Norwin Track and Field is off to another winning season following the previous years’ success where the Knights finished most seasons undefeated in their Section for both the boys and the girls teams, and are in the hunt for a WPIAL team title. Norwin Boys have never won a WPIAL team title, while the girls have not won since a streak of 4-in-a-row from 2006-2009.
Having defeated all of their competition in the dual meets for the year the both the boys and girls teams made the team finals where they will compete for the WPIAL title against some tough schools on May 7. The Knights owe much of the success to some new runners and throwers on the team, combined with the veterans who have been competing for longer. Both teams had some great performances at a few different invites.
Boys:
After a successful 2022-2023 season, the boys have a lot of returning talent to the team and some new faces, who are showing their skills. The sprinter crew has more depth than it ever has this year with numerous athletes competing at a high level.
Some of the veteran sprinters include: seniors Nick Legnine, Carter Tobin, and newcomer Owen Christopher. The 400m dash this year is one of the team’s most stacked events as well with incredible talent in Luke Denny, Austin Hladek, Nick Bognar, Teddy Ola, and Eliezer Nicholas. Norwin hurdles are also stronger than ever with a three-headed attack of Jeremiah Francis, Ryan Schiller, and Tyler Beck.
Much of the team’s success can be attributed to the coaching staff like head coach Tim Van Horn, who had shown unwavering dedication to the team committing countless hours. Alongside him is sprint coach Dakota Minto who is a relay expert that is making sure that the team’s handoffs and block starts are on point.
“Over the past year my team has really bonded which has given me a lot of motivation to keep making improvements,” junior distance runner Enzo Jiancristoforo said. “They give me support when I have a tough workout or bad race.”
In addition to the sprint team, the jump squad is very strong as well with jumpers Gage Mamie and Potter Brozeski leading the way. Coach Fleckenstein’s distance squad is nothing to ignore either with all their stud athletes that the team always counts on to guarantee some points in the meets. Some of their best performing athletes are the likes of 800 specialist Luke Simpson, 400/800 runner Theodore Ola and defending County 800 Champion Isaiah Francis, 1600 runner Enzo Jiancristoforo, and the emergence of freshmen Owen Rankin.
A strong thrower group is also a big asset for the Knights with veteran throwers like Brett Rikstad, Calum Turner, and some newer people such as Logan Irvin, Noah Carney, and Sauly Guyaux. All of these athletes have had to show up recently with the Knights. On 9 April 2024, the Knights beat their rival Hempfield in a dominant performance with a score of 99-51 in favor of the Knights.
”I enjoy getting to compete with other kids, and being able to compete with my friends as well,” Logan Irvin said. “The most important part is to have fun and I think I have been doing a good job at that.”
On 13 April 2024 the Knights took home their first invite win of the season at the TSTCA Tri-State championship beating out about 50 other teams from the area. Not all athletes were at this meet some also went to the Lady Spartan Wildcat invite at Latrobe and put up some good numbers as well. Following the TSTCA Champion trophy, the boys took 2nd at the prestigious Butler Invitational with well over 100 teams in attendance. Most recently on Tuesday April 23rd, the boys defeated Penn Trafford officially finishing undefeated and Section champs. In the past six years, the boys have had an incredible record going 28-2.
Girls:
The Lady Knights are back for another great season, and are ready to bring home some medals and trophies. This 2024 team has some of the strongest runners the Lady Knights have seen in a long time.
”Consistency is key when training,” sophomore distance standout, Annie Czajkowski said. “That applies alone and when your with the team.” Czajkowski is currently ranked in the top 7 of the WPIAL in the 3200 relay, 800, 1600 and 3200.
The sprint group is led by junior Melani Schmidt, who already has numerous records on the team. Also, some underclassmen are also dominating the competition in the form of freshmen Myla Mcabe, Angelina Palmieri, and Alexandra Oestreich. Not only is the sprint group strong, but so is the hurdles. Senior Casey Colcombe leads the hurdle team with junior Autumn Stoken also leading the way. Karina Karadus is also a dominant force on the track showing great potential in the hurdle events, and is ranked the #3 freshmen in the state in the 300 hurdles.
“Norwin is lucky enough to have many amazing athletes all near the same times or marks which creates a competitive atmosphere even at practice,” Casey Rose Colcombe said.
The girls’ jump group is very dominant with people like Natalie Aquillo and Brandi Brozeski. The girls’ throwing team is led and rebuilt by veterans Lexi Heller and Ava Natale, followed by new throwers and freshmen Ava Bobby, Gabby Schneck, and Randi Riazzi.
Last, but not least the distance team has been a powerful force for the girls’ team this year. Runners like Audra Fedor, Julia Walko, Annie Czajkowski, and Rosemary Gaydos, with a freshmen group of Anna and Emily Dansak, Jillian Ryba and Addie Farrah consistently getting points every meet. Coach Fleckenstein has been drilling and having these athletes train all year to get to this point.
Everyone has contributed this year to the girls’ team, as they are still undefeated in duel meets. Similar to the boys’ team, the Norwin girls’ team split up on April 13th between the Lady Wildcat Invitational and the TSTCA Invitational. Alongside duel meets the Lady Knights are crushing it in invitational meets, such as their most recent invitational where they placed third out of 100+ teams in the 59th Annual Butler Invitational.
On 23 April the girls’ team toppled their last regular season opponent in Penn Trafford becoming undefeated section champs. This is the 6th year in a row that the girls’ team has gone undefeated section champs giving them a record of 30-0 over that time span.
