Bill Beckner stories, Page 205
With Shoaf gone, Yough looks to spread the wealth on offense
Much to the chagrin of the Yough football program, the Dustin Shoaf era is over, and it’s time for new players to take the football and carry it into the future. “We’re going to miss Shoaf, but we have some good guys coming back,” Yough coach Scott Wood said. “Our...
Penn-Trafford has championship aspirations
Penn-Trafford is a program that never seems to take a heavy hit from graduation losses. Sure, there is turnover, and top players move on to college like every other team, but it doesn’t faze the Warriors who — what else is new? — are going to be good again. Player...
Latrobe’s Hanna Green awarded track & field grant on heels of world championships
Latrobe native Hanna Green, who ran to a runner-up finish in the 800-meter run last month at the Toyota USA Track & Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, received a financial boost as she prepares for her next elite race. A little green never hurts. Green was one of 25...
W&J football ranked in Top 25; Wolf preseason All-American
Washington & Jefferson will open the season ranked No. 21 in the D3football.com preseason Top 25. In addition, Presidents junior Andrew Wolf was selected as a Preseason All-America First Team as a wide receiver by the same outlet. W&J finished 9-2 last season and reached the NCAA Division III playoffs....
IUP offering home fans chance at $50,000 in kickoff-return contest
If the IUP football team takes it to the house, somebody might have enough money to buy one. IUP is offering $50,000 to a randomly picked fan if the Crimson Hawks return the opening kickoff for a touchdown to open the first or second half of any of its five...
Justin Cramer becomes rare 4th-year starter at JeannetteVideo
Middle linebacker Justin Cramer has driven a stake through the heart of many opposing offensive plays in his time with the Jeannette football team. It’s that time, among other things, that will distinguish Cramer from others in the chronicles of the WPIAL’s most winning program. When the season opens Aug....
Belle Vernon grad Kaitlyn Slagus to carry on basketball career in Ireland
Kaitlyn Slagus isn’t ready to throw her high-tops over the telephone wires quite yet. The former Bucknell and Belle Vernon star forward has plans to continue her basketball career overseas. Slagus, who recently graduated from Bucknell, was awarded a Victory Scholarship from the Sport Changes Life Foundation and will attend...
WPIAL Class 5A football breakdown: Parity expected for ‘deepest classification in the state’
Despite what Penn Hills did last season, the tide of public opinion in Class 5A football is shifting. It appears to be moving away from one-team dominance and turning toward more wide-spread parity. Penn Hills rolled to WPIAL and PIAA championships last season, the exclamation point a 36-31 win over...
Harrison City native Dave Antill makes ace at USGA Mid-Am qualifier
Dave Antill did not qualify for the U.S. Mid-Amateur, but the former Hannastown Golf Club member made a lasting memory in his attempt to play in the national championship. Antill, playing in a USGA qualifier Monday at Pinnacle Golf Club in Grove City, Ohio, made a hole-in-one on the 198-yard,...
Jaguars’ Terrelle Pryor tending to hamstring issue
Wideout Terrelle Pryor has been resting a hamstring injury, and it is unclear if he will miss extended time with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Pryor, 30, was held out of the team’s preseason opener Thursday at Baltimore as a precaution. He returned to practice Monday. Among the “walking wounded” who are...
Westmoreland H.S. notebook: Football tiebreaker tweaked in Class 5A
There is a change in the WPIAL Class 5A football tiebreaker for the playoffs. With Albert Gallatin departing the league, 5A has 23 teams competing for 16 playoff spots. The top five teams in each of three conferences qualify, along with one wild-card team. The tiebreaker also will determine which...
Pace picks up with high school football camps set to open
Watch a Penn-Trafford football practice, and the first thing you notice is structure. Players know where to be, when to be there and the effort required in each drill. An exercise in precision. The whole process is machine-like with its station-to-station mechanics and monotonous attention to technique. An ordinary workout...
Franklin Regional’s Greg Botta puts off retirement, back for 26th year
With the advent of one-year contracts, annual player turnover and the season-to-season minutia that comes with the job, it is not unusual for veteran football coaches to contemplate retirement in the offseason. Greg Botta admits it has crossed his mind. But this time, he really considered calling it a career...
Former GCC state champion Zambruno finishes 2nd at Pa. women’s amateur
Olivia Zambruno put together quite a week on the other side of the state at the 83rd Pennsylvania Golf Association Women’s Amateur. But she came out on the wrong side of the final match. The former three-time PIAA champion from Greensburg Central Catholic reached Saturday’s 18-hole final in the championship...
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Corinn Brewer excels at AAU meet
Incoming Greensburg Central Catholic sophomore Corinn Brewer has had a productive offseason in track and field. Brewer, who placed third in the 1,600-meter run and seventh in the pole vault and 800-meter run at last year’s PIAA Championships, came away a four-time All-American at the recent AAU Junior Olympic Games...
Ward, Oberdorf help Martella’s return to AAABA semifinals
Martella’s Pharmacy is not ready to give up its national championship trophy. The lively baseball team from Johnstown is back in the semifinals of the 75th All-American Amateur Baseball Association (AAABA) Tournament, a step away from another finals appearance. They advanced with a 5-4, walk-off win over Zanesville Junior Pioneers...
Greensburg Central Catholic grad Olivia Zambruno reaches semifinals of state amateur
Rising Penn State junior golfer Olivia Zambruno remained in the chase for a title at the 83rd Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur Championship at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Militia Hill course. A Greensburg Central Catholic graduate, Zambruno downed Julia McLaughlin of Saucon Valley Country Club, 5 & 4, in a quarterfinal match Friday...
Nemacolin Woodlands to host PGA Jr. League Championship qualifier
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington is one of 12 qualifying sites for the PGA Jr. League Championship this fall. On Sept. 14-15, Nemacolin, the host for Region 5, will welcome four, co-ed all-star teams consisting of junior golfers (ages 13 and under). They will compete for 12 spots available for...
Miller, Zambruno advance at women’s state amateur
Former WPIAL and PIAA golf champions Katie Miller and Olivia Zambruno moved on at the rain-hampered 83rd Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur. Miller, a three-time champion who starred at Hempfield at North Carolina, defeated Julianne Lee, 2-up, holding off a back-nine rally by the unaffiliated Lee Thursday at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Militia...
Jeannette moves scrimmage to Valley as turf project progresses
As a fail-safe, Jeannette moved its 10 a.m. football scrimmage on Aug. 17 against Valley — originally scheduled to be played at home — to Valley Memorial Stadium in New Kensington. Jeannette’s McKee Stadium is undergoing an artificial turf project that is slightly delayed, and school officials want to give...
Several locals in chase for title at women’s state amateur
Rain caused a suspension of play and ultimately rained out the first day of stroke play Wednesday in the 83rd Pennsylvania Golf Association Women’s Amateur at Philadelphia Cricket Club in Plymouth Meeting. A number of local players are in the 42-player field in the Amateur Division, including former Hempfield and...
Mt. Pleasant girls soccer players Ulery, Leeder commit to D-I programs
Mt. Pleasant will have a pair of Division I midfielders prowling the soccer field this fall. Brooke Ulery and MacKenzie Leeder have made verbal commitments to higher-level programs on the eve of their junior seasons. Ulery plans to attend Cleveland State, and Leeder pledged to Duquesne. Both are two-time All-WPIAL...
Softball star Maddy Grimm nabs first-team all-league honors
After leading her moh-BEEL!USA team to a championship this season, Maddy Grimm was recognized with a postseason accolade in the American Softball Association. The burgeoning, four-team professional league announced its all-ASBA players and Grimm was a clear first-team selection. A third baseman who hails from Ligonier Valley and Kent State,...
Norwin grad JJ Matijevic makes MLB Pipeline prospect team of week
JJ Matijevic is leaping and hip-bumping teammates, smiling and chomping on wads of gum as he revels in one of the hottest streaks of his professional baseball career. He looks like a kid enjoying the game again. Matijevic, a corner infielder and outfielder for the Corpus Christi Hooks, the Double-A...
Host member Katie James wins WPGA Women’s Amateur
Katie James used home-course advantage to raise a golf trophy Monday. James captured the 12th Western Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur Championship on her home course, Fox Chapel Golf Club, with a steady-as-she-goes round of even-par 73. Sewickley Heights Golf Club’s Madison McDanel, of Central Valley, was a shot back at 74...
