South Park’s Huwalt shines in throwing events at Baldwin Invitational

By: Paul Schofield
Friday, May 3, 2019 | 10:39 PM

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South Park senior Maura Huwalt was determined to shine Friday at the 46th annual Baldwin Invitational.

The Auburn commit, who dominates the WPIAL Class AA throwing events, won two titles and placed second in another against outstanding competition from one of the top Class AAA throwers, Hempfield senior Mackenna Orie.

“The competition was great and it brought out the best in me,” Huwalt said. “I’m excited how the day went.

“I’m looking forward to the team championship on Monday, and we should win if we do what we’re capable of. I’d like to win all three at WPIALs again and then win a state gold medal.”

Huwalt was one of six athletes to win two titles during the annual event, which featured 69 teams.

The other double winners were South Park’s Maddie Raymond (100, 200), Mt. Lebanon’s Molly Mangan (400, 300 hurdles), Shady Side Academy’s Melissa Riggins (800, 1,600), Baldwin’s Brendan O’Malley (400, long jump) and Aliquippa’s M.J. Devonshire (100, 200).

Huwalt won the javelin and the discus, and finished second in the shot put.

She battled Orie in the shot put and discus.

Neither girl was pleased with their overall throws. Huwalt threw 137 feet, 8 inches in the javelin, 144-5 in the discus and 41-10 ½ in the shot. Orie won the shot with a throw of 46-4.

Huwalt wasn’t the only South Park athlete to shine. Raymond won the 100 and 200, and Kirk Stewart finished second in the McKinney Mile.

Devonshire, a Kentucky recruit, said he was excited to finally get to race Joey Porter Jr. of North Allegheny.

“We’ve compared times back-and-forth,” said Devonshire, who ran a 10.73 in the 100 and 21.8 in the 200. “But we finally got to go head-to-head. It was exciting.”

Devonshire beat Porter, a Penn State football recruit, but his biggest competition came from Brookville’s Bryan Dworek and Ian Thrush. Dworek’s dad, Chris, was a star athlete at Southmoreland back in the 1980s.

Baldwin’s O’Malley twins — Brendan and Bailey — each won titles. Bailey, who will attend Carnegie Mellon, won the shot put, while Brendan won the long jump and 400.

“It was exciting to go out on top in my final race at home,” Brendan O’Malley said. “I kind of found a little bit extra today. It was cool that my brother and I each won.”

The track finals began in a steady rain at the start of the hurdles.

By the time the girls were running the 1,600, it was a downpour that eventually delayed the meet for an hour.

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.

Tags: Aliquippa, Baldwin, Mt. lebanon, Shady Side Academy, South Park