Hempfield boys, Norwin girls dominate WCCA cross country meet

By: Paul Schofield
Wednesday, October 8, 2025 | 9:35 PM

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When the WPIAL cross country championships are held in two weeks, the Norwin girls and the Hempfield boys look to be in contention for the Class 3A titles.

Both teams showed why they are top contenders Wednesday during the annual Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association championship at Westmoreland County Community College in Youngwood.

Hempfield senior Jonathan Stetchock won the boys race and led the Spartans to the team title. Hempfield finished with 29 points and had six runners in the top 11.

Stetchock finished in 15 minutes, 54.4 seconds, just a second off his personal record.

“I had my eye on this title since I was a freshman,” Stetchock said. “It was a tough race. We were all running together until the last quarter mile. I went out a little slower than I expected, but overall, I am happy with my time.”

Because Stetchock has one of the fastest 800 times in the field, he used his kick to pull away.

“It was a good team win,” Stetchock said. “This meet is building towards the WPIALs. That is where our focus is on.”

Norwin’s Benjamin McBridge was second, running a 15:57.9, Latrobe’s Charlie Heese was third and Kiski Area senior Sam Plazio, a two-time winner (2022, ’23) placed fourth for the second consecutive year.

“I ran a really good race overall,” McBride said. “But Jonathan has a good kick. I was more patient this race. My focus is on WPIALs.”

Norwin was second with 44 points, and Latrobe was third with 107.

Hempfield’s Ryan Ewing, Isaiah Bittner and Carter Moody finished fifth, sixth and seventh. Norwin’s Owen Rankin and Declan O’Donnell were eighth and ninth, and Hempfield’s Troy Payne and Jacob Halsted were 10th and 11th.

“Jonathan is an incredible runner,” Ewing said. “He works very hard, and we run together for a warmup. He is very encouraging to others.”

Plazio said he did not run poorly. The competition simply is a lot stronger.

“Last year I had a hip injury,” Plazio said. “The competition has gotten better. I am not satisfied. I was hoping to break 16.”

Plazio’s time was 16:16.2.

The Norwin girls were more impressive as they had the first six girls cross the finish line.

Senior Annie Czajkowski turned in a winning time of 18:52. Jillian Ryba, Emily Dansak, Anna Dansak, Addison Farrah and Kaelyn Lazar followed her.

“Our goal was to run together,” Czajkowski said. “That was coach’s instructions. He said to just take the first mile together, and that is what we did.

“It was honestly so fun because I just knew they were all around me.”

Czajkowski said she is excited about WPIALs and PIAAs. The Knights finished second last year at WPIALs.

Kiski Area’s Kelsi Lott and Marie Roberts were seventh and eighth, Hempfield’s Sofia Weimer was ninth, and Greensburg Salem’s Lucy Giovannelli was 10th.

Norwin finished with 15 points, Kiski Area was second with 63 and Hempfield was third with 80.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.