Chartiers Valley senior wins WPIAL gold in high jump
Courtesy of Sam Minney
Max Lewis reacts after clearing the high bar to secure the gold medal during the WPIAL track and field championships.
Max Lewis
Max Lewis makes a great teammate but as an individual, he’s golden.
At Chartiers Valley High School, Lewis participates in soccer, football and lacrosse. He only started jumping for the track team last year.
This year, Lewis is a WPIAL champion. The senior won the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 3 inches.
“Max has a lot of natural ability,” said CV track coach Lori Poe.
As a junior, Lewis “surprised everyone” when he cleared 5-10 as a first-time jumper.
“It was shear ability,” noted Poe. “This year, he learned the technique he needed to do in order to get higher heights.”
Lewis gained clearance with each meet, leaping to 6-1 and 6-2 on a regular basis. He cleared 6-3 once.
“When he cleared that, we naturally expected him to do it again,” said his jumping coach Jason Gardner.
Lewis reached the height, which is considered one of the Top 25 in the state, during the WPIAL Track and Field Championships held May 18 at Slippery Rock University.
“Max has worked hard and continued to build upon what he started,” Gardner said. “He’s a good kid. He comes out and does what he needs to do and doesn’t cause any trouble.”
At the PIAA Championships, set for May 26-27 at Shippensburg University, Lewis is expected to wreak havoc.
“Based on what I know from last year’s field and where Max is in the WPIAL, I think he will be on the podium. He has done great and led the way all year. There’s no reason not to believe that he won’t be contesting for a Top-3 spot,” Gardner said.
Two of Lewis’ teammates earned spots on the podium. Ethan Snyder placed eighth in the 400 dash and Kaden Crump was sixth in the 800 run.
While Lewis was the only South Hills male athlete to grab the gold, several others earned honors as the WPIAL handed out awards to the top eight finishers in each of the track and field events.
In the 1,600-meter run, Peters Township’s Brett Kroboth finished fourth while Upper St. Clair’s duo of Sawyer Weinmann and Cole Jooste followed in sixth and eight place. Wienmann also added eighth in the 3,200.
Butler’s CJ Singleton dominated both distance events with times of 4:09.95 and 9:05.81. The Notre Dame recruit just missed a third gold and settled for runnerup in the 800 run.
Rocky Fennell from Mt. Lebanon finished fifth in the 100-meter dash while Evan Sarkett from Upper St. Clair picked up seventh in the 800 run.
South Fayette’s Michael Gimigliano secured sixth in the 300 hurdles and Bethel Park’s Max Blanc was sixth in the javelin.
Lebo’s 4×400 relay team of Brendan Anderson Ryan Cawley Ethan Show and Connor Rychcik finished fifth overall while SF’s 4×800 relay team of Jake Borgesi Tim Danziger Roman Galioto and Zack Warchol finished fourth. Individually, Borgesi finished fourth in the 3,200.