Bill Beckner stories, Page 101

The girls tennis postseason takes center stage this week on the WPIAL calendar with section singles tournaments across District 7. Tournaments will be Wednesday and Thursday. The top four finishers at each Class 3A site, and top three in 2A, advance to the WPIAL championship Sept. 21-22 at North Allegheny...

Olivia Cernuto School: Southmoreland Sport: Soccer Year: Senior Claim to fame: Cernuto has been scoring goals at a torrid pace and reached a career milestone in the process. The standout forward scored her 100th career goal Thursday in the Scotties’ 7-1 victory over Penn Hills. She had four scores in...

Ligonier Valley does not lose at Weller Field, its home football venue, very often. That made Greensburg Salem’s 35-28 win there Friday that much more impressive. Not counting a forfeit loss to Serra Catholic last year, the Rams (2-1) had won 32 straight on their home field over a seven-year...

Rachel Carter’s first season as coach of the Franklin Regional girls volleyball team was a getting-to-know-you time for the team’s new leader and its players. Now that her system is taking root, the Panthers are ready to build toward the future. “We put a lot of work in last year...

Looking to right a wrong — the Warriors lost at home last week for just the third time since 2013 — Penn-Trafford returned to form at Warrior Stadium. Instead of turning the ball over and going backward with penalties, the Warriors were sound and crisp, back to making big plays...

She played her drive down the left-center of the fairway of the 428-yard 15th hole and had a clear look at the reachable par-5. Izzy Aigner then lasered her distance, grabbed her 7-iron and took dead aim from 166. When her Bridgestone golf ball with a purple “IA” Sharpied on...

When it comes to her college plans, Lily Fenton is all “set.” The senior from Latrobe accepted a preferred walk-on offer to play volleyball at Notre Dame, adding to her family’s rich history of Division I athletes. “Seeing my brother (Reed) go through the recruiting process inspired me,” said Fenton,...

Haden Sierocky went from a quarterback candidate to a versatile weapon and catalyst for Ligonier Valley. The senior running back and defensive back has scored five touchdowns four ways for the Rams (2-0). A film hound who looks for a cerebral edge, the 6-foot, 186-pound Sierocky is just as valuable...

Plum came out like a sprinter in the fastest heat. Latrobe had trouble getting off the starting block. In a showdown of ranked girls soccer teams from Section 3-3A, No. 3 Plum showcased its speed, working up a nice lather offensively early on the way to a 4-2 victory over...

“Move on” is a two-word mantra around the Jeannette boys soccer team these days. The much-improved, ready-to-contend Jeannette boys soccer team, that is. The Jayhawks are playing up voluntarily this season, in Class 2A, to increase competition and play with more public school teams. Last year was fun — an...

Greensburg Central Catholic senior Carlo Denis reached a career milestone Sept. 1 when the second-ranked Centurions visited No. 5 Bentworth in a Section 2-A game. The speedy forward who seems as if he has been in the GCC lineup forever cleared the 100-goal mark for his career with two scores...

Junior Eva Frankovic (Norwin) joined the Bucknell women’s soccer team after transferring from Pitt. A defender, she appeared in 15 games over the last two seasons for the Panthers and played 45 minutes last year against Duke. Frankovic said she left Pitt for “a better opportunity” at Bucknell. She goes...

Few coaches will argue it is better to lose the first game of the season than the last one. For Greensburg Central Catholic, that concept rings true. Top-ranked GCC, the Class A runner-up last season in the WPIAL and PIAA, kicked off 2022 with a grueling 3-2 loss to then-No....

More than 600 fans came through the turnstiles at Norwin on Saturday for the inaugural Moe Rosensteel Memorial Kickoff Classic. The three-game event was like a soccer celebration, with the late Moe Rosensteel on the minds of all attendees. The showcase had a DJ, music, concessions, merchandise and, last but...

The Westmoreland County Coaches Association will host its girls golf championship Friday at Champion Lakes Golf Course in Bolivar. Last year, Caroline Tragesser of Franklin Regional held off her teammate in a scorecard playoff to win the individual title with a nine-hole score of 41. Neither player is back for...

This is the story of a “retired” soccer player with a cautionary tale to share and a message she hopes has a long reach: “It’s OK not to be OK.” The mental demands of high-end college sports and their effects on athletes, she said, deserve more attention. Finally healthy, Emily...

Jess Strong stepped down as the head softball coach at Seton Hill after four seasons. The “other coaching endeavor” mentioned last week turns out to be an opportunity with one of the nation’s top Division III programs. Strong will be the head coach at Berry College in Mt. Berry, Ga....

Exhausted after 100 minutes of soccer that resulted in a grueling 2-2 tie in hot and humid conditions, Latrobe and Norwin girls soccer players reflected on the state of their game and the cause. The teams played to a double-overtime draw in the final of three matchups of the inaugural...

Look down, and you might miss a play. Go to the concession stand, and you might miss a whole drive — maybe two. Hempfield is playing turbo-fast with its no-huddle spread offense, a product of offensive coordinator Ryan Reitz, who began to install the system last year and is seeing...

High school football teams used to use an honor system in the summer months for offseason training. Players promised to work out on their own. Coaches hoped they did. “The offseason dictates everything,” Hempfield coach Mike Brown said. “I mean, kids play other sports, and that’s fine. But training is...

After a 14-win season and a run to the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals, the Franklin Regional girls soccer team is primed to go farther. The Panthers return seven starters, including junior goalkeeper Aris Lamanna, an All-WPIAL selection last season. The others back are sophomore midfielder Abby Paterline, senior forward Sierra...

Don’t count Norwin out of the WPIAL playoff chase just yet. Knights veteran coach Scott Schuchert said WPIAL Class 4A is “Seneca Valley and everybody else,” but he likes to think his team is in that vast group of pursuers. While six starters return from a 14-2-1 team that lost...

It might have been youth night at Warrior Stadium, but this was big boy football. Or was it Big Boyd football? Running back Bobbie Boyd gave McKeesport a pronounced edge in a statement win for the Tigers. Boyd ran for 149 yards and three touchdowns and intercepted three passes to...

James Franklin will make quite an entrance tonight at Belle Vernon. The Penn State football coach is expected to arrive by helicopter to watch Laurel Highlands play Belle Vernon — and five-star junior Quinton Martin, the top-rated 2024 prospect in the state — at James Weir Stadium. Belle Vernon athletic...