On Feburary 22nd, the NorwinTF Knights competed in the TSTCA (Tri-State Championships) at Edinboro University. The boys’ and girls’ track & field teams both won the team titles for the first time ever. Additionally, the main goal all season for many athletes is to qualify for the state championship at Penn State University. This is the toughest state championship to qualify because there is only ONE classification and teams not in the PIAA are also allowed to compete. Last year the Knights had only one qualifier, junior jumper Brandi Brozeski. This year there were NINE athletes qualifying, and 5 of these athletes ran in individual events, and one relay team.
TSTCA Championships @ Edinoboro (Feb. 22, 2025)
Boys
At the Tri State Championship Meet, Thomas Gaydos (Sr) ran the 3000 meter race medaling in 8th place running a 9:06.43. The Boys Distance Medley Relay ( Alexander Barrett (Fr) , Jerimah Francis (Jr) , Kaden Markovich (Sr) , and Enzo Jiancristoforo (Sr)) took 7th running 11:15.23. In the boys triple jump Evan Pfeifer (Jr) took 8th with a 38-0. In the boys’ pole vault Nick Puskar (Sr) won with a 14-10, and Xander Irwin (So) 8th with a 13-1, qualifying both of them for state.
The boys 4×400 took 2nd running 3:31.43 ran by Nicholas Bognar (Sr), Eliezer Nicholas (Sr), Tyler Beck (So), and Ryan Schiller (Sr). Luke Simpson (Sr) won the boys’ mile with a time of 4:26.18, close behind was training partner Jiancristoforo running a 4:34.09, and close to him Benjamin Mcbride (Fr) running a fast time of 4:36.69, to finish the season as the 2nd best freshmen in the state in the event. Eli Nicholas took 6th in the boys’ 400 with a time of 52:02. Schiller won Norwin’s another gold medal in the 60 hurdles with a time of 8.14, bettering his qualifying time for state; Tyler Beck ran an 8th place finish running a 8.62. Bognar won Norwin’s third gold medal in the boys’ long jump with a 21-5.25, and Schiller took 4th with a 20-7. The boys 4×200 took 2nd running 1:31.53, Daniel Maddock (Sr), Schiller, Beck, and Nicholas led this relay.
Girls
The Girls 4×800 relay consisting of sophomores Jillian Ryba, Addie Farrah, Emily Dansak , and junior Annie Czajkowski set the indoor school record and state qualifying run of 9:51.09 setting the tone for the day. Myla McCabe (So) earned a medal with her 7th place finish in the girls 400 with a time of 1:00.41. In the girls 200 Melani Schmidt (Sr) took 2nd running a 25.62 missing state by 100ths of a second. In the girls 6o hurdles Brozeski took 2nd, and qualified for states with a time of 9.20.
Karina Karadus (So) took 7th running a 9.60. In the Girls Triple Jump, Alex Ostreich (Jr) took 7th with a jump of 34-2.50. The Girls 4×200 took first place running a 1:47.06, McCabe, Karadus, Autumn Stoken (Sr), and Schmidt running on that relay. In the girls 3000 meter race, Czajkowski took 2nd running 10:12.64, Farrah taking 5th with a time of 10:48.63, and Ryba in 7th place finishing running a 10:54.28.
PTFCA State Championship @ Penn St. (March 2, 2025)
The NorwinTF Squad took 9 athletes to the state championship, the most in school history. Ryan Schiller, Annie Czajkowski, Anna Dansak, Emily Dansak, Adie Farrah, Jillian Ryba, Xander Irwin, Nick Puskar, and Brandi Brozeski were the 9 qualifiers from Norwin. The Indoor State Championship is extremely hard to qualify because there is only ONE classification for over 600 schools and schools not in the PIAA are allowed to compete.
Arguably the hardest event to qualify for is the 3000m because they take only 12 athletes in the whole state. Annie Czajkowski earned the lone medal for the Knights earning a 7th place finish in 3000m run and a massive PR at 10:07, bettering her school record as well as capturing the first distance medal since 2009! Brozeski earned herself 12th in the state at the high jump, and 17th in the 60 hurdles, as the only athlete to qualify in two events. Irwin took home a solid 15th place in the pole vault as a sophomore. Schiller qualified for finals in the 60 hurdles prelims before his DQ in finals due to a hurdle infraction.
The Girls 4×800 led by the sophomores Ryba, A Dansak, E Dansak, and Farrah took home 18th, and broke 10! Puskar had a DNS, due to a leg injury suffered Thursday prior to the big meet.
The Knights indoor season is not over, a few athletes are heading to Nike Indoor Nationals, and Czajkowski is heading to New Balance Indoor Nationals. Congratulations to everyone on their exceeding achievements, and expectations once again. The outdoor season officially started Monday, March 3rd, and the Knights look to carry over momentum and win a team WPIAL title as one of the preseason favorites on both the girls’ and boys’ side.
