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Norris inducted into Huntingdon County Sports Hall of Fame

The word compete is defined as: “Implies having a sense of rivalry and of striving to do one’s best as well as out-do another.’

The dictionary left out one other definition, however: Steven J. Norris.

Norris, a Warren resident, recently received a letter from the committee of the Huntingdon County Sports Hall of Fame to inform him of his induction.

This comes 10 years after his induction to the Warren County Sports Hall of Fame.

The Huntingdon native has been competing all his life as an athlete or coach, from playing Little and Teener League baseball, high school football and basketball and college football, to coaching at Sheffield and Warren High Schools and later as an ardent distance runner and bodybuilder.

Although he’s been away from the Huntingdon Area since graduating from Juniata College in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree in education, his boyhood nickname of ‘Skinny’ isn’t all that stands in the memories of area fans. Of his latest induction, he said: “I’m elated and flattered that people back home still remember me after I’ve been away for so long.

Norris was named an all-star on the 1967 Huntingdon VFW Teener League team that finished second in the state tournament hosted by Huntingdon. Coach Roy Biddle altered left-handed hitting Norris and right-handed Jeff Binney on the mound in reaching the finals. Huntingdon was edged 2-01 in the title game by Philipsburg, a game that elevated the local program into statewide prominence.

A 1970 honors graduate from Huntingdon Area High School, Norris was a defensive back on coach Andy Radi’s 1968 team that went 8-1-1 and was selected to the All-Central Counties team on defense. He became the starting quarterback late that season when Gary Shope was injured and become the starter in 1969, along with continuing as a mainstay in the secondary.

During his senior season, he led a team that went 9-1 and won the Western Conference and Central Counties titles – the first Bearcat squad to do that since 1955. He repeated on the All-CC team as a defensive back and also made it as a quarterback.

He also played point guard on coach George Weaver’s Bearcats squad and made the All-Mountain League team his senior year and was also selected as the team’s Player of the Year.

At Juniata, he played defensive back and wide receiver for coach Wald Nadzak’s Indians. He was one of four former Bearcats who played for Juniata’s 1973 National Championship Stagg Bowl team. He led the team in interceptions in the 1974 season and was named an honorable mention on the All-Mid Atlantic Conference team.

Norris accepted a teaching position with the Warren County School System, joining the faculty at Sheffield High School. He immediately became involved with the youth track programs and was hired by Andy Randas as an assistant coach for the boys basketball team. He became the girls head coach in 1978. In 1979, he was named Sheffield’s head football coach in addition to his basketball post.

He was a teacher in Warren County for 36 and still serves as a substitute. He was a coach each year except when he took time off to earn his master’s degree. He was part of the football staff for 16 years, basketball for 24, cross country for seven and track and field for 31. His track teams completed 13 undefeated seasons and his hurdles squads won 15 District 10 championships, as well as four consecutive 1600 relay titles.

One of his coaching highlights in his basketball coaching career came in 2002, when his Warren boys team knocked off General McLane, the No. 2 ranked team in the state. In 2008, he took over as boys coach at Eisenhower, and led a team that reached the second round of the state playoffs in 2011.

He started participating in distance running as a hobby in 1979 and became a very successful competitor for 10 years, running in 169 races and 20 marathons. He won two marathons sponsored by Reebok and qualified for the Boston Marathon from 1982-1987. In 1987, he finished with a time of 2:42, finishing 1,407th out of 15,000 qualifiers. His best marathon came in winning the Lake Ontario International Marathon in Rochester with a time of 2:31.52.

At the end of his distance running career, he switched to powerlifting and bodybuilding. He went from 145 to 200 pounds and competed until 2007. He won the NPC Pennsylvania Grand Prix Natural at 165 pounds in Pittsburgh among competitors age 35 and above. In 2007, he won the OBC Body Building ‘Battle of the Swords’ at 170 pounds. This event, held in Pittsburgh, was for those 55 years and older highlighted as the ‘Grand Masters Mr. Drug Free.’

From 2011-2106, he managed a gym and was the strength coach for local sports teams in Warren County.

In 2001, he got his PIAA certification to be a football official and is a member of the Joe Frisina Chapter. In addition to his work during the regular season, he has officiated over 50 postseason games, including the state championship game between South Park and Wilson in 2005. He is a referee during the regular season and an umpire in the postseason.

On Sept. 11, 2015, he was part of Meadville’s memorable 107-90 win over DuBois, a game that featured multiple records broke, including 720 yards rushing by Meadville’s Journey Brown, who is now a redshirt freshman for Penn State. DuBois’ Matt Miller also threw for a state record 787 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Norris is the son of Joseph and Patricia Norris of Huntingdon and is married to the former Wendy Munch of Warren. They live in Warren and are the parents of sons Ian and Justin Norris and daughter Brea Lynn Norris Crissey. Steve and Wendy are the proud grandparents of Quintin and Brynn Norris and Logan and Elise Sophia Crissey.

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