2023 Meet Schedule & Results
Knight Under the Lights....................Friday Aug. 18, 2023................(Results)
Cal Univ. Invitational.........................Saturday Sept. 2, 2023............(Meet Info) (RESULTS) (map)
Red, White & Blue Invite...................Saturday Sept. 9, 2023......(MileSplit) (Norwin Times) (RunHigh)
@ Indiana + Ligonier Valley.............Tuesday Sept. 12, 2023............(Boys Results) (Girls Results)
@ Derry + Penn Trafford...................Tuesday Sept. 19, 2023...........(Boys Results) (Girls Results)
Blue Devil Invitational.......................Saturday Sept. 23, 2023..........(Meet Info) (RESULTS) (MAP)
@ Hempfield + Greensburg................Tuesday Sept. 26, 2023...........(Boys Results + Girls Results)
@ Latrobe + Yough..........................Tuesday Oct. 3, 2023................(RESULTS)
Bald Eagle Invite (@ White Oak).........Saturday Oct. 7, 2023..............(MileSplit) (RESULTS)
Westmoreland County Champs.........Wednesday Oct. 11, 2023..........(INFO) (RESULTS) (MAP)
Twilight JV Championship(@ Seneca Valley)....Monday Oct. 16, 2023............(MileSplit)
WPIAL Championships (@ Cal U).......Thursday Oct. 26, 2023............(MileSplit)
PIAA Championships @ Hershey.........Sat. November 4, 2023............(Results)
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2023-24 Seniors: Cole Kubistek, Austin Hladek, Teddy Ola, Hayden Douglas, David Shepherd (back row) Audra Fedor, Rosemary Gaydos, Julia Walko, Brookelyn Kotch
2023 Season is underway...
Officially the 2023 season kicked off on Monday August 14, 2023. We had a great summer and logged thousands of miles on Strava, met almost 40 times in person, had picnics and team bonding. We are looking forward to our 3rd Annual Knight under the Lights 3K Time Trial and Parent meeting on Friday August 18 after the Pep Rally at the Norwin stadium. The official meet season kicks off Labor Day weekend at the California University of PA Invitational...(continued on "Yearly Results"....2023). 

The summer training fully kicked off with our team Camp June 26-29 at Oak Hollow. We had a great week with lots of alumni and Coach Workman from W&J and Coach Esposito from High Point University speaking to the kids. We met close to 40 times this summer including a fantastic team family picnic at the Breauchy lake house at Treasure Lake. It was our most successful summer season of training with lots of healthy stronger athletes heading into the fall. We hope to keep momentum up once school starts as well.

Following our summer training, the official season began on Monday Aug. 14th. We had Spirit Week the first week with Hat Day and Sock Day and Twin day and lots of team building fun. The culminating event of Week 1 was the Fall Sports Pep Assembly and our annual Knight Under the Lights 3K Marker Run. We had over 40 athletes run a time and had our FASTEST EVER 5-person team averages--11:08 for girls and 9:38 for boys!

Leading the way were Annie Czajkowski with a blistering all time record of 10:34 followed by a pack of girls led by freshmen Emily Dansak, seniors Rosemary Gaydos, Audra Fedor and Julia Walko between 11:15 and 11:20. Twin sister Anna Dansak was next in 11:35 (ran on own that afternoon) followed by fellow freshmen Addie Farrah and Jullian Ryba. Anna Rakvic and Elin Bash rounded out the Top 10 for the girls. For the boys, the juniors paced the way with Enzo Jiancristoforo in an all time fastest 3k time of 9:24, followed by Thomas Gaydos in 9:33, Luke Simpson in 9:42 and Mario Breauchy in 9:44. Rounding out the top 7 were seniors Hayden Douglas, Teddy Ola and freshmen Owen Rankin cracking the 10:00 minute barrier. Dave Shepherd, Nick Patter and Cole Kubistek rounded out the top 10. Sophomore Mike Makay finished 13th with the biggest drop of the summer with a 4 minute and 35 second drop from July's run to finish in 11:27. 

It was a great Night to be a Knight for NorwinXC under the lights and we hope to carry on the tradition. 

On Saturday September 2, the Knights traveled to California University of PA for the Marty Uher Invite. The squads had strong performances in spite of the heat for the noon races. 

The Lady Knights opened up the race with a strong 5th place finish in spite of some varsity runners not running. The Lady Knights were led by freshmen duo of Addie Farrah (21:36) and Jillian Ryba (21:44) 9th and 10th place medalists. Following the freshmen were Anna Rakvic, Ciera Berthelsen, and Emily Schaeffer. Kaelyn Lazar and Alex Oestreich round out the top 7 for the day. Lots of Lady Knights notched their first 5K aside from the freshmen, including Megan and Madelyn Friday as well as Lillian Holtzman. 

The boys continued the "hot" performances finishing 6th in their race that kicked off at 12:20 pm. David Shepherd (18:50) led the Knights with a 17th place medal followed by freshmen Owen Rankin (18:59) in 22nd. Maerek Moenssens, Nick Patter and Cole Kubistek finished in the top 50 and senior Austin Hladek and freshmen Atticus Knight rounded out the top 7 for the Knights. Aside from the freshmen, junior Cailin Tolson and sophomore Noah Carney completed their first 5K of their careers. 

On Saturday September 9, NorwinXC traveled to White Oak Park for the 21st annual Red, White & Blue Invitational which featured over 100 of the best teams in Western PA and WV. The JV Girls got the day started with a 4th place finish led by medalists Anna Rakvic (21:46), Emily Schaeffer (22:19), and Elin Bash (22:41). The most improved from last year Lily Chaney dropped over 6 minutes from last year to finish in 24:59. Following the JV Girls was the freshmen race. We had 2 freshmen girls compete and both walked away with medals (shirts): Ciera Berthelsen (22:18) finished 10th followed by teammate Kaelyn Lazar (22:26) in 11th. The boys ran the next freshmen race led by 28th place finisher Atticus Knight in 19:18. Also running the Frosh race: Owen Turgeon, Mason Madonna, Jack Evanuik and Caden Sanders. Following the frosh race, the Boys JV ran to a 6th place finish. Leading the boys was sophomore medalist Maerek Moenssens (18:37) with a 17th place finish, followed by Nick Patter with a PR of 18:59, Cole Kubistek, Mike Makay, Austin Hladek, and Richie Zula who all finished in the top 100 out over 350 runners!

Next, the Norwin XC Girls Varsity raced to an amazing 3rd place finish behind nationally ranked North Allegheny and Morgantown (WV)! The top 5 averaged 19:55 and our 7th place runner finished 47 out of over 230 runners. The Lady Knight's pack put them on the podium and wearing some new hoodies. Leading the ladies was sophomore Annie Czajkowski (18:56) with a 12th place finish, followed by freshmen medalist Anna Dansak (19:36). The Lady Knights used a 13 second spread to pack in the next 5 runners with freshmen Jillian Ryba (20:19), senior Julia Walko (20:19), freshmen Emily Dansak (20:28) and Addie Farrah (20:30), and senior Audra Fedor (20:32), rounded out by senior Rosemary Gaydos (21:10). The Boys Varsity was the final race of the day in the humid conditions. The Boys Varsity finished in 9th place just ahead of section rival Hempfield. The boys were led by a 1-2 punch of junior medalists Enzo Jiancristoforo (16:37) and Thomas Gaydos (16:41) to finish in 16th and 22nd place. Following these two, was junior Luke Simpson (17:26), freshmen Owen Rankin (17:58), seniors David Shepherd (18:14) and Teddy Ola (18:21).
Overall, it was a great invite to prep the team for strong showings in Section meets which begin Tuesday.

On Tuesday Sept. 12, NorwinXC traveled to Indiana to race first section match against Indiana and Ligonier Valley. With storms approaching, the boys started at 4:00 and the girls at 4:05. Luckily, both races completed as the rain and storms approached. Both boys and girls won in dominating fashion on the challenging White Twp. Recreation Complex. In the boys race, the boys won 15-49 vs. Indiana and 15-50 vs Ligonier. Leading the boys was the junior trio of Enzo Jiancristoforo, Thomas Gaydos, and Luke Simpson crossing the line in 18:53. Continuing the sweep were Hayden Douglas ((19:09), Teddy Ola (19:10), Owen Rankin (19:18). Rounding out the next two spots was David Shepherd (19:37) and Maerek Moenssens (20:01).

In the girls race, the Lady Knights dominated the competition as well, winning 18-45 vs. Indiana and 15-50 vs. Ligonier Valley. Leading the Lady Knights were Annie Czajkowski (21:58) and Anna Dansak (22:02), followed by an Indiana runner. NorwinXC then captured 7 of the next 8 spots with Rosemary Gaydos leading the chase pack, followed by Audra Fedor, Addie Farrah, Emily Dansak, Julia Walko, Anna Rakvic, and Elin Bash. Great pack running and race execution by both teams sits them at 2-0 in the Section heading into next week's matchup with Penn Trafford and Derry Area @ Derry High.

On Tuesday Sept. 19, NorwinXC traveled to Derry HS for meet with Trojans and Penn Trafford. The team traveled early to avoid bussing issues and had plenty of time to warm up on beautiful day. The boys won handily with scores of 15-50 vs. Derry and 18-45 vs. Penn Trafford. Leading the way for the boys team were Thomas Gaydos in 16:57 and Enzo Jiancristoforo in second with 17:00. Following the top 3, the Knights took the next 6 spots with Luke Simpson, Hayden Douglas, Mario Breauchy, Dave Shepherd, Owen Rankin, and Teddy Ola running in an ice pack. The boys got out fast at the mile coming through between 5:02 and 5:20 and then packed up and closed the 3-mile course.

In the girls race, the NorwinXC Girls also won easily defeating Derry 15-50 and Penn Trafford 20-43. Following PT runner Amelia Barilla, was a pack of Norwin runners led by Annie Czajkowski, Anna Dansak, Rosemary Gaydos, Jillian Ryba, Addie Farrah and Audra Fedor. The girls got out fast as well and opened first mile between 5:45 and 6:10. Lots of PR's on the flat 3-mile course and nice weather.

Both the boys and the girls improved to 4-0 on the season with wins, setting up a big showdown with Hempfield the following week on Tuesday Sept. 26 at Hempfield and Greensburg Salem.

The Blue Devil Invitational took place on Saturday Sept. 23 @ Buhl Park in Hermitage. NorwinXC had a record breaking meets with lots of PR's and some All Time marks on the fast 3.1 mile course on a beautiful fall day. The NorwinXC Girls kicked off the record setting day with a dominant victory placing 5 in the top 10 and scoring only 30 pts. over 100 pts. ahead of second place Latrobe. The girls posted a  19:03 top 5 team average, the lowest team average in the history of the girls program dating back to the 1980s!!! Leading the way for the Lady Knights was sophomore Annie Czajkowski with an impressive all time #2 time of 18:10 to capture her first Invitational victory. Annie waited until after the 2-mile mark to make her move and close the last mile of the course pulling away from competitors. Following Annie, were freshmen Anna Dansak in 18:54 (#6 all time time for girls program) and Jillian Ryba in 19:13. Right behind Ryba was Rosemary Gaydos (19:23) and freshmen Addie Farrah (19:32) to roundout the top 5. Julia Walko in 14th in 19:49 and Audra Fedor finished 7th in 19:57. All seven girls ran in the sub 20:00, which has never happened in history of program.

Following the girls were the varsity boys. The boys got out to a hot start and were in 1st at the mile mark with an average time of 5:10. The boys stayed near the front the whole race and finished runner up to a strong Quaker Valley team with 68 pts, 12 behind QV and 5 ahead of Eden Christian. Leading the way for the Knights was Enzo Jiancristoforo with an huge PR of 16:08 for 4th overall, followed by Luke Simpson and Thomas Gaydos in 8th and 9th in 16:27 + 16:28. This is the first time the Knights had 3 boys sub 16:30 in at least 20 years. Rounding out the scoring for the Knights were Mario Breauchy in 18th in 16:50 and Hayden Douglas in 17:11. Also with medal performances were David Shepherd (17:31) and Teddy Ola (17:36).

The JV Races kept up the fire for Norwin XC with the boys winning handily with 33 pts. The JV Boys averaged 18:42 led by Maerek Moessnens 17:58 finish for 3rd overall. Freshmen Atticus Knight with a big PR and run of 18:43 for 5th, followed by veterans Austin Hladek and Nicholas Patter in 18:54/ 18:55. Owen Turgeon, Cole Kubistek and Richie Zula closed out the top 7 for the Knights. Lots of PR's in the race and first time medalists including Mike Makay.

The JV Girls capped off the day with a dominating performance and perfect score of 15 pts. The Lady Knights took the first 7 places and 8 of the top 10 finishers overall. Freshmen Emily Dansak blasted a 20:13 for a big PR along with Anna Rakvic PR of 20:39 for 1-2 overall. Next, freshmen Ciera Berthelsen 20:49 and Elin Bash 20:59 to crack the 21:00 barrier. Closing out the top 7 was Kaelyn Lazar, Alex Oestreich, and Emily Schaeffer. Autumn Stoken closed out the top 10 with a 9th overall and Lily Chaney had a big 5:00 min improvement from last year.

On Tuesday Sept. 26, NorwinXC traveled to Hempfield for a big Section showdown with the Spartans and Greensburg Salem. It was an overcast mid 60's degree day and the hilly course was in solid shape. The Boys started off the day by setting the tone and racing a strong race against a young Hempfield crew and pack. The boys defeated Greensburg Salem 15-50 and beat Hempfield in a close one 23-32. The boys used a strong front trio to bury the Spartans up front. Enzo Jiancristoforo (17:29), Thomas Gaydos (17:47), Luke Simpson (17:57) mathematically won the race by finishing 1-2-3 overall. Enzo's time of 17:29 beat the course record held by Greensburg Salem's Quentin Gatons, a Pitt runner in college right now. Enzo made a move before the mile mark and never looked back, while Thomas and Luke waited until lap 2 to close on the Hempfield runners and take the lead.  Following the trio up front, David Shepherd (18:22) and Mario Breauchy (18:38) closed out the scoring in 8th and 9th place. Teddy Ola, Hayden Douglas, Maerek Moenssens and Atticus Knight closed out the top 20 on the course for the day. Overall, the boys record improves to 6-0 in the Section with one more Tri-Meet to go.

​The NorwinXC Girls closed out the sweep with dominating scores of 15-49 and 15-50. The girls took the top 6 spots overall in the race with Annie Czajkowski (20:06) racing to a course record as well and winning easily. Following Annie, the next three Norwin runners broke the course record as well--Julia Walko (21:12), Jillian Ryba (21:16), and Addie Farrah (21:21). Anna Dansak and Audra Fedor closed out the top 6 sweep for the Knights. Following the first Hempfield runner, Rosemary Gaydos and Emily Dansak, who fell hard in the woods, finished in the top 7 for the Lady Knights. Overall it was a fantastic showing and impressive run for both boys and girls and both teams are now 6-0 headed into final Section meet at Oak Hollow with Latrobe and Yough. 

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2023 Season Slideshow:

PUBLICATIONS/ MEDIA: