Gateway notebook: Track and field athletes prepare for WPIAL meet

By: Michael Love
Sunday, May 12, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Coming down the stretch to the WPIAL Class 3A track and field championships at Slippery Rock, there were several qualifying locks among the Gateway boys and girls teams.

There also were a few on the bubble hoping to make the championship meet as the WPIAL takes the top 24 in each Class 3A event.

Norwin and West Mifflin host the traditional last-chance meets each year to give individuals and relays the opportunity to give it one last go to either strengthen their position in the field of their event or record a time, height or distance that will move them into qualifying status.

Gateway coach Tom LaBuff said 25 were set to head to either Norwin or West Mifflin last Thursday or Friday, respectively.

“We normally would only attend one of them, but there are some conflicts with AP tests and prom, so we sent a few to a second meet,” LaBuff said.

Those last-chance efforts, LaBuff said, hopefully led to a strong field of Gators athletes at the championships Wednesday (May 15).

The entry lists were released Monday.

Senior Kiki Pitts, LaBuff said, secured her place in the 100-meter high hurdles with a number of standout performances, especially over the final week or two of the regular season.

LaBuff said the same for the girls 400 free relay which was to run Friday at West Mifflin with the hopes of making it definite.

Junior Kenny Lewis went into the final week of WPIAL preparation, LaBuff said, a lock in the 100 and 200 dashes, along with senior Caleb Bell in the 400, senior Austin Lockhart in the triple jump and junior Dino Nadarevic in the shot and discus.

The boys 400 relay also entered the WPIAL championships with a top-10 time.

The Baldwin Invitational is a staple on the Gateway track schedule every year, and there always are several season-bests or high-level results from Gators athletes at the prestigious event.

Nadarevic earned silver twice as he popped a personal-best throw of 168 feet, 3 inches in the discus, just four feet shy of the school record of 172-3 set 51 years ago.

He was a little off his season-best in the shot as he threw 52-3½. His top attempt was just seven inches shy of the title. Hempfield senior Peyton Murray won with a throw of 52-10.5.

Nadarevic’s best in the shot was a 57-6 recorded in winning the event at the South Fayette Invitational on April 27.

Pitts medaled in sixth in the 100 hurdles with a season-best 15.84, a half second off the school record of 15.3 set by Andresa Snyder in 1985 and by Jahniah MCallister in 2014.

She went under 16 seconds after running a 16.10 (seventh) in the preliminaries and was just 14 one-hundredths of a second away from fourth.

Pitts also eclipsed 48 seconds in the 300 hurdles as she raced to a season-best 47.93 for eighth overall.

As he did earlier in the season, Lewis surpassed 11 seconds in the 100 dash. His 10.99 in the finals put him sixth overall in a blazing-fast field that was separated by 38 one-hundredths from first (10.90) to eighth (11.33).

Lewis took bronze in the 200, racing to a time of 22.62, just off his season best off 22.52 at a section tri-meet with Franklin Regional and Woodland Hills.

Bell turned on the speed in the 400 as he took third with a season-best time of 50.64.

He and Lewis helped the 400 relay with Jonathan Nelson and Carlos Diggs place fifth (43.28).

Also bringing home podium honors was the 1,600 relay of Bell, Diggs, Michael Howard and Lemuel Nortey (seventh, 3:33.83).

Gateway baseball sweeps Penn Hills

It wasn’t quite the season the players of the Gateway baseball team had hoped, but a sweep of Penn Hills on May 6 and 7 to wrap up Section 1-5A play helped lift the Gators past the Indians and into a tie for fifth with Armstrong in a rugged Section 1-5A.

Gateway opened Game 1 with seven runs in the bottom of the first. Junior center fielder/pitcher Myles Beavin cleared the bases with a triple in the outburst, while senior Ahmad Harris, sophomore Grady Dunsmore and freshman Jon Saunders added RBIs.

The Gators were held off the scoreboard the rest of the way, but the seven runs were more than enough for senior Noah Colberg, who surrendered three hits and two walks while striking out five over six innings. Beavin came on to strike out the side in the seventh to earn the save.

Saunders (five innings) and Beavin (two innings) combined to scatter five hits and strike out nine with just one walk in Gateway’s 6-0 win in Game 2. The Gators offense produced 10 hits.

Dunsmore went 3 for 4 with two doubles and two RBIs, while Harris doubled and drove in a run for Gateway which scored once in the second, three times in the third and twice in the fourth.

Gateway and Armstrong split their season series, and both finished 3-9.

In a rare occurrence at the top of the standings, Plum, Fox Chapel, Franklin Regional and Penn-Trafford finished in a four-way tie for the section title. Each went 9-3 and was 3-3 against the other three teams in the co-champion quartet.

The Gators were 4-11 overall heading into their season finale Thursday against McKeesport.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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