Gallery • 11 Photos

All Unified Senior Track members pose together for their Senior Night.

On Monday May 2, Norwin High School’s Unified Track team had their first home meet going against Hempfield, as well as their senior night. 

The Norwin Unified Track team includes members with functional needs and those without. Members of the Unified Track team compete against other schools such as Hempfield, Franklin regional and Fox Chapel. The events that all the members compete in are similar to a traditional high school track team; the only difference is that Unified includes any person with functional needs to fairly participate alongside their teammates.  

All members of the Unified Track to team work together and push each other to compete at their best. Everyone comes together to cheer on everyone even their school rivals as they show their support for everyone. Each event is scored between the schools. 

“The things that impacted me the most in Unified Track were the friendships I have created there and seeing everyone give their best,” said senior track member Victoria Heffelfinger. “I believe students should join Unified Track because you will always have friends, the whole team is very close, and the atmosphere is very welcoming.”

Victoria came third in the 400m run with a time of 1:28, along with coming in 3rd for long jump with her best score of 2.83 (7.9 feet) on the May 2nd Unified meet.

The Norwin Unified Track team gave their best effort in the events that they participated in on Monday and succeeded in beating Hempfield. The whole team was very excited and proud of each and everyone of their teammates. 

“My favorite thing about being in Unified Track was meeting new friends, running and doing events with my friends,” Said Senior track member Matthew Bosley. “Senior Night was also my favorite because they announced all the seniors on the football field. Lastly my favorite thing was the regional meet because we got to compete against 6 other schools.”

Matthew came 1st in his 400m run against Hempfield with a time of 1:31, 1st in his 4×400 unified relay team with Zachary Coates (12), Adam Guskiewicz (9) and Aylee Hornstrom (11). They came in 1st with a final round score of 6:23:8. Matthew also participated in Mini Javelin with his best score of  25.7 ft coming in 3rd.

After Norwin’s win against Hempfield, the team succeeded into making it to Regionals  on May 9th. Norwin hosted the Unified Regional Championships at their stadium. The championships started off with a small ceremony of lighting the torch by Matthew Bosley and Adam Guskiewicz participated in doing.  At the Unified Regionals there were at least 6 other schools participating. Each school had their students with and without functional needs participate in events like the 100m, 400m, 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 running events. Along with field events like the mini javelin, shot put and long jump. Everyone who was at the Regional meet cheered on each and every school giving the athletes a boost of happiness and courage to push through their events.

“Unified Track has impacted me by allowing me to make so many friends and watch them grow as athletes,” said Unified team member William Baverson (12). “My most memorable moment is watching everyone give that extra push in the final stretch when they hear everyone cheering for them. The most important part is creating bonds with the team, it helps everyone as the team works even better together when they are all friends. I recommend students to join Unified Track because it is a great way to make friends, help others, and stay active.”

At the Regional Meet, the Norwin’s Unified Track team came in 6th place with a score of 48 points. All the students were happy to be able to have such a life-impacting experience with all their teammates.

Sadly the season has ended for Unified Track, but the team gets to reunite one last time before the school year ends. The athletes will be attending their Unified Banquet on May 15 at Rodneys!