All in the families for Greensburg Central Catholic boys, girls track teams

By: Paul Schofield
Saturday, May 8, 2021 | 6:37 PM

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It’s been quite a season for the Greensburg Central Catholic track and field teams.

After the coronavirus caused the shutdown of the 2020 spring sports season, the Centurions came back strong in ’21.

The boys and girls teams finished the regular season undefeated and won the WPIAL Section 8-AA titles.

The boys advanced to the WPIAL Class AA team championship May 12 at Peters Township by defeating East Allegheny (90-50), Waynesburg (98-52) and Ligonier Valley (93-57).

The girls, however, came up short in their bid to reach the finals. They lost to Quaker Valley (81-69) but defeated Derry (81-69), Ligonier Valley (86-64) and Waynesburg (76-74).

It’s been 22 years since the boys qualified for the finals, and they’ll face a difficult task.

“Hopefully, we can have a strong showing,” Greensburg Central Catholic coach Mike Brewer said. “I know Riverside has a very strong team and are probably coming in as the favorites.

“We just want to bring everything we have and find a strategy that allows us to keep up with them and the other excellent teams that make the final four.”

Shenango and South Park are the other teams in the finals.

A reason for the success of the team is because it has balance and depth.

Two families — the Dlugos and Brewers — are a big part of the success.

There is Danny Dlugos and his sister, Lizzie, competing with cousins Zack, Nate and Nicky. Corinn and James Brewer also are standouts.

“We’re competitive,” Danny Dlugos said about his family. “We compete against each other and make all of us better. We all run different events. It’s something I’ll always remember. We all do well, and it’s neat to see our names in the paper. It’s pretty cool.”

And when Mike Brewer puts together a lineup, the four Dlugos boys have many events covered.

“We cover pretty much everything,” Danny Dlugos said. “We have runners, jumpers and throwers.”

Danny Dlugos ran a couple of sprints at the WPIAL team championship, but he threw the javelin and shot put at the Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association meet. GCC won the small-school titles at the counties.

“The goal is to be WPIAL champions,” Dlugos said. “We missed out in basketball, now we’re eyeing the track title. We’re winning a WPIAL championship in something. We’ve been pushing for it all year.”

A family atmosphere is nothing new at GCC.

James Brewer competes in numerous events, including the pole vault, 110- and 300-meter hurdles and javelin.

“That’s indicative of Greensburg Central Catholic as a whole,” Mike Brewer said. “There are many families that have a tradition. Grandparents went here, parents and the kids now.

“We see that through the Dlugos and families like that on the team that have been with us for five or 10 years, even including my kids. I’ve been here seven years now, and I have seven more to go. I couldn’t ask for a better school, a better school family and I couldn’t be prouder of the girls and boys teams.”

And when Brewer asks his athletes to compete in an event, they do it without question.

“They do whatever I ask,” Brewer said. “I’ve had Zack (Dlugos), the oldest, do the 800 for me. They have jumpers. Danny is a 220-pound football player who can run an 11.2 100-meter dash. Nate jumping and Nicky jumping and running the 400. They run probably half of our events.”

The girls just missed advancing, losing to Quaker Valley. But Brewer was proud of their effort.

Corinn Brewer is capable of running and competing in multiple events. She pole vaults, high jumps, hurdles and is a distance runner. Pennsylvania doesn’t recognize the steeplechase as an event, but Brewer ranks No.1 in the state according to PennTrack.

In Tuesday’s event, Brewer ran the 300-meter hurdles and came right back to win the 800. She finished second in the hurdles. She also won the 1,600- and 3,200- meter runs.

“It’s been a great season,” Brewer said. “I couldn’t ask for more. We won the county championships. Quaker Valley brought a strong girls team and edged us out by a little bit.”

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: Greensburg C.C.