Westmoreland County Senior Spotlight: Norwin’s Trey Huha

By: Anthony DiFilippo
Monday, May 8, 2023 | 11:21 AM

Norwin’s track and field team enjoyed another year of success, finishing undefeated in section competition.

The success the Knights have had this year is no fluke.

Over the five years prior to this one, the Knights went 47-3 in section, a record that combines both the boys and girls.

Senior Trey Huha attributed the success of the organization in his final year to a team-wide effort.

“I’d say our success this year as a team isn’t just in our big stars. We are all in this together to make each other better as a whole team,” Huha said. “The underclassmen are pushing the upperclassmen just as hard as we push them, and it shows by the amount of depth and skill we have in every grade.”

Huha has also had a good amount of personal success the past few weeks.

He won the 200-meter dash at the Lady Spartan/Wildcat Invitational on April 12 and the Westmoreland County Coaches Association meet April 27. He finished third in the event at the Butler Invitational on April 22.

Even with the strong performances, Huha feels there is more to be done in the final stretch of the year.

“I feel really good and proud of those accomplishments and the times I have run so far,” Huha said. “But there is still lots of work to be done to be the best athlete I can be.”

Huha has seen most of his winning coming on the 200, and there’s no doubt that it’s his favorite solo sprint to run.

But there is a team event that he enjoys even more than that.

“I think my favorite event has to be the 4×100 relay,” Huha said. “There is just something so fun and energetic about getting the four fastest runners on your team and working as one group to run a relay and try and beat the other team’s relay.”

Huha is planning on attending Slippery Rock University to run track and major in exercise science.

Coming to the end of the season, Huha took some time for a Senior Spotlight Q&A:

How did you get started with track?

I originally started running track in seventh grade to stay in shape and conditioned for football season.

What allows Norwin’s track and field teams to be good year after year?

I think first it starts with our coaches. Coach (Tim Van Horn) doesn’t care how fast or athletic you are. He is going to train everyone the same and not focus on getting the faster kids on the team better. If you show effort and he sees you want to work and get better, he will help as best as he can. Second, I think, is the competition us athletes have with each other during practice. We don’t just compete with other teams. We compete with our own team, and sometimes that’s the best type of competition because we are all getting better by it and your team is only as good as your weakest player.

Why do you think you perform so well in the 200?

I feel like I perform well in the 200 because I make up the stagger in my drive phase of the race and eat up the curve at the start. Once I’m off the curve, we use the term “slingshot off the curve” because it feels like you got shot out of a slingshot when you make that bend. And after that, it’s just a final 100 stretch.

Do you train differently for the different sprinting events?

We don’t really train differently for the 100 and 200. We work on our drive phase and our top-end speed phase of the race. Now when it comes to the race, there is a different way to run each race. So it’s the same phases. It’s just knowing when and how to hit those phases.

Have you tried out other events for fun in practice?

I can’t say I “tried out,” but my coach has been trying to get me to run a 400 for the longest time. In the end, I got thrown into the 4×4 at our county meet and let me tell you, yeah, the 4×4 brings a lot of hype, but it has to be one of the hardest races I have ever run in my life.

What is one thing that people may not know about you?

I’m always willing to lend a hand to the underclassmen and pass down what I have learned from the upperclassmen that took the time to teach me.