Trib HSSN May Madness: Christa Harmotto, Hopewell vs. Brianna Schwartz, Shaler

By: Don Rebel
Wednesday, May 13, 2020 | 9:00 AM

Over the course of the next month and a half, May Madness will determine who fans believe is the WPIAL Athlete of the Century.

HSSN has put together two 32-player brackets, one for the boys and one for the girls, of WPIAL alums. Outside of a few exceptions, the field is made up of former district players who excelled in more than one sport.

Each weekday, May Madness will have one matchup each on the boys and girls bracket with a little background info on each athlete found in a daily tale of the tape.

Starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday and running through 9 a.m. Thursday, you can vote on the HSSN twitter page on the two athletes featured in this first-round matchup.

Check the HSSN website at noon Thursday for the matchup’s final results.

Here is the contest for the girls. Round 1, Day 9:

Christa Harmotto vs. Brianna Schwartz could be looked at a matchup of dominance on the court against endurance on the track and course.

Christa Harmotto Dietzen — Hopewell Class of 2005

(Volleyball, basketball)

• 2005 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review female athlete of the year.

• 2004 Gatorade Pennsylvania girls volleyball player of the year.

• She was first-team all-state in volleyball in 2003 and 2004.

• Recorded a school-record .595 hitting percentage along with 448 kills, 376 digs and 172 blocks her senior season.

• Recorded a school-record 186 blocks her junior season.

• Harmotto helped Hopewell win three straight WPIAL championships in 2002, 2003 and 2004 as well as a PIAA title her senior year in 2004.

• Played for the Hopewell basketball team for two years.

• She was inducted into the WPIAL Hall of Fame in 2013.

• Harmotto played volleyball in college at Penn State. A two-time Olympian, she won silver in 2012 and bronze in 2016 and won gold at the 2014 World Championships.

Brianna Schwartz — Shaler Class of 2015

(Track and field, cross-country)

• Won three straight WPIAL Class AAA girls cross country championships in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

• Finished in sixth place her junior year at the Foot Locker national cross country championships.

• Set a Coopers Lake course record at the WPIAL cross country championship her senior year with a time of 17 minutes, 25 seconds, breaking a record she set earlier in the year.

• She capped off her scholastic cross country career by winning the 2014 PIAA Class AAA championship.

• Won gold in the 800-meter and 1,600-meter events in her sophomore year, setting WPIAL championship records with times of 2:10.38 and 4:47.07.

• Also in 2013, Schwartz won the PIAA 1,600-meter state championship with a time of 4:50.05.

• As a junior, Schwartz won WPIAL and PIAA gold in the 1,600-meter.

• She was unable to three-peat in her senior year as she missed track season after suffering a stress factor in her lower left tibia.

• Schwartz was on the cross country team in college at Colorado.

Christa Harmotto – @HHS_Athletic
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Brianna Schwartz – @ShalerArea

— TribLive HSSN (@TribLiveHSSN) May 13, 2020

Tags: Hopewell, Shaler