Bella Gera and Daniel Norris are living up to the legacy of throwers produced at Hempfield High School.

Champion tradition lives on at Hempfield with Gera, Norris

When the pandemic began to paralyze the country last spring, and in doing so shutting down many athletic facilities, Daniel Norris and a few of his Hempfield teammates began to frequent the home of Dave Murray, a longtime track and field assistant coach for the Spartans.

Murray decided to invest a few thousand dollars into installing shot put and discus circles on his family’s property in Hempfield Township.

“I have the best wife in the world,” Murray said of his spouse, Amanda. “She was like, ‘Are you serious?’ And I said, ‘Yes, I am.’”

One of the Hempfield throwers, Bella Gera, didn’t feel the need to go over to her coach’s home very often. It’s not that she didn’t want to, but because her father also chose to install throwing circles at the family’s home — a shot put circle in the backyard and discus circle in the front yard.

This might sound like a bit over the top, but at Hempfield, throwing is more than just something to do to pass the time.

No program in the WPIAL and quite possibly the state breeds champion throwers like the Spartans.

Ron Colland is one of the most tenured track coaches in the state. He began as an assistant at Hempfield in 1974 and has been the head coach since 1982. The Spartans have won numerous WPIAL team titles and have had many athletes capture WPIAL and PIAA titles.

“If you walk into the field house and look at the athletes who have been state champions, probably the overwhelming

Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette Hempfield's Bella Gera and Daniel Norris, both seniors, are among the top seeds in the discus and shot put at Saturday's PIAA Class 3A track and field championships.

Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette Hempfield senior Bella Gera owns the No. 2 discus throw all time in WPIAL history.