Gateway star ready for outdoor season after claiming indoor title
Montae Nicholson has several dates circled on his spring calendar, including the WPIAL outdoor track and field championships at Baldwin High School on May 15 and the PIAA championships in Shippensburg University on May 23 and 24.
Actually, Nicholson, the Michigan State football and track and field recruit, probably has the date of every competition in Gateway's upcoming track season circled, as he likes to be a part of competition.
In addition to sprint events, Nicholson is out to defend his WPIAL championship in the 110 hurdles, lower his WPIAL record time of 14.39, and go one place higher than his PIAA runner-up finish from 2013.
It's been 10 days since official spring practices for WPIAL sports began, and Nicholson had something extra to take with him into the workouts — a state hurdles championship.
Nicholson bested the field in the 60-meter hurdles at the Pennsylvania Track Coaches Association Indoor Championships on March 1 at Penn State University.
He took the title with a time of 7.85 seconds.
“I just wanted to go to states, run my best and see where I stood,” Nicholson said.
“There definitely were some good guys (in the 100 hurdles) at that meet. No matter if its track, football or basketball, I want to compare myself to the best.”
Nicholson saw some familiar faces in the event at states,
South Fayette junior Mitch Valko, who placed fourth in the 110 hurdles at the 2013 WPIAL AAA championships, took second with a time of 7.95 seconds.
Elizabeth Forward senior Matt Bernadowski, second to Nicholson at WPIALs last spring and third at states, took fourth in the 60 hurdles March 1 with a finals time of 8.06 seconds.
Nicholson, who competed in indoor track for the first time this winter, only had a few days to train for states because of basketball.
“It was a blessing to perform the way I did and run that fast without injury,” Nicholson said.
“Without proper training, it can be risky. I am glad I didn't pull anything or get hurt. I wish I had a little more time to train. I probably wouldn't have been as sore afterwards.”
With little to no training because of basketball, Nicholson competed in the 60 meters at the Tri-State Track Coaches Association Championships on Feb. 22 at Edinboro University.
He finished tied for second with Bernadowski in the preliminaries with a time of 8.11. Valko was first (8.04).
Nicholson qualified for the finals later in the day, but he pulled out of the event and returned to Pittsburgh for the Gateway boys basketball team's WPIAL Quad-A quarterfinal game against Kiski Area at Plum High School.
He arrived at halftime and got in the game. The Gators suffered an 82-73 overtime loss to the Cavaliers.
“Whether I have three days to train, three weeks to train or three months to train, if I am going to race, I am going to compete to the best of my ability,” Nicholson said.
“I want to push not only myself to be the best I can be but also push everyone else to be their best. I love competition.”
While the indoor state championship medal is nice to have, Nicholson said it wasn't a great deal of added motivation and push going into the spring season.
“I've been talking about the outdoor season with guys like Cameron Gray and Jae'Len Means for weeks,” Nicholson said.
“I'm just glad to be out there with my team getting ready for the season and getting ready to compete. That's all the motivation I need.”
Two other Gateway athletes — sophomore Aiyanna Crawford and senior Cameron Gray — competed at the state indoor championships.
Crawford placed 13th in the 400 dash with a time of 59.55 seconds, while Gray took 18th in the 60-meter dash (7.14 seconds).
Michael Love is a staff writer with Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-388-5825, at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.
