Chris Harlan stories, Page 24
WPIAL rules Aliquippa rising junior ineligible following transfer from North Hills
Aliquippa’s Jamar Allen, an all-conference football player who transferred from North Hills, was ruled ineligible Thursday by the WPIAL. The WPIAL held an eligibility hearing for the rising junior and found “the transfer had some athletic intent to it,” WPIAL executive director Scott Seltzer said. The ruling left Allen ineligible...
PIAA releases quarterfinal sites, times for 2024 state softball playoffs
The PIAA has announced sites and times for the the state softball quarterfinals with 10 WPIAL teams still in contention for a title. Thursday’s playoff schedule includes two all-WPIAL matchups in a tripleheader at Gateway. In Class 4A, Chartiers Valley plays Elizabeth Forward at 2 p.m., and Bentworth faces Laurel...
PIAA announces quarterfinal sites, times for 2024 state baseball playoffs
The PIAA has announced sites and times for the next round of the state baseball playoffs with only eight WPIAL teams having survived to reach the quarterfinals. The schedule for Thursday includes an all-WPIAL matchup in Class A: Eden Christian faces Avella at Washington & Jefferson’s Ross Memorial Park in...
Football committee will choose wild card teams under new WPIAL postseason format
The WPIAL has finalized its postseason plans for next football season and on Tuesday revealed a new system for choosing wild card teams. Rather than rely on tiebreaking formulas such as Gardner Points, the WPIAL will empower its football committee to choose those at-large qualifiers. That’s a big change since...
WPIAL releases updated football schedules with Aliquippa returning to 4A
The WPIAL released updated football schedules Tuesday that put defending state champion Aliquippa back in Class 4A for next season, but that move also affected about two dozen other schools. The new schedules were issued after a ruling last month by a Beaver County judge. The WPIAL removed the Quips...
Mt. Lebanon senior David Shields named Gatorade Pa. Baseball Player of the Year
Mt. Lebanon senior David Shields, a talented left-handed pitcher and outfielder, was named Monday as the Gatorade Pennsylvania Baseball Player of the Year. Shields is the first WPIAL player to win the award since Latrobe’s Zach Kokoska and Plum’s Alex Kirilloff won in consecutive years in 2017 and ‘16. A...
North Allegheny pins PIAA loss on tough Wilson lefty, not ‘WPIAL hangover’
North Allegheny coach Andrew Heck could’ve blamed his team’s state playoff loss on the dreaded WPIAL hangover, but instead credited the craftiness of a left-hander who threw a one-hitter. Wilson pitcher Matt VanOstenbridge needed only 84 pitches to finish off an efficient 2-0 win over host North Allegheny in the...
Olympic hopeful Jordan Geist of Knoch headlines WPIAL Hall of Fame class
Jordan Geist, who smashed records as a high school thrower for Knoch’s track team, caught a mid-week flight home from Europe so he could be inducted Friday night into the WPIAL Hall of Fame. He was overseas competing in Germany and the Czech Republic and hopes to fly back across...
Olympic hopeful Jordan Geist of Knoch headlines WPIAL Hall of Fame class
Jordan Geist, who smashed records as a high school thrower for Knoch’s track team, caught a mid-week flight home from Europe so he could be inducted Friday night into the WPIAL Hall of Fame. He was overseas competing in Germany and the Czech Republic and hopes to fly back across...
PIAA announces 1st round sites, times for 2024 baseball playoffs
Plum and Seneca Valley will host doubleheaders Monday in the first round of the PIAA baseball playoffs. The PIAA released sites and times on Friday. In all, 19 WPIAL teams qualified for the state playoffs. WPIAL champions Penn-Trafford in Class 5A and Bishop Canevin in A have games Monday at...
North Allegheny’s David Posey turns tables, no-hits Mt. Lebanon for WPIAL Class 6A baseball title
David Posey wasn’t the starting pitcher drawing no-hit talk before the WPIAL finals, yet the North Allegheny senior walked off the mound at Wild Things Park with a zero on the scoreboard. All eyes were on Mt. Lebanon ace David Shields, who had no-hit North Allegheny here a year ago,...
2024 WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship preview: Mt. Lebanon vs. North Allegheny
2024 WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship No. 1 Mt. Lebanon (18-4) vs. No. 3 North Allegheny (16-6) 7 p.m. Wednesday at Wild Things Park, Washington On the air: TribLive HSSN How they got here: Mt. Lebanon defeated No. 8 Butler, 5-0, in the quarterfinals and No. 5 Seneca Valley, 11-5,...
Avonworth dethrones Riverside in marathon 14-inning WPIAL Class 3A title game
A 14-inning game in the WPIAL finals is almost unthinkable, but Avonworth catcher Mason Metz thought the outcome might go down as the biggest surprise from Tuesday night’s marathon. That’s because his underdog Antelopes won. “They saw a No. 7 next to our name, said we didn’t play anyone in...
2024 WPIAL Class 4A baseball championship preview: North Catholic vs. Indiana
2024 WPIAL Class 4A baseball championship No. 6 North Catholic (16-4) vs. No. 9 Indiana (13-9) 4 p.m. Wednesday at Wild Things Park, Washington How they got here: North Catholic defeated No. 11 Elizabeth Forward, 8-0, in the first round; No. 3 West Mifflin, 4-0, in the quarterfinals; and No....
Fort Cherry relay team wins PIAA gold after coming close in football, basketball
SHIPPENSBURG — Before the state track championships started, Fort Cherry’s relay team of Dylan Wudkwych, Tegan Henke, Shane Cornali and Matt Sieg got a text from the school’s basketball coach. His message was simple: The third time is the charm. “And we got it done,” Sieg said. The school’s football...
Hampton’s Dale Hall golden again, but in a different event, at PIAA meet
SHIPPENSBURG — Hampton’s Dale Hall won a state title in the 800 meters Saturday at the PIAA track championship, a year after winning gold in the 1,600 meters. Winning two different events shows the senior’s versatility. In fact, Hall wants to next try the 2,000-meter steeplechase next Friday during “Night...
Avonworth/Northgate sprinter Hayzes Robinson joins sisters’ tradition with PIAA gold in 100
SHIPPENSBURG — Winning gold medals at Seth Grove Stadium is somewhat of a tradition for the Robinson sisters, one that Hayzes was more than excited to join Saturday. The Avonworth/Northgate senior earned her first by winning the 100-meter dash at the PIAA Class 2A track championship, joining sisters Hunter and...
Butler’s Drew Griffith breaks PIAA championship record in 3,200, but national mark must wait
SHIPPENSBURG — Drew Griffith won his second PIAA gold medal and broke a state championship record Saturday, but unlike a day earlier, the Butler star didn’t take a run at any national marks. He’ll save that for summer. The senior won his second title in two days at the PIAA...
Freeport’s Michael Braun adds 2nd state medal to his collection
SHIPPENSBURG — After crossing the finish line at Seth Grove Stadium, distance runners are ushered to the infield turf where they can go in a few different directions. Some make their way toward the shade of their team tents, which Freeport’s Michael Braun did a year ago. But this year,...
Cross country champion Jaxon Schoedel of Mohawk adds PIAA title in 3,200 meters
SHIPPENSBURG — Mohawk’s Jaxon Schoedel was stuck in a slow heat for the 1,600 meters a day earlier, but the 3,200 meters had everybody in one big group Saturday. That’s how he likes it. “Yesterday was about racing the clock and today was about racing one of the best distance...
Pine-Richland pole vaulter Nadia Constantakis uses gymnastics skills to place 2nd at states
SHIPPENSBURG — Lifelong gymnast Nadia Constantakis remembers being a newcomer to the Pine-Richland track team, working out with the sprinters and having a revelation. “I wanted something more exciting,” she said Friday, thinking back to her sophomore year. “When I was looking around the track, I saw the pole vaulters...
Fox Chapel’s Rowan Gwin part of dominant showing for WPIAL in 1,600 at PIAA championships
SHIPPENSBURG — Fox Chapel’s Rowan Gwin wasn’t at Seth Grove Stadium last year for the state track championships, but his mind was. “I think I watched the times on my phone and was mad I wasn’t here,” said Gwin, who missed most of last season with a leg injury. “The...
Butler’s Drew Griffith breaks national 1,600-meter record at PIAA track championshipsVideo
SHIPPENSBURG — Butler’s Drew Griffith has won big races all over the country this year, including one a few weeks ago at the iconic Penn Relays, but the Butler star arrived Friday at Seth Grove Stadium having never won there. He fixed that in record time. Griffith broke a national...
Canon-McMillan’s Rose Kuchera looks to end decorated high school career with PIAA gold medal
Canon-McMillan’s Rose Kuchera is traveling this week to the state track championships where the senior needs just one more medal to complete her triple jump collection. She already has silver and bronze. “Sophomore year I got third and last year I got second, so it really would be nice to...
Aliquippa football staying in Class 4A after judge issues preliminary injunction against PIAA
Aliquippa will remain in Class 4A football next season, a Beaver County judge ruled Thursday. The school district won the first battle in its lawsuit against the PIAA when Common Pleas Judge James Ross granted Aliquippa’s request for a preliminary injunction. As a result, the football team for now will...
