West Mifflin hurdler Lewis aiming for titles, records
When asked what his goals are this season, Dontae Lewis kept it short and sweet.
Win.
For Lewis, a standout senior hurdler at West Mifflin, that means winning a second ( and perhaps a third) WPIAL title and a first (and maybe second) PIAA title. It means triumphing in the record book, too, as he is focused on breaking a school mark that has stood for 35 years.
Lewis is one of the top hurdlers in the state. Two years ago as a sophomore, Lewis captured a WPIAL Class 3A title in the 300-meter hurdles. He’s one of only two returning boys who claimed WPIAL titles in individual events in 2019. Seneca Valley’s Tyler Yurich (Class 3A 100-meter dash) is the other. The other champions have all since graduated.
A year ago, Lewis was poised for a big junior season. He had bulked up and was coming off of a strong indoor campaign. But instead of breaking records, Lewis had a broken heart, this after the outdoor season was canceled because of the pandemic.
“It’s motivated me,” Lewis said. “It’s my last year. I’ve got to make up for junior year a little bit. I ran some pretty good PRs sophomore year and it was kind of messed up that we had our junior year taken from us. I’m trying to work out a few things and finish strong.”
So far, so good. Lewis, who claims to be much leaner than he has ever been, won titles in the 110and 300-meter hurdles at last Saturday’s Tri-State Track Coaches Association Championships on his home track at West Mifflin. He ran a PR of 14.82 in the 110 before running a 39.16 in the 300. The 300 time was the second fastest in the state heading into the week, trailing only Seneca Valley’s Aiden Kutchma’s 39.14. It’s just shy of his PR of 39.05 set at WPIAL’s in 2019. The time Lewis ran in the 110 at TSTCA ranks fourth in the state.
Breaking the school record in the 300 hurdles has long been a goal for Lewis. Paul Rozgonyi’s time of 38.7 has stood since 1986. He also holds the school record in the 110 hurdles ( 14.04). Rozgonyi’s brother, Greg, is one of West Mifflin’s coaches.
“He’s been holding the record forever,” said Lewis. “I’m definitely breaking that by the time I graduate. That will be a really big milestone for me. I don’t think I’ll be able to get his 110, though. That’s a lot (of time to drop). If I break that, I don’t know what I’ll do.”
Lewis will run in college. He signed with Shippensburg earlier in the month. He hopes to visit there again late in May for the PIAA championships. It would be a chance at redemption. When there his sophomore year, Lewis didn’t qualify for the 110 final after finishing a disappointing 12th in preliminaries.
“Winning states would be a huge accomplishment,” Lewis said. “WPIAL’s obviously comes first. I just need to keep working.”
Another hurdler who could push Lewis this season is considered family. Lewis and South Fayette’s Haiden Litwinovich are cousins. Litwinovich won the 110 hurdles two weekends ago at the South Hills Classic. Litwinovich is also one of the WPIAL’s top pole vaulters.
Greensburg C.C.
Greensburg Central Catholic junior Corinn Brewer has already shown an enormous amount of versatility in her career. Last Saturday, Brewer took it to a different level when she competed in — and won — an event that’s not even a part of WPIAL or PIAA track and field.
If you have ever seen the steeplechase, you know that it’s quite an interesting event. It’s the one that involves athletes jumping over barriers and pits of water. Brewer gave it a shot while competing at the Jack Roddick Invitational at Shippensburg. And wouldn’t you know, she won. Her time of 7:26.20 topped the field of 16 girls competing in the 2,000-meter steeplechase. It’s the sixth-fastest time in the country this season.
It was Brewer’s first time doing the event in a school meet, but not her first overall. She claimed a title in the event in her age group at the AAU Junior Olympics after her freshman season.
Brewer should be a postseason title contender in multiple events this year. As a freshman, she medaled in the 800- and 1,600-meter runs and the pole vault at the PIAA Class 2A championships. This season, she has already posted excellent marks in the 100 and 300 hurdles and the high jump.
Butler Invitational
The 56th annual Butler Invitational will take place this weekend at Butler’s Art Bernardi Stadium. The boys meet will be Friday and the girls Saturday, with events starting at 12:15 p.m. both days. As of Monday night, 66 boys teams and 52 girls teams were registered.