Westmoreland County high school notebook: Norwin, Hempfield athletes shine at TSTCA indoor championships

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Sunday, February 22, 2026 | 4:22 PM

Norwin and Hempfield went back and forth at the Tri-State Track and Field Coaches Association indoor championship Saturday at Edinboro’s Mike Zafirovski Sports and Recreation Dome.

Norwin won the girls championship by 2.5 points over Hempfield, while the Hempfield boys also took second.

Hempfield coach Dave Murray said his athletes and coaches were ready to compete, but had an eye on the Winter Olympics where Hempfield alum and former sprinter Jasmine Jones was winning a bronze medal in the two-woman bobsled in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

“The kids were excited,” Murray said. “Coaches were watching on their phones … (Jones) served as motivation.”

Hempfield’s highlights included:

• John Stetchock, feeling under the weather, broke school records in the 800- and 1,600-meter runs, placing second in both. Stetchock is the fastest 3,000-meter runner in the state.

• Madison Altman, Charlee Wood, Peyton Leduc and Chesnee Smith won the 1,600-meter relay in 4:11.37.

• Altman won the 60-meter hurdles title in an impressive time of 8.99 seconds.

• Smith broke the 800-meter school record and placed third (2:15.51).

• Jiana Patterson threw the shot put 36 feet, 5 inches to take third. She has hit a top mark of 40-7 this season.

• Both of the Spartans’ 3,200 relay teams qualified for the state meet. The girls’ foursome of Lyla Moody, Smith, Emma Meskanick and Sofia Weimer set a school record (9:43.98) and took second.

• The boys’ 1,600 relay of Ezra Peluso, Kiernan Allison, Luke Harster and Isaiah Bittner took second place (3:32.79).

• The distance medley relay of Allison, Ryan Ewing, Stetchock and Bittner also finished second (10:41.27). The girls DMR finished fourth.

• The boys’ 800 relay took third (1:34.22)

Norwin’s highlights included:

• The girls’ 3,200-meter relay winning in a school-record time of 9:41.55. Members were Jillian Ryba, Anna Dansak, Emily Dansak and Annie Czajkowski.

• Jeremiah Francis finished second in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.19 seconds. He also was fifth in the long jump.

• Alexander Irwin finished second in the pole vault (14-1).

• Myla McCabe took fourth in the 200 (26.41) and third in the 400.

• Czajkowski was second in the mile run (5:06.47).

• Addison Farrah (10:37.68) and Ryba (10:39.08) claimed fourth and fifth in the 3,000.

• A school-record winning run of 10:35.41 by the distance medley relay of Joe Cramer, Owen Rankin, Alex Barrett and Ben McBride.

• McBride was fourth in the mile run (4:26.34), and Ransom Gaydos took fourth in the 3,000 meters (9:03.24).

Gaydos’ time is second among freshmen in the state.

• The girls’ distance medley relay was second in 12:43.78, while the 800 relay took third (1:49.57)

• The boys’ 3,200 relay took fourth (8:27.37).

Soccer change coming?

A big rule change could be coming to PIAA and WPIAL soccer.

The Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association approved eliminating the double-dual, rotating referee system it has used for years and replacing it with one head official and two assistants.

The current system gives each official a whistle, with freedom to make calls anywhere on the field. With the new system, calls will be funneled to the head referee, the only one with a whistle, who will make each call.

The format aligns more closely with how the game is officiated globally.

The next step is for the PSCA to present the change to the PIAA for vote.

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

Tags: Hempfield, Norwin