Baldwin Invitational notebook: Norwin’s Kolesar claims triple jump title

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, May 4, 2018 | 11:00 PM

Norwin junior Jessica Kolesar is one of those athletes who can excel in numerous events.

She's a sprinter and a jumper for the Knights, and Friday she surprised herself at the Baldwin Invitational by winning the triple jump with a leap of 37 feet, 2¾ inches.

She also finished seventh in the 100-meter dash, fourth in the long jump (17-9 ½) and joined Jordyn Turkovski, Emily Brozeski and Rachel Milke to place second in the 400 relay.

“I'm a little surprised that I won,” Kolesar said. “Winning gives me another option to think about when it comes to individuals.”

Her winning jump was a personal record. She edged teammate Lexi Gray, who jumped 37-½.

Brozeski also had a busy day. She placed seventh in the 300 hurdles, tied for third in the high jump (5-½) and was sixth in the 100 hurdles.

Double winners

Five athletes won two individual events Friday at the Baldwin Invitational — North Allegheny senior Ayden Owens (110 hurdles, 300 hurdles), South Fayette's Rachel Helbling (200, 400), North Allegheny's Casey Burton (long jump, 100), Oakland Catholic's Jayla Ellis (high jump, 100 hurdles) and Penn Hills' Alex Trower (100, 200).

Norwin 1,600 relay pleased with performance

The new-look Norwin boys 1,600-meter relay team is set to make another push toward a PIAA title.

Junior Gianni Rizzo said after the team won the Baldwin Invitational with a similar time as last year that the team is ready to make a run.

Rizzo is the lone holdover from last year's team that won the state title. He's joined with Ian Brown, Logan Huss and Brady Schmitt. The team's first-place time Friday was 3 minutes, 24.08 seconds.

“This was a big leap for us,” Huss said.

“We ran a 3:28 last week at Latrobe, so to drop our time by four seconds is huge,” Rizzo said.

The Knights edged Latrobe (3:25.50).

Latrobe's 400-meter relay team of Joe Piper, Zakharee Wiliiams, Mitchel Carl and Anthony Fannie won with a time of 43.09. The same group ran the 1,600 relay.

“We're in a good position time-wise,” Piper said. “We feel pretty good about today's results.”

Team champions

Seneca Valley won the boys team title at the Baldwin Invitational with 65.5 points, edging North Allegheny (61) and Butler (55).

The girls title went to Butler, with 65.5 points. The Golden Tornado edged Oakland Catholic (61) and Norwin (60.5).

Paul Schofield is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at pschofield@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Schofield_Trib.

Tags: Norwin