Penn-Trafford senior knocks off state champ in discus showdown at WPIAL championships

By: Paul Schofield
Wednesday, May 15, 2024 | 10:39 PM

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SLIPPERY ROCK – Penn-Trafford senior Matt Sarnowski seems to throw his best when he goes against Hempfield senior Peyton Murray.

Before Wednesday, Sarnowski had twice edged the reigning PIAA Class 3A discus champ this season.

The third time came at the WPIAL Track and Field Championships at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium at Slippery Rock University.

Sarnowski’s fifth throw of the day sailed 185 feet, 10 inches to overtake Murray’s best throw of 181-3. Sarnowski, who will attend Penn State but is only guaranteed a spot on the roster, defeated Murray at the Lady Spartan/Wildcat Invitational and in a dual.

The championship was stopped around 9:30 p.m. after numerous lighting delays. It will resume at 4 p.m. Thursday with four track and three field events to complete.

“It’s the competition that gets me up to throw against Peyton,” Sarnowski said. “I think playing football put me in that mindset. It’s game time.”

Neither thrower had great tosses in the preliminary round. Sarnowski was leading by an inch.

Murray then hit his best throw on his first toss of the finals.

Sarnowski hit the winner on his second throw of the finals.

“I’m disappointed I lost, but winning the PIAA is the ultimate goal,” Murray said. “Matt has a better spin than me. I might be stronger, and when I hit a throw, it goes. I needed to do better in the prelims.”

Sarnowski said he knew he had a big throw coming.

“I hit a good one in warm-ups before the finals,” Sarnowski said. “I told myself this is the time to do it.

“It’s awesome to be a WPIAL champion. This isn’t the ultimate goal. Hopefully I can do it again.”

Sarnowski wasn’t the only Penn-Trafford thrower to win goal. Junior Logan Kerstetter won the Class 3A javelin with a throw of 177-0.

Kerstetter came into the championship with the top throw in the WPIAL, but after a poor showing in the preliminary round, he found himself in eighth place with a throw of 149.

He uncorked the winning throw on his first toss in the finals.

“I had a rough start,” Kerstetter said. “My footwork wasn’t good and I couldn’t get anything into my throws. Then I fixed things and got things right.

“I’m excited to win the WPIAL title, and I’m looking forward to having fun at states and seeing all those great athletes.”

Penn-Trafford had a couple of other athletes qualify for states. Amelia Barilla was third in the Class 3A 800, Michael Cheplick III was third in the 400, and Jake McGhee was eighth in the 1,600 and met the qualifying standard.

Also winning titles were Greensburg Central Catholic sophomore Jerry Davis (Class 2A 400), Norwin senior Luke Denny (3A 400), Derry junior Sophia Mazzoni (2A javelin) and the Latrobe 400-meter relay team of freshman Preston Miller, senior Jacob Pittman, junior Bryce Hoke and junior Adam Piper.

“I didn’t do well here last year,” Davis said. “This year, I came back hard and focused. I have more drive and more heart this season.”

Denny said his senior year has gone well.

“It’s been amazing,” Denny said. “I never thought it would turn out like this.”

Mazzoni claimed her second title with a WPIAL Class 2A record throw of 159-0.

“This doesn’t feel real almost,” Mazzoni said. “I came here last year thinking I wasn’t going to top that number. I just tried to stay calm and do my thing.”

The Greensburg Central Catholic girls had two second-place finishers: Ava Denis (Class 2A 100) and Sasha Hoffman (2A 100 and 300 hurdles). Other Centurions earning a trip to the state championships were Nick Szekely (2A 400), James Brewer (2A 300 hurdles) and Jiana Patterson (2A shot put).

Greensburg Salem sophomore Luke Rullo qualified for states in two events in Class 2A. He placed second in the triple jump and fifth in the long jump.

Southmoreland had two individuals and a relay team qualify for states. The individuals were Adam Halinka, fifth in the 300 hurdles, and Megan Mehall, fifth in the 400 and second in the 800. The 3,200 relay team was made up of Lexi Ohler, Kate Campbell, Ashley Seder and Mehall.

Norwin and Hempfield also had numerous athletes qualify for states.

For the Norwin girls, Melani Schmidt (3A 400) and Casey Rose Colcombe (3A 300 hurdles) each placed third, while Annie Czajkowski was fourth in the 3A 1,600. The 3,200-meter relay team placed fourth.

Qualifying for the Norwin boys were the 400-meter relay team, Ryan Schiller (3A 110 hurdles), Jeremiah Francis (3A 300 hurdles) and Alexander Irwin (3A pole vault). Nick Puskar, the top pole vaulter in the WPIAL, couldn’t compete because of an injury.

Qualifying for the Hempfield girls were Grace Iwig (3A pole vault and high jump), Maddie Tully (discus), Katherine Dolinski (shot put) and Madison Altman (300 hurdles). Murray was the only Hempfield boy to qualify. He finished third in the shot put.

Other qualifiers were Derry junior Jane Huss (third in the 2A 800), Ligonier Valley’s Clara Wallace (fifth in the 2A 800) and Franklin Regional’s Eryk Ralston (fourth in the 3A 400).

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: Hempfield, Penn-Trafford