PIAA Boys’ Track: Dolbin’s big day helps Nativity take 2nd in AA team race

The Nativity boys' track team poses with the PIAA Class AA runner-up team trophy Saturday at Shippensburg University (Submitted Photo)

SHIPPENSBURG — It’s hard to fathom that a Schuylkill League track and field athlete has ever had a better two-day span at the PIAA Track and Field Championships than Nativity’s Noah Dolbin did this weekend.

The Army-bound senior left Shippensburg University with four top-three medals, including a gold in the boys’ Class AA 110-meter hurdles. Dolbin also was third in the long jump Friday, took third in the 300 hurdles Saturday and capped the weekend by teaming with Nolan Daynorowicz, Liam Messina and Michael Stank to take second in the 1600 relay.

If you’re scoring at home, that’s a gold, a silver and two bronze.

To add to it, Dolbin’s big day, coupled with two strong relay runs and Daynorowicz’s ninth-place finish in the 800 meters, helped Nativity finish second in the Class AA boys’ team race with 30 points.

That’s an impressive display of hardware.

“It feels amazing,” Dolbin said after winning the 110s. “Adrenaline is a real gift for me. Even if my legs aren’t feeling good, as soon I get in the blocks, I feel fresh.

“I could feel it, especially in races like this where you have a big crowd cheering. It really helps you block out all the pain you’re feeling from the day before, the soreness. You’re able to run your own race.”

Dolbin entered Saturday’s finals as the top seed after winning Friday’s preliminaries in 14.15 seconds. Corry Area’s Blake Cook was second in 14.33, with Quaker Valley’s Davin Gartley third in 14.48.

Those two flanked Dolbin in the finals, which was delayed by several minutes due to a scoring system issue.

Once the runners got back in the blocks and took off down the front straightaway, Dolbin took the lead early and never gave it up, winning in a personal-best 14.10. Gartley was second in 14.28, with Cook third in 14.33.

“I knew I’d have competition on both sides,” Dolbin said. “Coming into (Friday’s preliminaries) we were running 14.4s, pretty neck and neck time-wise. I was able to get the top seed at 14.15 and carry that into today, which I did. To run a PR in states, you can’t ask for anything more.

“It’s the most nervous I was all year. In the blocks I couldn’t feel my legs. I managed to get over that and win the race.”

In the afternoon, that trio was at it again in the 300 hurdles. This time it was Cook who grabbed the gold in 37.56, with Gartley second in 37.58 and Dolbin third in a personal-best 37.94.

“It feels great. I was seeded third … ran a PR by almost a second, you can’t ask for much more than that,” Dolbin said after the 300 hurdles. “These guys just ran amazing times, (Cook) almost broke the record. It was a great race, lot of fun.”

Dolbin’s three individual track medals adds a final chapter to a sensational high school career that also includes record-breaking seasons in football and championship-winning campaigns in basketball while adding another layer to the Dolbin family legacy.

Noah’s grandfather, Jack, played wide receiver for the NFL’s Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII in 1978 and his dad, Josh, was a star wide receiver at Pottsville High and Villanova University.

That family name has followed Noah throughout his career and he was happy to extend it to a new level Saturday.

“Every time I compete I think of my grandfather,” Noah said. “I wish he was here to watch me … but I know he’s watching me from up above. My dad always talks about that.

“It’s great to try and live up to their accolades and always try to beat my dad out and what he did. I know I have to try hard to do that.”

Dolbin’s day ended with another medal as he combined with Messina, Daynorowicz and Stank to take second in 3:22.05. Quaker Valley took first in 3:21.69, denying the Green Wave of a second straight gold medal in the event.

Earlier in the day, Messina, Nash Stehr, Stank and Daynorowicz were 13th in the Class AA 3200 relay in 8:19.11.

Daynorowicz then just missed the podium in the 800, as his time of 1:58.40 was seven-hundreths of a second behind eighth-place Micah Ivy of Riverview. Annville-Cleona’s David Moran won the race in 1:56.17.

Friday, Dolbin was third in the long jump and Stank took ninth in the 400.

Quaker Valley easily won the boys’ Class AA team title with 75 points. Nativity was second, followed by Lewisburg in third with 27.33 points.

The track success was a part of an overall championship-level day for Nativity as the baseball team pounded Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg 15-0 to win its second straight District 11 Class A baseball crown. For more on that, visit https://www.t102sportsnow.com/2025/05/24/district-11-baseball-nativity-powers-past-notre-dame-east-stroudsburg-to-earn-back-to-back-class-a-titles/

For a roundup of the rest of the Schuylkill League’s track performances Saturday, visit https://www.t102sportsnow.com/2025/05/25/piaa-track-roundup-miners-lapoint-calls-shot-races-to-gold-in-aa-200/

For a look at Pine Grove’s Viktorya Luckenbach’s race to two golds, (See related story).