Norwin notebook: Knights shine at WCCA championships

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, May 6, 2023 | 11:01 AM

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Previous Next

Norwin sent a message to the rest of the WPIAL at the 100th Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association track and field championships April 27, at Latrobe.

That message?

The Knights are for real — and they are WPIAL title contenders.

The boys and girls teams won titles at the county meet, led by numerous outstanding individual performances.

Eight boys won championships, including Isaiah Kline in the high jump (6 feet, 5 inches), Ryan Schiller in the 110-meter hurdles (15.44 seconds), Isaiah Francis in the 800 (3:03.07), Nick Puskar in the pole vault (14-8), Greg Mamie in the triple jump (41-7) and Trey Huha in the 200 (22.98).

The 3,200-meter relay of Francis, Theodore Ola, Luke Simpson and Hayden Douglas also won gold in 8:19.49, while the 400 relay of Eliezer Nicolas, Carter Tobin, Collin Gunzburger and Huha also was a winner in 44.21.

Anthony Petrulo took second in the shot put (50-3).

The girls posted five individual wins: Hannah Shaw in the pole vault (12-3), Ashley Laukus in the high jump (5-3), Brandi Brozeski in the 100 hurdles (15.95), Rosemary Gaydos in the 3,200 (11:40.93) and Nataiah Robertson in the long jump (17-0.75).

Shaw’s mark was a personal record.

Wrestling news

A pair of Norwin wrestlers, representing the Knights Regional Training Center, earned top-10 finishes, and All-American honors, at the USA Wrestling U17 World Team Trials.

Landon Sidun bounced back from a first-round loss to win eight straight matches and finish third at 51 KG.

Bode Marlow, meantime, wrestled back to an eighth-place finish at 75 KG.

Other Knights competing at the event included Aiden Pham, who went 1-2, and Braedon Welsh, who made the top 16.

Team tennis playoffs begin

The Norwin boys tennis team was set to open the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs on May 3.

The Knights were the No. 12 seed and played No. 5 Shady Side Academy. The winner moved on to face the winner of No. 13 Mars and No. 4 Upper St. Clair.

Volleyball wins

Norwin’s boys volleyball team moved closer to a playoff berth in WPIAL Class 3A with an impressive win over county rival Hempfield.

The Knights sprinted to a 3-0 victory (25-13, 25-12, 27-25) as Jackson Genicola notched 13 kills, and Troy Horvath handed out 19 assists.

Bombs away

Norwin, the No. 2-ranked team in WPIAL Class 6A softball, sent four more home runs over the fence in a 12-5 win over Pine-Richland.

Madie Kessler went 4 for 4 with two homers and four RBIs, while Alyssa McCormick and Josey Michalski hit solo shots as Norwin moved to 13-3 overall and 11-2 in the section.

Series win

For the second time this season, Norwin baseball took two of three games from an opponent in Section 2-6A.

The Knights (6-10, 6-6) won twice in a three-game series against Central Catholic to move closer to a playoff berth.

They were in fourth place, and the top four qualify.

College scene

Updates on Norwin alums competing in college:

Track and field

Duquesne: Junior Emily Brozeski took fourth in the shot put (12.38 meters) at the Red Flash Open at St. Francis (Pa.).

Waynesburg: Sophomore Megan Barry finished third in the javelin at the PAC Championships with a toss of 35.77 meters.

Baseball

Tennessee: Freshman Jake Kendro put down a sacrifice bunt to knock in a run, and scored, as the Volunteers defeated Ballarmine, 19-1.

He made a start at second base and delivered a run-scoring double in a 10-5 win against No. 2 Vanderbilt.

Kendro had made seven starts in 23 games and was hitting .219 with four doubles, a homer and six RBIs.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Norwin