Gateway track and field athletes look toward promising 2025 season

By: Michael Love
Sunday, March 30, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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The calendar has turned from March to April, and the leading athletes on the Gateway track and field teams are working to take that next step in their development while others are honing their talents to what they hope is a breakout 2025 season.

Veteran coach Tom LaBuff and his coaching staff got another chance to see where his mix of youth and experience stood in a traditional early-season section meet against Plum and Penn Hills on March 26 at Antimarino Stadium.

The boys split the tri-meet, falling to Plum, 80-70, while rolling past Penn Hills, 104-39.

“It’s still early, but we have the potential to be a pretty good (boys) team with some really solid leaders at the top,” LaBuff said.

“Plum did a nice job. They have a lot of depth. We couldn’t hurt them where they were weak. We have a number of guys who are developing. It’s just a matter of getting them more experience. We should be a much stronger team in a couple of weeks. We have good numbers and a lot of good athletes. They are learning. We have a group of five high jumpers that should clear 6 feet by the time the year is out, but right now, they are struggling to make 5-2.”

Part of that building strength, LaBuff said, could come from the return of senior Kenny Lewis.

The sprinter suffered a significant knee injury early in the football season. It has been seven months since the injury, and his rehab efforts have brought him to where he has been cleared to come back to the track.

“We have nice depth in the sprints. By the end of the year, we’ll probably be able to have two 400 relay teams under 44 flat,” LaBuff said. “Not many teams will be able to do that. Without Kenny now, we don’t have that elite sprinter. There is a sophomore, Jayden Stammer, who is running well and learning to relax and sprint. We have a number of guys who can run (the 100) in the low 11s.

“With Kenny coming back, we’re going to be all that much stronger. He’s coming off major knee surgery, so we are being pretty cautious with him. But he’s worked so hard to be able to make it back. He just has a tremendous work ethic.”

Lewis joined returning junior Carlos Diggs as members of last year’s 400 relay which placed 17th at WPIALs.

The 1,600 relay of Diggs, senior Nizaiah Heller and sophomore Michael Howard, along with graduate Caleb Bell, took 15th at the WPIAL championships.

LaBuff said senior Kyrell McCoy can give the Gateway boys a lift in the distance events. McCoy was a standout runner for the Gators’ cross country team.

“Kyrell, like in cross country, has a ton of talent on the track, and he works his tail off,” LaBuff said.

LaBuff was surprised to see the Gateway boys get shut out against Plum in the long jump.

But senior Austin Lockhart had a top attempt of 41 feet, 6½ inches to win the triple jump against the Mustangs.

Lockhart placed fifth in the triple jump at WPIALs last year with a top leap of 43-3.

“He didn’t have his best day against Plum and Penn Hills, but he is expected to be right there again,” LaBuff said.

“There’s also a sophomore who is over 40 in the triple. Again, with the jumps, it comes down to getting that experience.”

Experience is on the side of senior thrower Dino Nadarevic who is coming off a highly successful indoor season where he won the shot put title at the Tri-State championships and placed second in the event at states.

Nadarevic was a double medalist at the WPIAL outdoor championships last year with a fourth in the shot and fifth in the discus.

This spring, school records are on his mind, and he secured one in the opener with Hempfield and Connellsville as he threw 172-5 in the discus to surpass the previous record of 172-3 set by Wayne Marinclin in 1973.

Bob Buczkowski owns the shot put record, a 63-1½ from 1982.

“He was 57-6 last year,” LaBuff said. “I am confident he can get to 60 feet. It’s just a matter of whether he can pop one for the record.”

LaBuff said the girls team is thinner than the boys in a number of areas on the track and in the field which makes it difficult to win many dual meets.

Plum topped Gateway, 110-40. The Gators did defeat Penn Hills, 98-25.

LaBuff said sophomore Jace Smith in the sprints and 300 intermediate hurdles and fellow sophomore Kalee Kellman in both the 100 and 300 hurdles and in the sprint relays are hoping to take that next step after promising debut varsity seasons in 2024.

“I believe Jace got personal bests in both the 100 and 200 (March 21 against Hempfield and Connellsville),” LaBuff said.

“She works so hard. She’s a good No. 1 sprinter. She hasn’t had the chance to run the intermediate hurdles yet, but she ran a 50 flat last year. She has a lot of potential there. Both she and Kalee should have pretty good seasons.”

LaBuff said freshman Anaiya Bell is looking for good things in the 200 and 400 and also the sprint relays.

“She is learning what it is like to run track at the high school level,” he said. “She is coming along really nicely.”

Another freshman, Piper Munyon, LaBuff said, is rounding into shape in the solo distance events.

“There is just so much potential there with her,” he said. “We’re solid on the track, but we just have no depth right now.”

LaBuff said there is potential in the field events among youth and inexperience.

Senior Taniya Denson has shown team leadership in her final varsity season. LaBuff said her sights are focused on a return trip to WPIALs in the pole vault. Denson also is making her mark in the javelin.

“She is definitely the star for us in the field right now early in the season,” LaBuff said.

“We’re excited about where she is in the pole vault. She is such an athlete. She’ll go over and toss the javelin 91 feet. She is just working through some sore legs right now.”

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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