Before he competed at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia at the end of April, Matt Kann was just another discus/shot put guy in the WPIAL.

A junior at Fox Chapel High School, he gained something of a reputation last year by placing second in the discus at the WPIAL Class AAA championships and finishing sixth at the PIAA meet in Shippensburg.

Things have changed for Kann since he won the high school discus event at the prestigious Penn Relays.

"When I walked in here today, a couple of coaches congratulated me and I talked to a couple of other kids and they knew what I did," said Kann after placing second in the discus at the Baldwin Invitational May 2. "It's kind of cool to be the Penn Relays champion."

Very cool.

But that's not all Kann is known for these days. After his toss of 173 feet, 5 inches won the Penn Relays and another throw of 178 feet three weeks ago in a section meet, he has the title of "guy to beat" in that event heading into today's WPIAL Class AAA championships.

The WPIAL meet at Baldwin High School Stadium will get under way at 2 p.m. with field events. Running events are not scheduled to start until 3 p.m. The top four individuals or relay teams in each event automatically qualify for the PIAA championships May 23-24 at Shippensburg University.

Kann had the best throw of anyone in the qualifiers last week, coming up with a toss of 171-3. Rodney Richter of Connellsville, who beat Kann by 3 inches at the Baldwin Invitational, has the second-best qualifying distance of 163-11.

It was Kann's first trip to the Penn Relays at Franklin Field on the University of Pennsylvania campus. His eyes light up when he talks about competing there.

"It was an unbelievable experience," he said. "Baldwin [Invitational] is a great meet, but it blows Baldwin away. Everybody's excited to be there ... it's amazing."

Kann didn't make the trip east just to soak in the atmosphere. He was one of the higher seeded throwers and went in with the idea he was going to win.

"My goal was to win and I thought if I threw well, I could do it," he said. "And I threw moderately well and I was able to do it."

He is hardly the biggest discus thrower around. At 6 feet and 240 pounds, Kann was one of the smaller guys in the competition at the Penn Relays. His secret is his quickness and technique.

Unlike the shot put, where it helps to have size and muscle, the discus requires finesse.

Kann got started in track in middle school. He was playing football and a coach told him competing on the track team in the spring would help him in football in the fall.

"So I went and did track," he said.

He did OK in the discus at first and kept working to improve. The more he practiced, the better he got. Winning medals in the event at the WPIAL and PIAA meets as a sophomore did nothing more than increase his desire to succeed.

Surprisingly, he hasn't been as successful in the shot put and won't be competing in that event at today's WPIAL championships.

"I do the shot in dual meets for us," Kann said. "That's going to be my concentration this summer ... to get better at it."

A good part of his summer will be taken up with preparing for football. He's a lineman for the Foxes and would like to participate in both sports in college.

An outstanding student with a 4.2 grade-point average, Kann is interested in attending an Ivy League school. He missed a couple of the bigger invitational meets earlier this season because he was visiting colleges.

His primary focus, however, is winning the WPIAL title today in the discus.

He wasn't disappointed in placing second at the Baldwin Invitational because he has been pointing for today's meet.

"Anything but first will be disappointing," he said.

Obviously, Kann isn't afraid to put pressure on himself, but that's because he thrives on competition.

The watch he received for winning the Penn Relays title proves that.