Matt Courter is probably going to attend Pitt in the fall, but he has no intentions of joining the Panthers' track team.

That wouldn't be such a big deal except that Courter, a senior at Peters Townships High School, is one of the best hurdlers in the WPIAL.

"I've heard from some schools, but I've had my heart set on Pitt," Courter said after winning the 110-meter hurdles and placing eighth in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles at the Baldwin Invitational this past Friday.

Now, the Baldwin Invitational has never been confused with the PIAA championships, but the competition there is a close cousin to what athletes face at Shippensburg University the Friday and Saturday before Memorial Day.

Courter beat a talented field in the 110 hurdles at Baldwin that included Jeannette's Nick Spino, Bradford's Tyree Bennett, Butler's Logan Renwick and Upper St. Clair's Eric Kasunich. Courter finished in 15.05 seconds and "out-leaned" Spino at the finish.

That's a solid time, but it came after Courter cranked out a 14.6 to place first at the McDowell Invitational in Erie the previous week.

"I don't know ... the competition was good and the kid from Bradford was right with me at the race in Erie," Courter said. "Everything just went right in that race, not so much today."

Courter is a fine runner -- he also did a leg on Peters Township's school-record-setting 1,600-meter relay that was second to Baldwin in 3:24.88 at the invitational -- but admits the 110 hurdles is his best event. He comes by his hurdling ability honestly. His mother ran the hurdles for Richland High School before it became Pine-Richland.

"She had the old record there in yards," he said. "I guess its in the genes."

Maybe, but he excels in the event because of a lot of hard work.

He told Peters Township coach Dennis "Buzz" Scott last fall that he was going to focus on the hurdles and started by working hard during the indoor season.

"He impressed me some with his focus during indoor track, but I still didn't believe him until the Tri-State [Track Coaches Association championship] at West Mifflin," Scott said. "He was second there and has been really focused after that ... I don't think he has lost a race since."

Scott knows a good hurdler when he sees one. After all, he tutored Brian Mancini, who set the WPIAL Class AAA championship meet record of 14.43 in 2000.

Where Mancini relied more on his outstanding speed, Courter counts on his technique.

"Matt isn't as fast as what Brian was, but he has outstanding technique," Scott said. "I've been coaching track at Peters Township for 30 years and he's one of the more coachable individuals I've had."

Courter knows he's not a burner, but he has the ability to accelerate over the hurdles, especially numbers two through five.

"That's my secret. I'm not the fastest one off the line ... I try to stay with everyone and then pull away in the middle," he said. "I'm not really fast and I can't jump that high, but put it all together and it works out."

Courter is excited about the possibilities for the school's 1,600 relay team that qualified for next week's WPIAL championships. The others on the relay are Andy Blandino, Christian Brandstetter and Hunter Brade.

"We don't have anybody super fast, but we all run 51 and change, and that's pretty good," Courter said. "I think we have a good chance of getting to the [PIAA] championships."

As for his not anticipating running track in college, Courter has this vision.

"I kind of just saw myself heading off into the sunset after running the 110 hurdles at the state championships," he said with a smile.