Norwin notebook: Knights clean up at county meet

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, May 4, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Two team titles. A three-time winner. Five individual champions.

Norwin track and field had a blast at the Westmoreland County Coaches Association Championships at Latrobe.

The Knights cleaned up at the medal stand.

Junior Melani Schmidt won the 200- and 400-meter dashes and ran the anchor leg of the 400-meter relay.

The Knights’ boys and girls brought home team championships, defending titles from a year ago.

Individual champs included Brandi Brozeski in the high jump, Ryan Schiller in the 110 hurdles, Nick Puskar in the pole vault and Tyler Beck in the 300 hurdles.

Puskar, who cleared 15 feet, 1 inch, tried to break the meet and school record of 15-2 and just missed on his second attempt.

The Knights also swept all six relays. The 400 boys team set a meet record.

Schmidt, who was the girls’ track MVP, also took second in the 100-meter dash — barely. She lost by .003 of a second.

Brozeski was the combined MVP for the girls, while Isaiah Francis won the award for the boys.

Both Norwin teams were primed to open the WPIAL 3A playoffs on May 1 at Knights Stadium.

The boys were facing Connellsville, Baldwin and Kiski Area.

The girls were set to welcome Laurel Highlands, Upper St. Clair and Kiski Area.

The girls recently won their sixth straight section title and ran their section winning streak to 30. The boys also won their section, giving them five titles in six years, with a record of 28-2 in that time.

Team tennis

The Norwin boys tennis team qualified for the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs and was set to open the tournament May 1 at Pine-Richland.

The Knights are seeded 10th.

Net gains

The Norwin boys volleyball team maintained its lead in Section 3-3A.

The Knights (9-1, 5-0), who were up by one game over Penn-Trafford, defeated Hempfield, 3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-17). In the win, Nick Puskaric registered 16 kills, Ben Tygielski added 10 kills and Troy Horvath dished out 31 assists.

Softball goes to .500

Norwin softball won four of five games to move to 7-7 overall and 6-6 in the WPIAL 6A section.

The Lady Knights were shut out by No. 1 Seneca Valley for a second time, falling 2-0, despite triples by Bailey Snowberger and Rachel Minteer.

Norwin was in fourth place in the nine-team section. The top six make the postseason.

Lacrosse falls

In a first-place clash, the Norwin girls lacrosse team sustained its first section loss when it fell to Mt. Lebanon, 12-5.

Gia Fernandez, Alana Samek, Karli Johnson (2) and Ava Wilson all scored for the Knights (8-4, 4-1).

Serve and volley

A look at the Western PA Volleyball Coaches Association Week 6 rankings shows Norwin (10-1) at No. 4, Penn-Trafford (10-2) at No. 5 and Hempfield (5-5) at No. 9 in Class 3A. Derry (5-6) and Latrobe (5-6) are Nos. 7 and 8 in 2A.

Norwin senior outside hitter Jackson Genicola was one of the WPVCA’s four 3A players of the week.

Quotable

“Just because I’m small, doesn’t mean I can’t be powerful and run with the big dogs.” — Norwin junior Melani Schmidt, who won three gold medals and earned track MVP honors at the WCCA Track and Field Championships.

Recruiting

• Norwin senior cross country runner Julia Walko will continue her career at Case Western Reserve in Ohio. Walko was the recipient of Norwin’s $50,000 Murdoch Scholarship.

• Kendall Berger, a junior basketball player at Norwin, picked up her third NCAA Division II scholarship offer, from Wheeling of the Mountain East Conference. Her other offers are from Fairmont State and Seton Hill. Berger averaged 11.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists this season for Norwin, which won the WPIAL 6A championship and finished 23-4.

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

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