Norwin notebook: Northeastern commit Shaw shines at Butler Invitational

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, April 29, 2023 | 11:01 AM

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Hannah Shaw collected the only victory for Norwin at the 58th Butler Invitational April 21 at Bernardi Stadium in Butler.

Shaw, a Northeastern commit, soared 11 feet, 7 inches to win the pole vault title, one of many top-10 finishes for the Knights.

Trey Huha finished third in the 200-meter dash in 22.90 seconds, while Ashley Laukus was third in the high jump at 5-1.

The girls’ 3,200-meter relay also brought home a bronze with a third-place finish in 9 minutes, 46.9 seconds.

Other Norwin finishes included:

The girls’ 1,600-meter relay took fifth in 4:16.24, while Luke Denny came in fifth in the 400 (51.46); Isaiah Kline finished fifth in the high jump (6-1); Annie Czajkowski was sixth in the 800 (2:20.08); the girls’ 400-meter relay was eighth (51.45); Casey Rose Colcombe took seventh in the 100 hurdles (16.34); Savannah Schneck was seventh in the shot put (34-11.75); the boys’ 3,200 relay was eighth (8:18.81); and Callum Turner was eighth in the discus (124-9).

Family affair

Norwin senior track standout Anna Defazio was rooting for a competitor at the Butler Invitational.

Her cousin, sophomore Lara Defazio, of Eden Christian, had a strong performance at the meet.

The younger Defazio won the high jump in 18-1.5, and also finished ninth in the 100-meter dash.

All-state hoops

After a memorable season, Norwin had a pair of players make the Pennsylvania Sports Writers Class 6A all-state girls’ basketball team.

Junior center Lauren Palangio and sophomore guard Kendall Berger were named to the third team after leading the Knights (24-5) to the WPIAL and PIAA semifinals.

Softball No. 2

The Norwin softball team leapfrogged Hempfield into the No. 2 spot in the Tribune-Review Class 6A rankings.

The Knights were 11-2 overall and had a first-place mark of 9-1 in the section after seven straight wins.

Five of those wins saw them score 10 or more runs.

In an 11-1 win over Butler, Alyssa McCormick pitched a two-hitter with seven strikeouts, and also drove in two runs, while Emma Novotnak doubled and drove in three runs, and Josey Michalski doubled and homered.

Serve and volley

The Norwin boys volleyball team rebounded from an emotional loss to rival Penn-Trafford (3-1) to shut out Peters Township, 3-0.

Jackson Genicola led the way with 14 kills, while Nick Puskaric had eight blocks, and Troy Horvath helped out with 35 assists.

The Knights then took care of Latrobe, the top-ranked team in Class 2A, 3-1.

Ben Tyielski had 10 kills, Troy Horvath added 31 assists, and Lucas Churchfield scraped up 18 digs.

Double trouble

A pair of Norwin boys tennis doubles teams reached the quarterfinals of the Section 1-3A tournament.

Seniors Brady Johnson and Nick Cormas teamed up to defeat seniors Dan Setzenfand and Pacific Hite of Penn-Trafford, 10-1.

The Knights’ other senior tandem of Bret Vilage and Chase Rose also advanced with a 10-4 win over juniors Macklin Harbaugh and Chase Regester of Hempfield.

The top four teams advanced to the WPIAL tournament.

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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