Throwers in spotlight for Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association Track and Field Championship

By: Paul Schofield
Tuesday, April 23, 2024 | 9:49 PM

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While throwers headline the 2024 Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association Track and Field Championship on Thursday, there are numerous athletes entered who could be at Shippensburg in more than a month vying for PIAA medals.

Heading into this week’s meet at Latrobe’s Memorial Stadium, the top two Class 3A discus throwers, Hempfield senior Peyton Murray and Penn-Trafford senior Matt Sarnowski,will again do battle. The state’s top female javelin thrower in any classification, Derry junior Sophia Mazzoni (Class 2A), will be eyeing the meet record of 146 feet, 4 inches set by Kiski Area’s Felicia Reid in 2010. Mazzoni already has reached 156-10 this season.

Murray and Sarnowski have gone back and forth being the state’s No. 1 in the discus. Murray currently leads Sarnowski, 186-3 to 185-7. Murray’s best throw was at Shippensburg on April 20, but Sarnowski has won the last two head-to-head battles, including April 13 at the Lady Spartan/Wildcat Invitational at Latrobe.

“I’m looking forward to another battle,” Sarnowski said. “I’m throwing well, and so is Peyton.”

Murray is the reigning county champion in the discus and shot put, and both discus throwers have a shot at the county record of 186-4 set by Hempfield’s Max Adams in 2013.

The top Class 3A javelin thrower — Penn-Trafford’s Logan Kerstetter, who didn’t place in the county meet a year ago — currently leads all WPIAL throwers with a heave of 179-3.

Other returning boys champions are: Norwin junior Nicholas Puskar in the pole vault; Greensburg Central Catholic senior James Brewer in the 300 hurdles; Franklin Regional senior Nathan Collier in the 400; Norwin senior Isaiah Francis in the 800; Norwin junior Ryan Schiller in the 110 hurdles; and Norwin junior Gage Mamie in the triple jump.

The Norwin boys are favored to defend their team title. Senior Luke Denny is the top 400-meter runner in the WPIAL.

The Knights boys and girls defeated Penn-Trafford on Tuesday. It was the girls’ sixth consecutive section title and the boys’ fifth in the last six years.

“It’s one of our goals we set at the beginning of the season,” Norwin coach Tim Van Horn said about winning the section. “Winning the county championship is another goal.

“We have a bunch of kids working hard and are looking forward to competing against the other athletes from the county. This is the time of the year when the kids start preparing for May and the championships.

Other boys to watch include Hempfield senior Caleb Prola in the sprints; Penn-Trafford junior Michael Cheplick in the sprints; Latrobe senior Jacob Pittman and junior Adam Piper in the sprints; Burrell senior Luke Guerrini in the 800; Penn-Trafford junior Jack McGhee in the distance; Hempfield junior Luke Snider in the 3,200; Greensburg Central Catholic sophomore Samir Crosby in the jumps; and Ligonier Valley junior John Jablunovsky in the jumps.

The returning girls winners are Kiski Area senior Eliza Miller in the 800 and 1,600, Norwin senior Rosemary Gaydos in the 3,000 and Norwin junior Brandi Brozeski in the 100 hurdles.

Others to watch include Hempfield senior Grace Iwig in the pole vault and high jump; Hempfield junior Allison DeMatt in the triple jump; Greensburg Central Catholic junior Eva Denis in the long jump; Derry junior Jane Huss in the distance; Franklin Regional junior Abigail Paterline in the 100 hurdles; Latrobe junior Brylee Bodnar; Southmoreland junior Lexi Ohler in the 3,200; Norwin sophomore Annie Czajkowski in the 1,600; and Penn-Trafford senior Amelia Barilla in the 800.

Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association Track and Field

101st Boys and 44th Girls Championship

Where: Memorial Stadium, Latrobe

When: Thursday

Times: Field preliminaries 12:30 p.m.; running preliminaries 1:15 p.m.; running finals 3:30 p.m.

Teams: Belle Vernon, Burrell, Derry, Franklin Regional, Greensburg Central Catholic, Greensburg Salem, Hempfield Area, Kiski Area, Kiski School, Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Southmoreland, Valley and Yough.

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.