Sports

38th Annual Baldwin Invitational a Success for Highlanders

Sprinters Krista Kuss and Dorian Brown impress on their home track.

If there was any doubt that ’s junior Krista Kuss was one of the area’s elite sprinters, let the debate stop. Not that there was much debating before.

Finishing in second and fourth place in the ultra-competitive girls 200- and 100-meter dashes, respectively, in the ultra-competitive Baldwin Invitational should be enough to meet any criteria.

Kuss, along with some other 2,500 high-school athletes, descended on Baldwin Stadium on Friday for the 38th Annual Baldwin Invite. The meet, sponsored by Boathouse Sports, is considered one of the top high-school track & field competitions in the country—or at the very least, in this region.

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Kuss’ time of 25.49 seconds in Friday’s 200 trailed only a Penn Hills High School runner, who won the event with a 24.95 time.

Kuss’ time of 12.90 seconds in the 100 was just 0.40 seconds behind the winner from Rochester Area High School.

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Three weeks prior, Kuss placed first in the 100 at another top meet—the Butler Invitational—with a school-record time of 12.21 seconds that would have won the Baldwin Invite as well.

Kuss finished second in Butler’s 400 event with another school-record time of 56.89 seconds but sat out Baldwin’s 400. That proved to be a shame, as the winning time on Friday in that event was 57.00 seconds, posted by the same North Hills High School runner who had edged Kuss at Butler with a 56.81 time.

Still, Baldwin’s invite was not without its showdowns and drama, as it is every year.

Over in the boys 400, Baldwin’s Dorian Brown—only a sophomore—placed fifth with a time of 51.75 seconds. A Belle Vernon Area High School runner topped the field in 50.82 seconds.

Brown, a standout running back for the Highlanders’ football team, also anchored Baldwin’s 1,600 relay team that placed fourth with a time of 3 minutes, 31.48 seconds. Seniors Parker Balla and Mohammed Badjie, and junior Bobby Bishop, ran the first three legs of that relay, respectively. A North Allegheny High School squad won in 3:26.85.

Senior Paul DeGregorio and junior Andrew Kuchta earned more top-eight “placements” for the Highlanders on Friday, finishing fourth and eighth in the boys 3,200-meter run in 9:19.54 and 9:33.88, respectively. A North Hills athlete won that event in 9:11.48.

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