Penn-Trafford senior Matt Sarnowski seems to throw his best when he goes against Hempfield senior Peyton Murray.
Before May 15, Sarnowski edged the reigning PIAA Class 3A discus champ twice this season.
The third time came at the WPIAL track and field championships at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium at Slippery Rock University.
Sarnowski’s fifth throw of the day sailed 185 feet, 10 inches to overtake Murray’s best throw of 181-3. Sarnowski, who will attend Penn State but is only guaranteed a spot on the roster, defeated Murray at the Lady Spartan/Wildcat Invitational and in a dual.
"It’s the competition that gets me up to throw against Peyton,” Sarnowski said. "I think playing football put me in that mindset. It’s game time.”
Neither thrower had great tosses in the preliminary round. Sarnowski was leading by an inch.
Murray then hit his best throw on his first toss of the finals.
Sarnowski hit the winner on his second throw of the finals.
"I’m disappointed I lost, but winning the PIAA is the ultimate goal,” Murray said. "Matt has a better spin than me. I might be stronger and when I hit a throw it goes. I needed to do better in the prelims.”
Sarnowski said he knew he had a big throw coming.
"I hit a good one in warm-ups before the finals,” Sarnowski said. "I told myself this is the time to do it.
"It’s awesome to be a WPIAL champion. This isn’t the ultimate goal. Hopefully, I can do it again.”
Sarnowski wasn’t the only Penn-Trafford thrower to win gold. Junior Logan Kerstetter won the Class 3A javelin with a throw of 177-0
Kerstetter came into the championship with the top throw in the WPIAL, but after a poor showing in the preliminary round, he found himself in eighth place with a throw of 149.
He uncorked the winning throw on his first toss in the finals.
"I had a rough start,” Kerstetter said. "My footwork wasn’t good and I couldn’t get anything into my throws. Then I fixed things and got things right.
"I’m excited to win the WPIAL title and I’m looking forward to having fun at states and seeing all those great athletes.”
Penn-Trafford had a couple of other athletes qualify for states. Amelia Barilla was third in the 800, Michael Cheplick III was third in the 400, and Jake McGhee was eighth in the 1,600 and met the qualifying standards.
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"It’s the most athletes I’ve taken to states in my 14 years as a coach,” Penn-Trafford coach Eric Reger said. "We had a great meet.”
The 1,600-meter relay team finished second to Norwin. That team consisted of Michael and Tommy Cheplick, Ekoulus Lett and McGhee.
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.
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