Bill Beckner stories, Page 41
Plum outlasts Norwin to capture boys soccer section title
Plum seemed to have a lot going against it in the Section 1-4A boys soccer finale. Already dealing with some injuries, the Mustangs had to set up their bench on the opposite sideline of Norwin, so that meant they had to deal with fan noise. Any would-be distractions were not...
Westmoreland County high school football notebook: Kickers step into spotlight
In what has been the year of the kicker in the WPIAL, local legs are getting into the act. Eleven kickers from Westmoreland County have connected on field goals, with seven of the kicks sailing 35 or more yards through the uprights. Southmoreland’s Jake Kaylor made a school-record 50-yard field...
Gesinski scores 6 goals, Mt. Pleasant girls cruise past Yough
A third straight section crown secured, title contender Mt. Pleasant displayed the offensive muscle and goaltending prowess it will throw at teams in the upcoming WPIAL girls soccer playoffs. Morgan Gesinski scored a season-high six goals and assisted another, Rylin Bugosh had four assists and Laurel Rummel made three saves...
2024 WPIAL team golf championships preview
WPIAL team golf championships Boys Class 3A 10 a.m. Thursday, Cedarbrook Golf Course, Rostraver (Gold Course) Teams: Fox Chapel, North Allegheny, Plum, Belle Vernon, South Fayette, West Allegheny 2023 champion: Peters Township (371) Divots: Seven-time champion Peters Township won WPIAL and PIAA titles last season with an all-junior lineup but...
Westmoreland County boys soccer notebook: Derry’s Gabe Gess a triple-threat
Derry four-sport athlete Gabe Gess has been showing what he can do juggling three sports in the same season. Gess, a senior who also kicks for the football team and runs track and cross country, was leading the team with eight goals. He scored three against Southmoreland, another against Yough,...
Latrobe boys soccer earns 1st section title with shutout of Franklin Regional
Latrobe won’t have to share its first section championship. The boys soccer team hunkered down defensively to sweep Franklin Regional with a 1-0 victory and take the outright Section 3-3A title with a 10-0 record. The Wildcats (11-3 overall) posed for photos in front of the net Tuesday night at...
Former Hempfield, Serra Catholic football coach Rich Bowen dies at age 60
Rich Bowen was never a fan of attention. Not as a star football player or a championship coach. Not as a good-natured husband and father, handyman or athletic director. Not as a man who impacted so many young lives, even up until his final weeks when he was fighting for...
Norwin boys in position to make late-season magic again
Norwin was banged up and flirting with missing the WPIAL boys soccer playoffs last year when everything began to click at just about this same point in the season. “It was the Baldwin game,” Knights coach Scott Schuchert said. “We were chasing … almost not making the playoffs. We had...
Westmoreland County girls soccer notebook: Norwin peaking at right time
Norwin went from wanting to make gradual improvements to taking a giant leap forward. The girls soccer team is back to being a factor after clinching a WPIAL 4A playoff spot for the first time in three years. With four wins over a five-game stretch, Norwin climbed into second place...
Norwin girls avenge loss to Penn-Trafford, stay in section title hunt
Norwin watched film Sunday to get ready to play rival Penn-Trafford. They didn’t like the ending. “Our girls were a little ticked off because P-T celebrated on our logo last time,” Norwin girls soccer coach Ashley DeVito said. “That was the last taste we had playing them. Our girls were...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Seton Hill’s Rick Hall earns 800th victory
Longtime Seton Hill women’s volleyball coach Rick Hall reached a career milestone as his team swept a PSAC West match against Slippery Rock. The win was the 800th for Hall, who is on his 40th season with the program. Hall, a Griffins hall of famer, is now 800-434. The Latrobe...
Westmoreland high school notebook: WPIAL team golf tournaments tee off
WPIAL golf this week shifts to team competition for the postseason. The boys playoff teams must make it through a semifinal to play for a title. The Class 3A semifinals will be 9 a.m. Tuesday. Central Catholic, Connellsville, Fox Chapel, Franklin Regional, Latrobe, Indiana, North Allegheny and Plum will play...
Latrobe standout Tatsch done for season because of shoulder injury that requires surgery
Latrobe will play the rest of the football season without its star running back and linebacker. Alex Tatsch’s high school career is suddenly finished because the senior will have shoulder surgery Monday. The senior Penn State linebacker commit has missed the last two-and-a-half games with pain in his shoulder, the...
Westmoreland athletes of the week: Penn-Trafford’s Alexis Brown, Franklin Regional’s Colin Holt
The Westmoreland County Athletes of the Week is presented by Smail Kia. Look for the tags and look for the savings at Smail Kia in Greensburg. Alexis Brown School: Penn-Trafford Class: Senior Sport: Soccer Claim to fame: Brown, a Cal (Pa.) commit and standout midfielder, has helped Penn-Trafford take over...
Westmoreland high school football notebook: GCC comes together in win over Jeannette
Greensburg Central Catholic proved Friday night it is more than a one-man team. It is more than junior quarterback Samir Crosby. A lot more. Sure, Crosby was a force in a 44-27 win over rival Jeannette on senior night in Carbon, but the Centurions (4-2, 3-1) saw several players pitch...
Franklin Regional grad Michael Kemerer joins Minnesota coaching staff
Former All-American wrestler Michael Kemerer will join the University of Minnesota coaching staff this winter. The former Iowa standout spent last season as an assistant at Brown University, which followed his time as a resident athlete at Spartan Combat RTC in Ithaca, N.Y. A Franklin Regional alum, he also worked...
Norwin notebook: Adalena Robb tees it up at WPIAL tournament
For the third time in her golf career, Norwin junior Adalena Robb advanced through sectional qualifying then moved on to the final round of the WPIAL championship. Robb finished 22nd out of 29 players in the first round at Willowbrook Country Club in Apollo, shooting a 96, with nines of...
Franklin Regional soccer standout Abby Paterline taking talents to Edinboro
Just like when she helps to create offensive opportunities for Franklin Regional, Abby Paterline was methodical with the college recruiting process. The soccer standout is going to continue her playing career at Edinboro, an NCAA Division II program that plays in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. “Honestly, I took my...
Samir Crosby accounts for 5 TDs, propels Greensburg Central Catholic past Jeannette
If Greensburg Central Catholic was looking for momentum heading into halftime against rival Jeannette, it found it in a flurry. A 30-point first half was punctuated by the Centurions scoring 10 points in 11 seconds as they rolled to a 44-27 victory in a Class A Eastern Conference game on...
Norwin remains in boys soccer section title hunt with gritty win over Gateway
It has been said sophomore Chase Molinaro has a nose for the soccer ball. The Norwin sophomore showed it in a Section 1-4A game Thursday night, using his face to score an insurance goal as the Knights got control of a slow start and held back Gateway, 4-2, in Monroeville....
Westmoreland County high school football notebook: Offers coming in for Hempfield lineman
Connections can mean a lot in college football recruiting. The guy who knows a guy could be a recruit’s way in the door. Case in point: Hempfield, where junior lineman Brock Heisler is an NCAA Division I-FBS prospect after he received an offer to play at Arkansas State. First-year Hempfield...
‘Best friends’ collide when Jeannette, Greensburg Central Catholic QBs meet
When Kymon’e Brown and Samir Crosby played on the same youth football team with the Jeannette Midgets, they accounted for more than 50 touchdowns in one season. “Nobody could stop us that year,” Brown said. Crosby threw scoring passes to Brown, and Brown helped block for Crosby on long runs....
Hempfield junior chooses James Madison for softball
Hempfield junior softball pitcher Julia Varhola can bring it on the radar gun, reaching upwards of 65 mph on her fastest deliveries. In two years, she plans to take that speed to the NCAA Division I level. Varhola announced she has made a verbal commitment to James Madison of the...
Norwin girls log another shutout, this time beating Latrobe
Momentum continues to build at Norwin as the girls soccer team returns to relevance. First, the girls looked to make fundamental improvements and learn a new coach’s system. Then, they looked to stay healthy, manage minutes in a deep rotation and pace themselves for a productive stretch run. Now, the...
Westmoreland County high school football matchups for 2024 Week 6
Here’s a look at the don’t-miss matchups for Westmoreland County in Week 6 of the 2024 season: Class 5A Big East Conference Kiski Area (1-5, 0-3) at Latrobe (4-2, 1-2) 7 p.m. Friday, Latrobe Memorial Stadium, Latrobe Last week’s result: Franklin Regional 35, Kiski Area 30; Woodland Hills 30, Latrobe...
