Norwin notebook: Track teams make themselves at home atop podium

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, May 3, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Previous Next

The track and field teams continue to highlight the “win” in Norwin.

Another impressive showing in a series this season came at the Westmoreland County Coaches Association Championships at Latrobe.

The boys and girls teams won titles, while a laundry list of individuals grabbed gold medals.

Ryan Schiller broke meet and school records in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles to earn track MVP, while Jeremiah Francis grabbed field MVP despite no wins. Brandi Brozeski won the 100 hurdles and triple jump, Annie Czajkowski was first in the 800 and 1,600, and Melani Schmidt won the 200 and 400.

Schmidt was named track MVP.

The Norwin boys’ 1,600 relay was a winner, with Schiller as the anchor leg. The girls 1,600 team also won.

Other winners from Norwin included Thomas Gaydos (3,200) and Callum Turner (discus).

Knights in a groove

There is a reason the Norwin baseball team moved into the TribLive HSSN Class 6A rankings.

The No. 2 Knights pieced together a seven-game winning streak to move to 10-6 overall and 6-3 in Section 2 with four regular-season games to play.

The streak included a pair of nonsection wins against formidable opponents. They edged past Class 5A Latrobe, 3-2, and blanked North Hills, 3-0.

Brayden Wardzinski picked up the win and drove in a run, Nate Silberman went 2 for 3 with a triple and RBI, and Trevor Vitsas also tripled against Latrobe.

Against North Hills, Caden Sivrich allowed one hit across six innings and struck out seven, and Vitsas and Ben Geissler each had two hits in the crisp shutout.

Fresh faces

A number of freshmen are making an impact for Westmoreland County softball teams. These are players local fans will be watching for years to come.

Norwin has one of them in talented catcher Makenna Black, who bats clean-up for the Knights.

“She is still raw in some areas,” Norwin coach Brian Mesich said. “But you can see her potential. By the time she is a senior, she is going to be a big-time player.”

Tennis playoffs

The WPIAL boys tennis playoffs began April 28.

Norwin earned the No. 12 seed in the Class 3A bracket and lost 5-0 to No. 5 Fox Chapel in the first round.

Norwin (8-4) finished third in Section 1 behind Gateway and Franklin Regional. Fox Chapel (10-2) won the Section 3 title by one game over Shady Side Academy.

College scene

Updates on Norwin college athletes:

Baseball

Mercyhurst: Senior Jayden Walker went 3 for 4 with two doubles and a home run but the Lakers fell to Wagner, 6-5.

Pitt: Junior Jake Kendro hit a home run as the Panthers scored 16 unanswered runs to beat Mercyhurst, 16-6.

Softball

Clarion: Sophomore pitcher Angelina Pepe pitched six scoreless innings, scattered six hits and did not issue a walk, improving to 3-4 on the season as the Golden Eagles beat IUP, 5-2.

Maine: Freshman shortstop Bailey Snowberger is hitting .265 in 40 starts with 18 runs, seven doubles, a homer and 17 RBIs. She has hit safely in seven of her last 10 games.

Saint Vincent: Freshman Josey Michalski had game-winning hits on both ends of a doubleheader sweep of Waynesburg to keep the Bearcats’ playoff hopes alive. She ripped a walk-off double in the opener, a 3-2 victory, and had a two-run double in the sixth inning of a 4-2 win in Game 2. SVC (21-15, 9-9) won five in a row.

Men’s golf

Geneva: Sophomore Ryan Edwards shot a career-low 73 in the third round of the PAC Championships in Boardman, Ohio. The score tied him for the fifth-best round in program history. The former Norwin basketball point guard made eight straight pars to close out his round.

Women’s track and field

Edinboro: Junior Bernadette Zukina ran the 400-meter dash in a school-record time of 55.13 seconds for a victory at the Paul Kaiser Classic at Shippensburg. Zukina also took second in the 200 in 25.25 seconds.

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

Tags: Norwin