Jerin Steele stories, Page 39
Plum boys soccer team ready to make history
Plum boys soccer captains Cole Kelly, Luke Gildea and Tyler Kolankowski are well versed in the history of the program. They know it has been 14 years since the last playoff win, and it happened to be the year the Mustangs won the WPIAL title. There are plenty of reminders...
A-K Valley high school athletes of the week: Maddie Ancosky, Scott Bitar
Maddie Ancosky Class: Senior School: Leechburg Sport: Volleyball Report card: Ancosky had a big week for the Blue Devils, racking up 36 kills in two games. She had 18 kills in a 3-1 win over Springdale and 18 in a 3-2 loss to Vincentian Academy. Ancosky is also a key...
Kiski Area volleyball making steady climb in Section 1-AAA
The day before Thursday’s crucial Section 1-AAA match with Armstrong, Kiski Area libero Rebekah Fowler didn’t want to give too much away. “We’re expecting big things,” She said. Fowler, her Cavaliers teammates and first-year coach Jodie McCartney could not have prognosticated what took place 24 hours later, but it was...
Plum’s captains bringing optimism back to ice
Prior to the season, Plum hockey coach Phil Mains told his leadership group of captain Dan Baranowski and alternate captains Logan Schlegel and Nic Pushic that the team would go as they go. The captains took that message to heart and worked to build a good culture in the locker...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Deer Lakes’ Will Meyer, Kiski Area’s Sidney Palla
Will Meyer School: Deer Lakes Sport: Golf Class: Senior Report card: Meyer shot 78 and tied for ninth at the WPIAL Class AA boys golf championship Thursday at Allegheny Country Club and was the lone Alle-Kiski golfer to advance to the Western Regional Oct. 15 at Tom’s Run Golf Course....
Deer Lakes volleyball encouraged by performance in tough tests
Deer Lakes girls volleyball coach Terry Gaston always tells his team if it can get 20 points in a set against an opponent, it can win. In the first half of section play against perennial Section 5-AA rivals Freeport and Derry, the Lancers were able to get to that number,...
Brad Sweet wins at Lernerville, takes step in quest for World of Outlaws title
Brad Sweet and Donny Schatz brought their tight points battle in the World of Outlaws standings to Lernerville Speedway on Saturday night, and for a while, it looked like they would have a tight battle from start to finish in the A-Main. But while chasing down Sweet, Schatz was slowed...
QB Jay Pearson keeps his word, helps OLSH torch Laurel
Prior to Friday’s game with Laurel, Jay Pearson told OLSH coach Dan Bradley that he was going to score on the first play. “I’m a man of my word,” Pearson said. Sure enough, Pearson took the first snap from scrimmage, rolled to his right and took off down sideline and...
A-K Valley Athletes of the Week: Knoch’s Kenzie Kerkan, Freeport’s Isaac Wetzel
Kenzie Kerkan Class: Senior School: Knoch Sport: Volleyball Report card: With a powerful jump serve, Kerkan had 60 service points in her last four matches for the two-time defending WPIAL Class AAA champion and top-ranked Knights (8-0). Kerkan has 90 service points and 101 digs as the team’s libero. What’s...
Freeport volleyball seniors determined to return to top
Freeport setter Madeline Clark can still recall the feeling of walking off the floor after last year’s WPIAL semifinal loss to Frazier that ended the Yellowjackets’ 3-year run of making the district title game. “I remember the disappointment,” Clark said. “It just hurt so much. I hate losing so much.”...
Plum girls soccer uses team-first approach to climb standings
From the first meeting with his players, first-year Plum girls soccer coach Jamie Stewart’s message has been “team first.” His goal was to get his players to work together and believe in each other. The results on the field and the way they have achieved them has shown the buy-in...
IUP’s Brown back to touchdown-scoring ways
Duane “Touchdown” Brown found himself at a crossroads in his young life last year. Prior to his sophomore season with the IUP football team, he learned his GPA dipped below 2.0, meaning he was academically ineligible for the season. When Brown heard the news, he knew he had to make...
AK Valley H.S. Athletes of the Week: Burrell’s Allie Vescio and Leechburg’s Cole Villa
Allie Vescio School: Burrell Class: Senior Sport: Soccer Report card: Vescio has a trio of hat tricks and 11 goals this season for the Bucs. One of those hat tricks came in a 5-1 win over rival and reigning Section 1-AA champion Deer Lakes last Monday. The Bucs (6-0) are...
Fox Chapel girls volleyball hopes aggressive approach works
When describing how aggressive to be when spiking a volleyball, Fox Chapel coach Phil O’Keeffe likes to use a baseball analogy. He tells his team if a pitcher that has a 100 mph fastball but is afraid to use it and lobs 75 mph pitches over the plate, the pitcher...
Plum boys golfers focus on shaving strokes
It’s been a tough season in the win-loss department for the Plum boys golf team, going up against section rivals and perennial powers Fox Chapel, Central Catholic and Franklin Regional. In golf, though, success can be measured in different ways. One way for Mustangs coach Brian Dunaway to track progress...
A-K Valley H.S. athletes of the week: Fox Chapel’s Lucy Ream and Plum’s Darius Flowers
Lucy Ream School: Fox Chapel Class: Junior Sport: Soccer Report card: Ream recorded a hat trick, including the winner in double overtime in a 3-2 win over Butler last Wednesday. She also scored both goals in a 2-1 win over Penn-Trafford in the season opener and added a goal in...
Percise Colon scores clutch touchdown to carry North Allegheny past Central Catholic
North Allegheny coach Art Walker earned his 200th win Friday night, but he won’t remember the game, because of the milestone number. He’ll remember it for the grand heist his team pulled off in the final three minutes. With the Tigers trailing for the duration their offense struggling, Percise Colon...
Junior duo goes low for Franklin Regional golf team
Franklin Regional’s Chuck Tragesser and Michael Wareham spend a lot of their free time playing golf together at Willowbrook Country Club in Apollo. On match days, they are paired. Needless to say, the duo is around each other a good amount, and they always are looking for to improve upon....
Strong summer baseball stint has Fox Chapel grad McRandal eager for junior season at Mercyhurst
Nick McRandal spent most of his sophomore year at Mercyhurst rehabbing a minor arm injury before returning just in time to pitch in the Division II World Series. Getting in a few innings at Mercyhurst was the first step back. But McRandal, a Fox Chapel graduate, wanted a test in...
Franklin Regional girls volleyball looks to build off historic 2018 season
The Franklin Regional girls volleyball team was one of the feel-good stories of the WPIAL last season. The Panthers were winless in section play in 2017. A year later, they not only made the playoffs, but notched the first postseason win in program history. This year, Franklin Regional hopes to...
Competition to bring out best in Knoch boys soccer
When Knoch boys soccer coach Malcolm Cook looked back at last season, the overarching theme was that there were too many holes in the lineup to find the right combination to be competitive. Early signs in training camp point to that no longer being an issue. Cook feels he has...
Small roster not dimming enthusiasm for Knoch girls soccer
Knoch girls soccer already was low on players, but three season-ending injuries before the first practice made the roster even thinner. The Knights have only 14 healthy players going into the season, but the player shortage hasn’t dampened spirits around the team. Players say it brought them closer together, and...
Plum gains momentum with Week Zero win over Highlands
Plum went into its Week Zero matchup at Highlands hoping to take some positive momentum into Class 5A Foothills Conference play and the Mustangs got it in all three phases of the game. The Mustangs produced a 70-yard punt return from Reed Martin, sprinkled in some big yardage plays on...
Freeport boys soccer confident it can compete in tough section
There have been plenty of good on-field moments the last few years for Freeport boys soccer, but one thing that always has stuck out for coach Dave Teorsky didn’t happen in a game. “One of the cool lines I can remember from a year or so ago was one player...
Sidney Shemanski hopes to guide young Freeport girls soccer to section title
Sidney Shemanski will begin the first leg of the three-part finale to her Freeport athletic career this fall with the girls soccer team. It has been a decorated career in soccer, basketball and track and field for the reigning Valley News Dispatch Female Athlete of the Year. While it is...
