Norwin notebook: Turcovski, fellow Knights athletes shine at WCCA meet

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, May 8, 2021 | 9:01 AM

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The Westmoreland County Coaches Association Track and Field Championships usually are pretty good to Norwin’s athletes.

This year’s event, conducted May 1 at Latrobe, was no different.

Jordyn Turcovski took home track MVP honors for the girls after winning the 100- and 200-meter dash events with times of 12.87 and 26.78 seconds, respectively.

Teammate Bernadette Zukina won the 400 and was second in the 200, while Natalie Shuster (100 hurdles), Layla Robertson (300 hurdles), Ashley Laukus (high jump), the 400 relay of Ellexandra Kauffman, Nataiah Robertson-Dutrieuill, Robertson and Turcovski, and the 1,600 relay of Alexandra Walton, Robertson, Zukina, and Anna DeFazio, also were winners.

The 3,200 relay was third.

For the boys, Aaron Schmook was second in the javelin, Noah Dudik was second in the 200 and fourth in the 100, Tony Sacco was second in the 110 hurdles, John Giansante was third in the triple jump, John Dodero took fifth in the 800, Isaiah Kline was fourth in the high jump, the 400 relay finished second, and the 1,600 and 3,200 relays each were fourth.

The girls were second overall, while the boys finished third in the team standings.

Norwin’s girls team also advanced to the WPIAL team championships after defeating Franklin Regional, 121.33-28-66, and Laurel Highlands, 112-38, in the semifinals May 4. They advanced to face Belle Vernon, Butler and North Allegheny in the finals May 12.

The Norwin boys lost to Canon-McMillan, 107-43, and Franklin Regional, 82-67, and defeated Connellsville, 89-57.

Another big W

Norwin boys lacrosse believes the best way to be included in the conversation with the rest of the WPIAL’s top teams is to beat said teams.

To be the best …

After an impressive win over Fox Chapel, the Knights edged perennial power Pine-Richland, 8-7, as Tommy McLaughlin scored three goals, while Joseph Rush, Cam Masten, Ryan Frankovic, Nick Condrasky and Hunter Geibel all netted one.

Ryan Frankovic had three assists and Rush, the faceoff specialist, added another for the Knights. Noah Mullen earned the win in goal.

The Knights followed with another 8-7 win, this time against Butler, on a rainy night when Norwin honored its 12 seniors. Geibel had three goals, including the go-ahead score in the fourth, to pace the Knights. Condrasky set up the score when he corralled his own miss.

Frankovic and Masten each added two goals.

Rush had a goal and an assist and Frankovic also added a helper. Cory Johnson forced a pair of key turnovers late and had an assist as well.

Touch ‘em all

Norwin softball etched its third straight win — a fine bounce-back after a 20-5 loss to Hempfield — with a 7-1 win over North Allegheny, a team that beat the Knights three times in 2019.

Bailee Bertani went 3 for 4 with a double and a home run to lead Norwin (10-2, 7-1) to a Section 2-6A victory. Madie Kessler and Olivia Mastrilli also homered. Winning pitcher Sydney Lokay didn’t allow an earned run and went 2 for 3 with a double.

Norwin, which has qualified for the WPIAL playoffs, had a two-game lead over Hempfield in Section 2-6A.

College scene

Baylor acrobatics and tumbling junior Hannah Chrisman (Norwin) won her second NCATA national championship, the second-seeded Bears’ sixth in a row, with a 279.790 to 276.465 victory over Azusa Pacific.

Chrisman, a base/top performer, is the sister-in-law of Norwin alum Max McDowell, a minor-league baseball player with the New York Yankees.

• Washington & Jefferson sophomore Will Keber (Norwin) played all 10 games for the Washington & Jefferson men’s soccer team, which won the Presidents’ Athletic Conference title with a 2-1 win over Westminster.

• Duquesne sophomore Emily Brozeski (Norwin) finished second in the heptathlon at the Atlantic 10 Track & Field Championships in Fairfax, Va. She was first in the 100-meter hurdles and long jump, fourth in the high jump and 800, third in the shot put, second in the 200, and sixth in the javelin.

• The Seton Hill softball team (28-10, 25-7) clinched its first PSAC West title with a 10-1 win over Cal (Pa.). Grad student Christiana Skrabak (Norwin) went 3 for 3, junior Morgan Toal, senior Samantha Estupinian and grad student Alexis Vargas had two hits each for Seton Hill.

Skrabak followed with a homer, in an 11-2 win over Edinboro, and she added two more hits in the regular-season finale, a 14-0 win over Edinboro.

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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