaitlyn Joyce, Sarah Dempsey and Leila Crawford serve as co-captains of Baldwin's competitive squad. Emma Hampsay is a varsity team captain.

Other team members consist of juniors Erin Winkowski, Carly Utzig and Hannah Barker; sophomores Kathy Nguyen, Grace Vavro, Olivia Lucas, Olivia Kniola, Olivia Rossa, Sophia Cavatio, Paige Young, Erin Fader, Alaina Wodarek and twins Abby Zuder and Emma Zuder; plus freshmen Sydney Smarsh, Taylor Mincin, Christianna Martinez and Grace Hampton.

Baldwin will compete Feb. 10-11 at the National High School Cheerleading Championship at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. The national championship will be televised on ESPN and ESPN2.

• Haili Cordell and Hanna Kalwarski competed as silver division gymnasts for Baldwin at the recent Moon Invitational, and Julia Stipetic was a bronze division participant.

Cordell and Kalwarski posted all-around scores of 33.175 and 31.2, respectively.

“Baldwin did not have an entire team there because of the state cheerleading competition in Hershey,” said Jodi Cummings, who coaches the Baldwin and Thomas Jefferson gymnasts.

• The Baldwin boys basketball team defeated North Allegheny, 62-51, on Jan. 20 at the 10-team North Allegheny Invitational.

The Highlanders were led by senior guard Nick Fiumara and senior forward Mike Goga, who netted 15 points apiece; along with senior guard Jeremy Jenkins, who added 13 points with four 3-pointers.

Juniors Shane Gilbert, Andy Sopato and Christian Barr, plus freshman Connor Lavelle, rounded out scoring for Baldwin.

• Baldwin seniors Nick Lachut (pole vault) and Laurel Bristow (shot-put) had first-place finishes at the Tri-State Track Coaches Association's first indoor meet of the season Jan. 20 at Edinboro.

Ray Fisher is a freelance writer.

Tags: Baldwin