Riverview, Plum athletes earn trips to PIAA track and field championships

By: Michael Love
Saturday, May 17, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Riverview senior Matt Orbin was seeded fourth entering the Class 2A boys javelin at last Wednesday’s WPIAL track and field championships at Slippery Rock.

Orbin didn’t let the fact that it was his first appearance at the WPIAL finals get to him as he stayed consistent from his season-best of 159 feet, 2 inches recorded at the WPIAL team playoff at Shenango on April 30.

Orbin threw 160-10 at WPIALs, good enough to earn a silver medal, behind champion Jaden McCray from Apollo-Ridge (164-0), and clinch a trip to states.

“This was my first year at WPIALs. I didn’t really know what to expect,” Orbin said.

“I was just excited to be here, and I got second place. Now, going to states, I am going to miss a few days of school, and I am really looking forward to being up there with my friends. It’s awesome. I’m really happy.”

The top five finishers in each Class 2A event qualified automatically for the PIAA championships set for this Friday and Saturday at Shippensburg. Those who finished sixth through eighth and met the state qualifying standard for their event also earned a berth to the state meet.

Also making her WPIAL debut, Riverview sophomore Juliette Brun made history as she set a school record for the Class 2A girls javelin with a top distance of 124-1 on her first throw of the competition. That put her in third overall and punched her ticket to states.

“Today was easily one of the best days for our team this year,” Brun said. “I came into it with a PR of 104 feet, which I wasn’t very confident in at all to qualify for states, but there was definitely an adrenaline rush when I got there.

“I was so excited when I broke the school record, and then I got to watch my teammates break more school records. Overall, it felt like an amazing day for me, and I left the meet with a huge smile on my face.”

The Riverview girls 1,600-meter relay of Cailey Trosch, Kat Tsambis, Blake Huffman and Lily Bauer qualified for states with a school-record time of 4 minutes, 3.95 seconds.

Senior Micah Ivy also will run at states after he turned in a fourth-place run in the boys 800 with a time of 1:57.36, consistent with the 1:57.79 he ran during the season to qualify for WPIALs.

He also was a part of the boys 3,200 relay with Chris Barnes, Holden Deasy and Ashton Saunders which took third in 8:08.07.

Saunders, a sophomore, was a late replacement for Braden Longstreth who is recovering from pneumonia.

“I wasn’t too surprised that I would run because Braden was already having some sickness,” Saunders said. “I got excited, and I was looking forward to this and the opportunity to run here. This means a lot to me and to the whole team. I was at states for cross county, too, and that was a lot of fun getting there. It was a great feeling to be a part of our race today.”

The boys 1,600 relay of Prince Govan, Levi Roupas, Trenton Johnson and Longstreth wrapped up the WPIAL meet for Riverview with a state-qualifying fifth-place finish in 3:29.68.

Plum’s Layne earns double silver

Plum senior and Pitt commit Gabrielle Layne hoped for WPIAL gold in her final appearance at Slippery Rock.

But in the end, she had to settle for silver in both the 100 and 200 dashes by the closest of margins.

Seeded second in the 100 with a season-best 12.11, Layne crossed the finish line in the finals in 12.35, 10-hundredths of a second behind champion Sadie Tomczyk from Upper St. Clair.

It was closer heartbreak for Layne in the 200.

The No. 1 seed coming in with a top time of 24.68, Layne’s finals time was slightly elevated at 25.14. In Wednesday’s closest finish on the track, Tomczyk edged Layne at the line by one-hundredth of a second.

“I wasn’t really happy with how I ran,” Layne said.

“I knew that coming into this, my hamstring was probably going to be my biggest competitor. It’s been bothering me throughout the season. But I came out here (Wednesday) and pushed through and ran five times. At this point, I just want to rehab and get my hamstring stronger for next week at states. States is the bigger picture for me, and I am definitely looking to lower my times in both events.”

Plum’s Owen Proskin won four medals at WPIALs.

The versatile junior started with a third in the 110 hurdles (14.62), added a fifth in the 300 hurdles (38.99), leapt to fifth in the high jump (6-5) and capped his day by helping the boys 1,600 relay with Noah Odom, Eli Matolcsy and Kent Holmes place seventh in 3:24.54, lower than their season best of 3:25.08.

He will return to states and compete in both hurdles events and the high jump.

“You go out in prelims and shake off the nerves a little bit,” Proskin said.

“Getting a second chance in the (100 hurdles) finals was really great. I was able to run close to my PR and get the qualifying mark for states. It was really good. Then I got a PR in the 300, and I am really looking forward to doing that at states as well. I got to experience states last year, and now going back, I should go in comfortable and be ready to perform at a top level.”

Joining Proskin and Layne at states will be Plum junior Sloan Humphries, who recorded a top attempt of 44-8.25 in the triple jump and placed fourth overall.

He will head to states with the chance to meet or surpass his season- and personal-best 45-0.

“Sloan really has had a breakthrough year,” Plum coach Matt Proskin said.

“He did a lot of the right things coming into the outdoor season. Once he had a couple meets where everything clicked, he started to see the potential that this could be a big year. His 45 feet at the last chance meet tied the school record, so he’s hoping to build off that at the state meet. It’s exciting to have Sloan going to states this year with Owen and Gabby.”

The Plum girls 400 relay of Layne, Josephine Sciulli, Isla Filo and Emmy Nese placed seventh, and their time of 49.36 was just six-hundredths of a second off the state qualifying standard.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Plum, Riverview