Trib HSSN June Madness semifinals: Lauryn Williams, Rochester vs. Maura Huwalt, South Park

By: Don Rebel
Wednesday, June 17, 2020 | 9:00 AM

Previous Next

Over the course of the next week, June Madness will determine who fans believe is the WPIAL Athlete of the Century.

HSSN has put together two 32-player brackets, one for the boys and one for the girls, of WPIAL alumni. Outside of a few exceptions, the field is made up of former district players who excelled in more than one sport.

Each weekday, June Madness will have one matchup each day with a little background info on each athlete found in a daily tale of the tape.

Starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday and running through 9 a.m. Thursday, vote on the HSSN twitter page on the two athletes featured in this semifinal contest.

Check the HSSN website at noon Thursday for the final results.

Here is the contest for the girls. Round 4, Day 2:

Lauryn Williams vs. Maura Huwalt is a battle of track stars who matriculated south to continue their college careers separated by nearly two decades. Both won tight matchups in this event in the first round before cruising to wins over bigger school opponents in the second round and quarterfinals.

Lauryn Williams — Rochester Class of 2001

(Track and field, basketball)

• Defeated Christa Harmotto of Hopewell in the quarterfinals, 72-28%.

• Defeated Madison Wiltrout of Connellsville in the second round, 70-30%.

• Defeated Sydney Bordonaro of Burrell in the first round, 52-48%.

• Became only the third female athlete in PIAA track and field history to win the 100- and 200-meter dashes three times.

• Took home state gold in the 1999, 2000 and 2001 PIAA Class AA 100-meter and 200-meter races, setting the 100-meter state record as a senior with a time of 11.78 seconds and setting the 200-meter record as a senior with a time of 24.47.

• After finishing in second place in the 100-meter and 200-meter WPIAL Class AA championship races as a freshman, Williams swept gold in both races as a sophomore, junior and senior.

• Broke the WPIAL records in both the 100- and 200-meter races as a sophomore with times of 12.0 in the 100 and 24.8 in the 200.

• As a senior, Williams helped Rochester win gold in the 400-meter relay at both the WPIAL and PIAA championships.

• Thanks in part to Williams’ success, Rochester brought home the PIAA Class AA team silver in 2001.

• Played a year of basketball for Rochester as a senior.

• Inducted into the WPIAL Hall of Fame in 2009.

• Ran in college at Miami. She won many national races and awards and became one of only five athletes to ever win a medal in both the Summer and Winter Olympics, becoming the first American woman to do so.

Maura Huwalt — South Park Class of 2019

(Track and field, basketball)

• Defeated Jess Strom of Steel Valley in the quarterfinals, 77-23%.

• Defeated Kaitlyn Orstein of Mt. Lebanon in the second round, 67-33%.

• Defeated Annessa Schnur of Butler in the first round, 58-42%.

• 2019 Gatorade Track and Field athlete of the year finalist nationally.

• Huwalt was the top American finisher at the Penn Relays in high school discus and was a New Balance All-American in the javelin.

• Seven-time WPIAL champion in field events and medaled as a top-three finisher 15 times.

• Top-three finisher eight times in the PIAA track championships, highlighted by winning state gold in the 2018 discus as a junior.

• The only female thrower in WPIAL history to sweep gold in the shot put, discus and javelin in back-to-back years as a junior in 2018 and a senior in 2019.

• The only female thrower in WPIAL history to be ranked in the top 25 throws all-time in the shot put, discus and javelin.

• Huwalt holds the South Park school record in both the shot put and the discus and helped the Eagles win the 2019 WPIAL Class AA team championship.

• Scored more than 1,000 points in her South Park basketball career as she helped the Eagles reach the playoffs all four years and play in two WPIAL semifinals games and one PIAA semifinals contest.

• Member of the track and field team in college at Auburn.

Lauryn Williams – @LaurynCwilliams
????
Maura Huwalt – @MauraHuwalt

— TribLive HSSN (@TribLiveHSSN) June 17, 2020

Tags: Rochester, South Park