Bill Beckner stories, Page 109
Pitt-Greensburg tabs Conroy to coach women’s volleyball team
Kevin Conroy will lead the Pitt-Greensburg women’s volleyball program into the future. The position was opened in the offseason after it became full time and, after an extensive search, UPG found its man. A Flint, Mich., native, Conroy has been the girls head volleyball coach at Potomac State High School...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Franklin Regional grad runs to All-American honors
Westminster senior Ryan Beard and his teammates ran circles around opponents during the outdoor track and field season. A Franklin Regional alum, Beard was a U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Region Mid-Atlantic honoree as part of the 400-meter relay team. The foursome ran to the first...
Former Hempfield ace opens eyes with excellent freshman year at Bloomsburg
While hitters were taken aback by the quick emergence of freshman Callie Sowers as a true gamer in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, nobody was more open-mouthed than Sowers herself. Rookie seasons are not supposed to be this good. The fast-throwing pitcher’s first year at Bloomsburg was productive, sound and...
Norwin announces 2022 sports hall of fame class
From its all-time leading scorer in girls basketball, to a pair of three-sport standouts, to two WPIAL championship teams of 2016, the Norwin Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2022 covers a lot of ground. Soccer, wrestling and football also are part of the mix. Even the district’s favorite ticket-taker...
Seton Hill alum Katie Nolan to play pro basketball in Great Britain league
Double-double producing center Katie Nolan is going from Seton Hill to the pros. The recent grad signed to play for the Newcastle Eagles of the Women’s British Basketball League. The Eagles are based in Tyne, England. “I am extremely excited to be able to continue my basketball journey and blessed...
High school notebook: Norwin wrestling coach leads U16 team to national duals title
Called the “toughest wrestling tournament in the country,” the USA Wrestling National Championships represent a true test of talent for coaches and competitors. To Kyle Martin, the event represents a grandiose stage that matches the competition level. Martin found so much enjoyment and success in last year’s event, he couldn’t...
Norwin grad JJ Matijevic performing in ‘big situations’ for Houston Astros
It wasn’t majestic, like one of his second-deck home runs, and it didn’t find a gap. But JJ Matijevic’s hard-hit grounder did enough to score the winning run for the Houston Astros, who continued their mastery of the visiting New York Yankees last Thursday with a 3-2 win. Matijevic, pinch-hitting...
Latrobe ringing in season with new coach, different outlook
Ron Prady has not shown his players the bling. The bulky, diamond-studded championship ring he earned as an assistant at Penn-Trafford last season hasn’t been passed around the locker room or tried on by any players at Latrobe, where Prady is a first-year head coach. It’s not Prady’s style to...
Norwin notebook: Hockey team collects championship rings
The Norwin hockey team reassembled as PIHL champions recently and collected their spoils: championship rings. One last time, the Knights again celebrated the greatest season in program history, one that saw them capture their first league title with a 5-0 win over Meadville in March at the UPMC Lemieux Complex...
Norwin’s Kyle Martin leads national team to duals title in Fargo
Called the “toughest wrestling tournament in the country,” the USA Wrestling National Championships represent a true test of talent for coaches and competitors. To Kyle Martin, the event represents a grandiose stage that matches the competition level. Martin found so much enjoyment and success in last year’s event, he couldn’t...
Reitz father-son combo reunited as coordinators on Hempfield coaching staff
One is old school, committed to stopping the run and appreciative of a good hit over the middle. The other is new wave. Spread the field, go shotgun and make the secondary guess. Ray Reitz and his son, Ryan, look at high school football from different perspectives, but they are...
Latrobe football team earns long-awaited 7-on-7 win on its home field
As Penn-Trafford’s final deep pass attempt sailed out of the end zone and fell incomplete, players from Latrobe jumped into each other’s arms and bounced around in a sudden swell of excitement. For once, the Wildcats got to celebrate on their home field, which hosted the county 7-on-7 passing tournament...
Norwin grad jumps feet first into GCC girls soccer coaching job
Taking over a perennial power three weeks before official practice begins might seem daunting to most first-year soccer coaches. Not to Kara Batey. She was hired to coach the Greensburg Central Catholic girls rather late in the game, but she was eager to meet her players for the first time...
Latrobe alum Jared Kollar signs with San Diego Padres
Feeling he had more to prove as a college pitcher, Jared Kollar took advantage of a fifth year of eligibility and played last season at Rutgers. What did he prove? That he might have major-league talent. The crafty right-hander out of Latrobe and Seton Hill was signed Tuesday night to...
Southmoreland senior honors coach’s memory with youth camp
Kaleb Tkacs was 5-foot-10 and weighed 160 pounds when he joined the Southmoreland football team as a freshman. Not small, but not exactly the roster specs of an aspiring lineman, either. Tkacs was not judged on his height and weight, though. Then-line coach Ron Frederick saw a player he could...
Old-school game taking Latrobe’s Emma Blair places
Latrobe’s Emma Blair makes old-school post players proud every time she touches the basketball. And, despite the ever-changing nature of the game, where more traditional “bigs” are being asked to do more away from the rim than under it, college coaches are taking notice. Size and back-to-the-basket ability still mean...
Hempfield girls basketball heats up during summer months
Success in the summer months doesn’t quite compare to success during the winter high school basketball season, but Hempfield can attest there still is plenty of value to it. And the trophies are just as shiny. Winning as a cohesive unit in July can be a building block for the...
Westmoreland notebook: WCCA 7-on-7 tournament returns
The “skill” guys — the quarterbacks, running backs, receivers and defensive backs — will be on display Thursday at the Westmoreland County Coaches Association Larry Sellitto Memorial 7-on-7 Football Championship, a sure sign high school football is fast approaching. The pitch-and-catch event begins at 9 a.m. at Latrobe’s Rossi and...
Greensburg Salem’s Zahorchak resigns as boys basketball coach
Greensburg Salem will fall into line with similar-sized schools in boys basketball again next winter but the team will play in Class 4A without Mark Zahorchak. The Golden Lions’ head coach resigned after four seasons, the last two when Greensburg Salem played up in Class 6A to reduce travel and...
Franklin Regional teams gearing up for new-look conference alignments
Fall sports will introduce WPIAL teams to a new two-year cycle, which means classifications and sections have been realigned. Here’s what Franklin Regional teams will face in 2022: Beginning with football, the Panthers will remain in the Class 5A Big East Conference, which has undergone change. It now has Franklin...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Transfer to prep school a tough decision for Franklin Regional lineman
Andrew Nesler is on the move. The rising senior football player is leaving Franklin Regional for The Hill School, a prep academy in Pottstown, about 70 miles east of Hershey. Nesler, a 6-foot-2, 285-pound lineman, said the transfer is motivated by personal and family reasons. He was a key player...
Westmoreland college notebook: Seton Hill’s Taylor in NBA Summer League
When Kameron Taylor played at Seton Hill he had a propensity to deliver big shots at big moments. The smooth-shooting guard out of Landover, Md., was a 20-point-per-game scorer as a senior in 2016. Now, he is looking for his big break. Taylor has found his way to the doorstep...
Franklin Regional’s Anthony DiFalco nominated for USA Today’s national soccer player of the year
One of the best boys soccer players to come out of the WPIAL in recent years also is being mentioned with the top talent in the country. Three-time All-American forward Anthony DiFalco, who had a stellar, four-year career at Franklin Regional, was named to the All-USA Today High School Sports...
New Yough football coach set on bringing winning mentality to program
Working at Lucky Lottery in Trafford has given Ben Hoffer a greater appreciation for the game of chance. There, anyone can scratch off a winner or prosper with a random combination of numbers. The new Yough football coach has his team in line to play the Powerball. Why not? The...
Tim Bukowski soldiers on in friend’s stead as Southmoreland football coach
Tasked with taking over a program that initially was going to be in his friend and fellow assistant’s hands, Tim Bukowski is adjusting to his new role as head football coach at Southmoreland as a new season draws near. Bukowski was hired in March after Ron Frederick died suddenly from...
