Chris Harlan stories, Page 118
Central Catholic’s A.J. Beatty narrows lengthy offers list to 7 favorites
Central Catholic junior A.J. Beatty, who leads WPIAL football recruits with more than 40 combined FBS and FCS offers, narrowed his lengthy list Friday. The 6-foot-5, 255-pound defensive end announced a Top Seven that included West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Central Florida, Purdue, North Carolina State and Maryland. Rivals...
Baldwin’s Brendan O’Malley earns bragging rights by winning 3 WPIAL gold medals
Brendan O’Malley’s twin brother Bailey won WPIAL gold last season and defended his shot put title again Thursday. So now that his brother owned two gold medals, Brendan knew exactly what he had to do. “I had to win three,” said the senior, who won the boys 200, 400 and...
South Park’s Maura Huwalt leads multiple winners at WPIAL championships with 3 gold medals
As a six-time WPIAL champion, South Park’s Maura Huwalt now ranks among the most accomplished throwers in WPIAL history. But the senior doesn’t consider herself your prototypical thrower. “A lot of people that I’ve met, they always want to be the best thrower, the best thrower, the best thrower —...
Aliquippa’s M.J. Devonshire wins 3 golds, replaces Quips great in record book
Breaking a WPIAL record made M.J. Devonshire smile, but what he liked most was that he’d supplanted a fellow Quips great. “Another Aliquippa guy does it again,” said Devonshire, who won the 100 meters in 10.67 seconds at the WPIAL Class AA track and field championship Thursday at Slippery Rock...
Citing ‘something to prove,’ Waynesburg’s Layton defends WPIAL hurdles title
Waynesburg hurdler Daniel Layton tried not to think about his stressful week when standing at the starting line. “I tried to block it out as much as I could,” Layton said, “but honestly it gave me a little bit more energy because now I had something to prove.” Layton, who...
PIAA overturns WPIAL, Waynesburg’s Daniel Layton can defend hurdles title
A clerical error will not prevent Waynesburg’s Daniel Layton from defending his WPIAL title in the 110-meter hurdles, the PIAA decided Wednesday. A PIAA appeals panel voted 5-0 to overturn a WPIAL decision and allow Layton to compete in the event at Thursday’s WPIAL championships even though his coach had...
Moon basketball’s Donovan Johnson receives North Carolina scholarship offer
Hours after earning all-state player of the year honors, Moon’s Donovan Johnson received a scholarship offer from North Carolina. The Tar Heels offered Johnson on Tuesday, said his father Gil. The 6-foot-7 junior already held offers from Pitt Arizona, Ohio State, TCU, Xavier and others. What makes North Carolina more...
Moon’s Donovan Johnson leads all-state basketball selections as Pa. Player of the Year in Class 5A
Moon’s Donovan Johnson was named as the state’s Class 5A boys basketball player of the year Tuesday and Adam Kaufman was named coach of the year after leading the Tigers to a PIAA title in March. Johnson averaged 22.6 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 1.5 blocks per game as...
WPIAL wants to hear from 2 basketball coaches facing recruiting allegations
The WPIAL board voted Monday to schedule hearings for two basketball programs facing recruiting allegations. The board wants to hear from Central Catholic boys basketball coach Brian Urso, McKeesport assistant girls coach Troy Blackwell and athletic administrators from both schools, said WPIAL executive director Tim O’Malley. Information was presented to...
Waynesburg hurdler Daniel Layton turns to PIAA after WPIAL denies his request
Waynesburg’s Daniel Layton won’t be able to defend his WPIAL hurdles title unless the PIAA intervenes. The senior was accidentally scratched from the 110-meter hurdles by his father/coach Rick Layton, a clerical error that Waynesburg asked the WPIAL to fix before the district championships arrive Thursday. But the WPIAL board...
West Mifflin’s Nahki Johnson receives 2nd football offer from Big 12 schoolVideo
West Mifflin sophomore Nahki Johnson announced his second Big 12 football offer this week. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound defensive end announced an offer Friday from Iowa State. The Cyclones join West Virginia, which offered Johnson a scholarship in April. He also holds offers from Pitt, Penn State, Michigan, Mississippi State, Syracuse,...
Blackhawk safety Marques Watson-Trent announces first FBS offerVideo
Blackhawk’s Marques Watson-Trent, an all-conference safety and running back, received his first FBS offer this week. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound junior announced an offer from Navy. Watson-Trent also added Holy Cross to an FBS offers list that already included Duquesne, Robert Morris, Lehigh, William & Mary and Youngstown State. Watson-Trent had...
USA Today releases “Way-Too-Early” high school football rankings
Football season is still months away, but USA Today released its “Way-Too-Early” high school rankings this week. Defending PIAA Class 6A champion St. Joseph’s Prep was the only Pennsylvania team ranked in the Top 25. The Hawks were ranked No. 21. St. Joseph’s defeated defeated Pine-Richland in the state semifinals...
Union lineman Aaron Gunn adds 2nd Power 5 offer
One of the WPIAL’s smallest schools features one of the WPIAL’s biggest sophomores. Union’s Aaron Gunn, a 6-foot-4, 305-pound lineman, announced his second Power 5 conference offer from West Virginia. The Mountaineers join Kentucky, which offered Gunn his first Division 1 scholarship last summer. He was named as a first-team...
Breaking down the 2019 WPIAL baseball playoffs
Class 6A Favorite: Penn-Trafford has never won a WPIAL baseball title, but the Warriors enter this year’s playoffs as the No. 1 seed. Section 2 champion P-T owns early-season wins over North Allegheny (6-5) and Pine-Richland (13-2). Senior Mario Disso leads with a .351 average. Challengers: Pine-Richland won Section 1...
Upper St. Clair, Oakland Catholic seeded No. 1 for WPIAL girls lacrosse playoffs
Oakland Catholic and Upper St. Clair earned the No. 1 seeds in the WPIAL girls lacrosse brackets revealed Friday. USC claimed the top spot in Class 3A followed by Shady Side Academy, Fox Chapel and Bethel Park. In Class 2A, Quaker Valley was seeded second, Hampton was third and Seton...
Penn-Trafford, West Allegheny among No. 1 seeds in WPIAL baseball playoff brackets
Penn-Trafford, West Allegheny, Greensburg Salem, Freeport, Shenango and California received No. 1 seeds Friday when the WPIAL revealed baseball playoff brackets. Play begins Wednesday and Thursday. The championships are May 28-29 at Wild Things Park in Washington. Class 6A Thursday’s games No. 1 Penn-Trafford – bye No. 8 Upper St....
Butler’s Ethan Morton latest WPIAL basketball recruit headed out of state
The WPIAL doesn’t produce an abundance of major-college men’s basketball recruits, but it has seen its share of three- and four-star prospects in recent years. The latest to pick a college, Butler junior Ethan Morton, committed Thursday night to Purdue. Rivals ranks the 6-foot-5 guard as a four-star recruit. He...
Butler basketball star Ethan Morton commits to Purdue
Rarely does the WPIAL have a basketball star whose recruitment stretches nearly coast to coast. Butler’s Ethan Morton had options nationwide and chose somewhere in the middle. The 6-foot-5 junior guard committed to Purdue on Thursday night, making his college announcement on Twitter. He had nearly two dozen scholarship offers...
North Allegheny, Penn-Trafford earn No. 1 seeds in WPIAL softball playoffs
North Allegheny, Penn-Trafford, Mt. Pleasant, Avonworth, Chartiers-Houston and West Greene received No. 1 seeds Thursday when the WPIAL revealed softball playoff brackets. The playoffs start Tuesday for Class 5A, 3A and A. The other three classifications begin play Wednesday. The championships are May 29-30 at Peterswood Park in Peters Township....
North Allegheny, Mars receive top seeds in WPIAL boys lacrosse playoffs
North Allegheny and Mars received the top seeds Thursday when the WPIAL revealed brackets for the boys lacrosse playoffs. The playoffs begin Monday for Class 3A and Tuesday for Class 2A. The championships are May 24 at Robert Morris. Defending champion Mars earned the top seed in Class 2A followed...
Bishop Canevin hires football coach T.J. Wiley
Former Northgate, Deer Lakes and Penn-Trafford football coach T.J. Wiley is headed to Bishop Canevin. Canevin announced Wiley’s hire Wednesday on Twitter. He replaces Chris Lucas, who left Canevin for West Allegheny after one season as the Crusaders’ head coach. “Of the 14 candidates interviewed and many more considered, Coach...
3rd WPIAL baseball team forfeits after violating pitch-count rule
Two weeks after defeating section-leading Hopewell, Beaver Falls gave the victory back. Beaver Falls became the third WPIAL baseball team to forfeit a victory this season after violating pitch-count rules, the teams announced Tuesday. The PIAA upped the single-game limit to 105 pitches this season but only for the playoffs...
Butler basketball star Ethan Morton will make his college decision this week
Butler basketball star Ethan Morton holds nearly two dozen scholarship offers, having added one after another since Cleveland State gave him his first three summers ago. Now, it’s time to choose. The 6-foot-5 junior will announce his college choice Thursday night from a long list that includes regional schools Pitt,...
North Catholic basketball teammates add offers just before recruiting shutdown
A week-long recruiting shutdown starts Monday for NCAA women’s basketball coaches, but North Catholic teammates Tess Myers and Kylee Lewandowski each pulled in an offer just before the deadline. Myers announced an offer Saturday from Temple, and Lewandowski added Fairfield on Friday. They rank among the WPIAL’s top juniors. A...
