An NFL player was one of the fans at Friday’s Baldwin Invitational. He came to watch his brother and lil’ bro’ gave him something good to see.
Xxavier Thomas, a junior at Central Catholic, won the triple jump and finished second in the long jump at the 50th annual Baldwin event, one of the largest one-day meets in the eastern part of the country.
Thomas’ older brother, Rodney Thomas, is a defensive back for the Indianapolis Colts, but Xxavier is literally following in his brother’s footsteps in the jumping pits. Rodney also was a former jumper at Central Catholic.
“I think he’s got me in triple jump, but I don’t know if he’s got to me yet in the long jump,” Rodney said with a laugh.
Xxavier also is like his brother in that he is a football player, too. Xxavier is a defensive back who already has made a verbal commitment to Penn State.
At the Baldwin Invitational, Rodney was a fan, but he did just a little bit of coaching, too. Rodney was on the infield for the meet, giving his brother just a couple pointers.
“My brother definitely did help me out a bit on the side, telling me I have to hang in the air more [in the long jump], keep my feet up high and not land on my butt.”
This was the first time this spring Rodney watched Xxavier and he saw Xxavier win the triple jump with a leap of 45 feet, 5 ½ inches, a personal best this season. Xxavier finished second in the long jump with a career-best mark of 22-9.
“He always gives me a little more juice because every time he’s around, I feel I have to that much more, just because he’s in my presence,” Xxavier said. “I have to make him proud.”
The Baldwin meet includes many of the top athletes in the WPIAL. The event started Friday afternoon in bright sunshine, but it rained for about the last hour-and-a-half of the event at night. In other meet highlights, Hempfield’s Peyton Murray was a double winner in the shot put and discus for the second year in a row. But he wasn’t exactly happy
“It wasn’t a great day,” Murray said.
Murray won the discus with a throw of 178-4 and the shot put at 52-10 ½. He is a two-time WPIAL champ and a one-time state champ in the discus.
“The way going the exact opposite way you want it for the discus,” said Murray, a senior at Notre Dame recruit. “It was a tail wind. You want a head wind. I’m not terribly upset with my discus because it wasn’t great conditions. But my shot put, I’m not happy with. I need to fix the shot put, but I can do it.”
It was a pretty good day for South Fayette girl sprinters and hurdlers. South Fayette senior Olivia Renk was a double winner in the sprints, winning the 100-meter dash in 12.18 seconds and the 200 in 24.81 seconds.
South Fayette sophomore Delaney Schumaker won the 300 hurdles in 45.28 seconds and finished second in the 100 hurdles in 15.20. Norwin’s Brandi Brozeski won the 100s in 15.01 and South Fayette’s Evabella Cox was third at 15.47.
Schumaker and Cox are two of the top hurdlers in the WPIAL, and they happen to be teammates. Cox was second in the 300s at 46.08.
“We’re good friends and it’s good that we’re on the same team because we’re pushing each other at practice,” Schumaker said. “When get on the track [for meets], we compete against each other, but in a good way.”
Canon-McMillan’s Colton Dean, who is a standout in a variety of events, was a double winner. A junior, Dean won the 100 in 10.90 and the 300 hurdles in 38.85. He also finished third in the long jump.
Grove City’s M.J. Pottinger was the other double winner in the 3,200 and the McKinney Mile event.
North Allegheny’s Isabella Costa came close to winning two events. She won the long jump with a leap of 18-3 and finished second in the 400 with a time of 57.80. She lost to a teammate in the 400 as sophomore Mackenzie Winning lived up to her last name, winning with a time of 56.73.
First-place finishers
BOYS
100 meters – Colton Dean, Canon-McMillan, 10.90.
200 – Connor Stokes, Elizabeth Forward, 22.24.
400 – Isaiah Hicks, Canon-McMillan, 49.85.
800 – Clark LaLomia, Quaker Valley, 1:56.52.
1,600 – Luke Simpson, Norwin 4:26.88.
McKinney Mile – M.J. Pottinger, Grove City, 4:15.39.
3,200 – M.J. Pottinger, Grove City, 9:26.45.
110 hurdles – Austin Kurta, West Mifflin, 14.91.
300 hurdles – Colton Dean, Canon-McMillan, 38.85.
Long jump – Nick Humphries, North Allegheny, 23-2.
Triple jump – Xxavier Thomas, Central Catholic, 45-5 ½.
High jump - Winston Clifford, Quaker Valley, 6-3 ¼.
Pole vault – Nicholas Puskar, Norwin, 14-4.
Discus – Peyton Murray, Hempfield, 178-4.
Shot put – Peyton Murray, Hempfield, 52-10 ½.
Javelin – Louis Liberatore, Canon-McMillan, 173-9.
400 relay – North Allegheny. 42.68.
1,600 relay – Hempfield, 3:27.73.
3,200 relay – Grove City, 7:58.95.
GIRLS
100 meters – Olivia Renk, South Fayette, 12.18.
200 – Olivia Renk, South Fayette, 24.81.
400 – Mackenzie Winning, North Allegheny, 56.73.
800 – Eliza Miller, Kiski Area, 2:13.37.
1,600 – Lexi Fluharty, Riverside, 5:16.41.
McKinney Mile – Grace Fritzman, West Allegheny, 5:01.74.
3,200 – Eva Kynaston, North Allegheny, 10:46.
100 hurdles – Brandi Brozeski, Norwin, 15.01.
300 hurdles – Delaney Schumaker, South Fayette, 45.28.
Long jump – Isabella Costa, North Allegheny, 18-3.
High jump - Milena Sciullo, Grove City, 5-6 ¼.
Triple jump – Jaedin Griggs, Moon, 37-8 ½.
Pole vault – Lindsay Breneman, North Allegheny, 12-2.
Discus – Audrey Maxwell, North Allegheny, 114-5.
Shot put – Maggie Clair, Canon-McMillan, 39-11.
Javelin – Maggie Dougherty, Hempfield, 121-6.
400 relay – Winchester Thurston, 49.08.
1,600 relay – Bethel Park, 4:04.47.
3,200 relay – Baldwin, 9:56.10.
Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com and @mwhiteburgh on X
First Published: May 4, 2024, 2:28 a.m.
