Chris Harlan stories, Page 38

SHIPPENSBURG — An injury cut short New Castle sprinter Kaevon Gardner’s debut at the state track championships Friday, forcing one of the top athletes in the 100-meter dash to make an early exit. Gardner entered the meet with the second-fastest time in Class 3A, but the sophomore injured a hip...

SHIPPENSBURG — After her first couple of discus throws produced a foul and a 104-footer, Reese Skiba’s state championship was off to a lackluster start. She could’ve panicked, but she didn’t. “They give us three throws for a reason,” said Skiba, a Freeport senior. “I always tell myself, ‘It’s not...

SHIPPENSBURG — Brownsville’s Jolena Quarzo decided to skip more races than usual in her senior year, but this wasn’t a case of senioritis. She was just focused on states. “I said, ‘I don’t want to do too much, get myself tired, burnt out or even get hurt,’” she said. “So...

It takes a team effort to win a WPIAL team track title, but that’s not necessarily true for winning a state title. A school with one superstar athlete can sometimes take home a PIAA team trophy. So some WPIAL coaches wish the state might someday adopt the WPIAL team tournament...

Nobody who saw Dani Prunzik sprint across the finish line at the WPIAL track championships could’ve guessed the Upper St. Clair senior has battled a painful foot injury for almost a year. Once she removed her shoes, only the tape on her right ankle gave it away. “It has been...

Longtime Hampton athletic director Bill Cardone won’t be making as many trips to Mars or Moon, but soon he’ll have plenty of free time to travel the world. Cardone, 67, is retiring this summer after nearly three decades at his alma mater, where he graduated in 1973 as a three-sport...

Plum relief pitcher Colin Watson isn’t so worried about how things start but rather how they finish. The Mustangs maybe had a rough beginning to this season, but they’re now headed to the WPIAL semifinals after their top reliever pitched three scoreless innings Monday night. Watson entered with a one-run...

Peters Township defensive back Brendan McCullough made a late-game interception Sunday that secured a 24-16 victory for his West team in the PSFCA East-West Big School Game in Harrisburg. The East had fourth-and-goal with 1:19 left when McCullough picked off a pass just short of the goal line. The East-West...

North Allegheny senior Alaina Fantaski was a nationally ranked snowboarder in junior high, who also tried fencing and more traditional activities like basketball. “I’ve done every sport,” said Fantaski, but she wanted a new challenge after putting away her snowboard freshman year. “I knew I had to do something and...

Canon-McMillan’s Rose Kuchera was relaxing in the team’s tent when a teammate asked if she was running the 100-meter hurdles. As defending champ, of course she was. The junior’s hectic schedule for the WPIAL track and field championships included the hurdles, the long jump, the triple jump and the 400-meter...

The WPIAL might be known best for its football hall of famers, but don’t overlook the league’s track and field pedigree. Consider, in the past week, Knoch graduate Jordan Geist won his fourth Pac-12 shot put title at Arizona, and North Allegheny grad Ayden Owens-Delerme at Arkansas won an SEC...

Anyone who saw Daemar Kelly finish an alley-oop this winter knows the Penn Hills senior can almost fly. In a gym, on a wood floor, with a basketball in his hands, few around the WPIAL jump higher than him. Yet lately he’s raised the bar — literally. Kelly joined the...

The pressure of shooting a one-and-one is likely to vanish from high school basketball. The national organization that writes the rulebook used by the PIAA has changed the way fouls are counted and the number of bonus shots a player receives. Most notably, the National Federation of State High School...

Former Our Lady of the Sacred Heart basketball star Jake DiMichele, who graduated a year ago as one of WPIAL’s all-time leading scorers, committed Friday to Duquesne. He announced his decision on Twitter. OLSH was a record-setting program when the 6-foot-3 guard was on the court. DiMichele averaged 31.9 points...

Central Catholic linebacker Cole Sullivan committed Friday to Michigan, choosing the Wolverines over finalists Duke, Notre Dame, Stanford and Wisconsin. He announced his decision on Twitter. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound junior from North Huntingdon received more than two dozen Division I offers. Rivals.com rated him as a three-star prospect and 17th...

Class 6A Favorite: Pine-Richland tied North Allegheny and Seneca Valley atop the Section 1 standings (all with 8-4 records), but the Rams got the No. 1 seed by winning two out of three games over both rivals. Senior Jacob McGuire leads the Rams as a two-way player with a team-best...

Who’s No. 1? Pine-Richland, Shaler, Montour, Riverside, Serra Catholic and Union will start the WPIAL baseball playoffs as favorites after receiving No. 1 seeds Friday when the brackets were revealed on TribLive HSSN. The next couple of weeks will decide if those six teams finish on top. The WPIAL playoffs...

Last year’s winners are back for more. Five of the six softball teams crowned WPIAL champions a season ago will start this year’s playoffs as favorites to repeat. Defending champions Seneca Valley (Class 6A), Armstrong (5A), Avonworth (3A), Neshannock (2A) and Union (A) all received No. 1 seeds Thursday when...

The WPIAL baseball and softball finals will include racing pierogies, T-shirt tosses and a famous green parrot now that the Pittsburgh Pirates have become a presenting sponsor of the high school championship games. The WPIAL announced a two-year partnership with the Pirates on Thursday. The games are not moving to...

Defending WPIAL and state champion Mars will begin its title defense as a No. 1 seed in the WPIAL boys lacrosse playoffs. Mars in Class 2A and Peters Township in 3A received the top seeds Thursday when the WPIAL revealed brackets for the upcoming playoffs. The WPIAL tournaments begin with...

Bob Palko, who won a record nine WPIAL football titles at West Allegheny and Mt. Lebanon, will be inducted this month into the Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Palko was one of five coaches chosen for the 2023 class, joining Gary Gouse (Portage), Rick Keely (Berks Catholic),...

Pine-Richland and Mars received the top seeds when the WPIAL announced brackets for the girls lacrosse playoffs Thursday. The two tournaments start with first-round games Monday and Tuesday, and finish May 24 or 25 with championships at Robert Morris. Pine-Richland (15-3), which won the Section 2 title, drew the top...

North Allegheny track coach John Neff said he had trouble deciding which three girls should run the 3,200 meters Tuesday, mainly because the Tigers had too many good options. Minutes before the race, he had to pick. “The nice thing is, I’m choosing between ‘Great Runner A’ and ‘Great Runner...

Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Pine-Richland, 14-5, 2 2. North Allegheny, 11-5, 1 3. Seneca Valley, 14-4, 4 4. Butler, 9-7, 3 5. Canon-McMillan, 12-5, 5 Out: none Class 5A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Shaler, 14-4, 1 2. Bethel Park, 12-4, 2 3. South Fayette, 13-3, 3...

Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Seneca Valley, 13-1, 1 2. Hempfield, 14-2, 3 3. Norwin, 13-4, 2 4. North Allegheny, 12-4, 4 5. Mt. Lebanon, 6-9, 5 Out: none Class 5A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Shaler, 16-0, 1 2. Armstrong, 14-1, 2 3. Trinity, 14-1, 3 4....