Westmoreland County high school notebook: Norwin celebrates indoor track titles

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, March 1, 2025 | 1:01 PM

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The Norwin boys and girls indoor track and field teams are champions for the first time.

Both won titles at the Tri-State Track & Field Coaches Association Championships last weekend at the Edinboro Bubble.

Ryan Schiller won the 60-meter dash in 8.14 seconds, Luke Simpson was first in the mile in 4 minutes, 26.18 seconds, and Nicholas Bogner won the long jump in 21 feet, 5.35 inches to lead the boys.

For the girls, Annie Czajkowski was second in the 3,000-meter run (10:12.64), and the 800 relay of Myla McCabe, Karina Karadus, Autumn Stoken and Melani Schmidt won a title in 1:47.06.

Brandi Brozeski took second in the 60-meter hurdles (9.20), Schmidt was second in the 200 (25.62), and the 3,200 relay of Emily Dansak, Addison Farrah, Jillian Rybe and Czajkowski were third in 9:51.09.

Spring ahead

Official practice for WPIAL spring sports begins Monday around the district. Spring sports are baseball, softball, track and field, boys volleyball, lacrosse and boys tennis.

The Bowen effect

Dustin Shoaf’s hiring as head football coach at Southmoreland shines a light on a local coaching legend and his impact on many coaching exploits.

Rich Bowen, who died in October, coached at a number of local high schools and at Waynesburg University.

He helped to mold the playing and coaching careers of Shoaf (Yough), Ty George (Greensburg Salem), Ben Hoffer (Yough), Nick Keefer (Hempfield), Mike Brown (Norwin) and his son, Sean Bowen (Norwin) — among others.

Bowen’s wife, Denise, is proud of what her late husband accomplished and the number of people he influenced.

“The game is turning over to the next generation,” she said, “and it’s pretty exciting.

“It’s a great time to be a football fan in Western PA.”

All-star hoops

Looking ahead to some postseason basketball all-star events: The Rising Stars Challenge for underclassmen will be May 19, 20, 21 at Rize Sports in Leetsdale. The Roundball Classic for seniors will be May 22, 23, 24, 25 at North Allegheny.

Rosters will be announced at a later date.

Hockey playoffs

With the regular season winding to a close, Penn-Trafford (15-4-1), Latrobe (15-5) and Hempfield (9-10-1) have secured spots in the PIHL Class 2A hockey playoffs.

In Class A, Blue Division leader Burrell (17-2-1) is playoff bound.

The pairings came out this weekend.

No. 6 seed Hempfield will play No. 3 Latrobe at 7:15 p.m. Monday in the quarterfinals at Kirk S. Nevin Arena.

No. 4 Penn-Trafford hosts No. 5 Bishop McCort at 7 p.m. Monday at Palmer Imaging Arena, while No. 2 Burrell plays Elizabeth Forward at 8 p.m. Monday at Pittsburgh Ice Arena.

LV tickets

Ligonier Valley is selling tickets for its athletic hall of fame dinner, which will be 5:30 p.m. April 12 at the Barn in Ligonier. Tickets must be purchased by check via the post office sent to Ligonier Valley High School.

Cost is $60 and they will be sold until March 20.

Contact: Ligonier Valley athletic office, 724-238-9531, extension 608.

Recruiting

• Hempfield lineman Brock Heisler added three more Division I scholarship offers. Two of them are from one state over. Ohio and Miami (Ohio) are courting the 6-foot-3, 255-pound tackle, along with Connecticut, who also offered this weekend.

• Latrobe’s Ryanne Lehman will continue her lacrosse career at Gannon.

• Ashlynn LeBlanc of Ligonier Valley will play ice hockey at Robert Morris. The left winger has nine goals and seven assists this season.

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

Tags: Ligonier Valley, Norwin, Yough