Hempfield boys, Norwin girls set sights on PIAA cross country gold

By: Paul Schofield
Thursday, October 30, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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When Hempfield cross country coach Jeff Mayo first met his team in 2022, he knew this was a special group.

Four years later, Mayo’s view was spot on.

Hempfield won its first WPIAL Class 3A cross country title Oct. 23, and it heads to Hershey for the PIAA championships Saturday.

Can the Spartans make more history?

They finished with 67 points to win the WPIAL team title. North Allegheny followed with 79, and Norwin was third with 108. Norwin sophomore Ben McBride was the WPIAL champion.

This is the fourth boys team from Hempfield to qualify for the state championship. Ron Colland was the coach of the three previous teams.

Mayo said the group was dedicated and bought into the system.

“We have been talking to them since the five were freshmen about how good they were going to be and working throughout the summer,” Mayo said. “Two of them were on the varsity: Ryan Ewing and Jonathan Stetchock. They crushed everybody when they were freshmen.”

When the Spartans won the Red, White and Blue Invitational earlier this fall, they showed the WPIAL that they were the team to beat.

“It was our time to shine,” Mayo said.

Stetchock (15 minutes, 37.50 seconds) finished second at the WPIAL championships last week, and Ewing (15:48.80) was seventh.

It is also the first time Hempfield had two runners run less than 16 minutes in a race.

Senior Isaiah Bittner was 16th, junior Troy Payne was 18th and senior Carter Moody was 24th. Other runners were junior Jacob Halsted (45th) and sophomore Blake Rumbaugh (75th).

“They kind of built a bond with each other,” Mayo said. “We talked to them about running in the summer and indoor and outdoor track.

“Last year, we had an injury that derailed us. We might have qualified for states if Troy Payne did not get hurt.”

Stetchock helped the Spartans win the Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association championship, two invitational titles, a third-place finish at another and their first section title in more than a decade.

Stetchock said it means the world to win the WPIAL title.

“This has been in our sights for years, and to finally accomplish it, it is the best thing I could wish for,” Stetchock said. “Ryan and I have been on varsity since our freshman year.

“The juniors and seniors have grown up together. We have excelled with each other, and we are one big family.”

Two Hempfield girls qualified for states.

Senior Chesnee Smith placed eighth, and freshman Sofia Weimer placed 16th. They ran two of the fastest times in Hempfield history.

Smith set a girls school record. Her time of 18:39.20 was better than multiple individual WPIAL champions such as Chrissy Schneider (1993-1995), Stacy Bouchard (1996) and Lauren Brinker (1999-2001).

Bouchard’s time of 18:47 at the 1997 PIAA championship when she finished second was the previous fastest.

Weimer ran the fastest time by a freshman with a 19:07.30.

The Norwin girls are also looking for PIAA gold after winning their second WPIAL title.

What makes the Knights strong is their ability to run as a pack.

They crushed the competition at White Oak, finishing with 36 points. Fox Chapel was second with 93 points.

Senior Annie Czajkowski looks to bounce back from a tough race in the WPIAL finals when the race favorite finished fifth overall.

Junior Emily Dansak led the Knights with a third-place finish. Junior Jillian Ryba was sixth, junior Addison Farrah was 13th and junior Anna Dansak was 14th.

Other runners were junior Kaelyn Lazar (23rd) and junior Ciera Berthelsen (73rd).

“We were looking to run strong as a group, and they definitely did not disappoint,” Norwin coach Brian Fleckenstein said. “They came through. All seven girls ran really strong, and that was the key.

“Annie did not have a good day, but the others picked her up.”

The WPIAL champions looking for PIAA gold are Hampton junior Rebekah Hall (2A girls), Quaker Valley junior Jonah Montagnese (2A boys), South Fayette sophomore Angela Hall (3A girl), Shady Side Academy junior Charlotte Barker (A girls) and Sewickley Academy sophomore Zachary Sharara (A boys).

PIAA cross country

Where: Parkview Cross Country course, Hershey

When: Saturday: Class A girls 9:30 a.m., 2A girls 10:15 a.m., 3A girls 11 a.m., A boys 11:45 a.m., 2A boys 12:30 p.m., 3A boys 1:15 p.m.

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.

Tags: Hempfield, Norwin