John Grupp stories, Page 10

When Hampton’s Emi DiLiberto started playing lacrosse in fifth grade, she was petrified of the hard, rubber ball. “I was terrified,” she said. “I wanted nothing to do with it.” Now, she’s scary. DiLiberto, a senior midfielder, overcame her initial fear and has blossomed into one of the top scorers...

Aquinas Academy junior Jack Gillespie is a three-time Tae Kwon Do world champion and is ranked No. 2 in the nation in his age group for combat weapons. He also wields a pretty mean tennis racquet. Gillespie rolled to the WPIAL Section 3-2A singles title in late March and took...

Hampton senior Eric Weeks’ offseason between basketball and baseball this year lasted about 12 hours. The morning after Hampton’s PIAA basketball playoff loss March 14, he joined his baseball teammates to take a bus to North Carolina for a three-day camp. The hectic schedule is standard procedure for Weeks, a...

When Aquinas Academy senior Vinnie Cugini joined the school’s boys volleyball team for the first time this spring, he had mild expectations. “I really thought it would be something cool and relaxing to do,” said Cugini, the WPIAL’s all-time boys basketball scoring leader. “I thought it could be something I’m...

The Hampton girls track and field team will be led this season by a Kat, a Fish and a soon-to-be Husky. The trio of returning PIAA qualifiers — junior Kathleen Milon, sophomore Kevyn Fish and Northeastern-bound senior Ava Vitiello — give the Talbots a formidable foundation in the running events....

The Hampton boys track and field team this season has a lot of question marks that might turn into exclamation points. The Talbots’ 47-boy roster is dotted with multi-sport athletes who are giving high school track a try for the first time. “These are all unknowns,” second-year coach Heather Dietz...

The Hampton girls lacrosse program has only 25 players this season spread across the varsity and JV rosters. It is one of the thinnest rosters in coach Kelsey Burke’s nine seasons — they typically have 35-plus — and prevents the Talbots from holding full-field scrimmages at practice. But every one...

The Hampton boys lacrosse team was playing an intrasquad practice game in late March under the lights at Fridley Field when pouring rain began. The soaked players were enthusiastic and energized despite the wet, windy conditions at the end of their two-hour workout. And second-year coach Andy DeMichiei is starting...

In tennis, “love” is another word for zero. But for Hampton’s No. 1 singles player, adoration for his newfound sport has added up to a lot. Junior Vitaliy Pikalo, a lifelong swimmer who started playing tennis only two years ago, has used his devotion to the courts to claim the...

The Hampton softball team opened the 2023 season with a bizarre at-bat the Talbots won’t soon forget. Junior leadoff hitter Charlotte Lomb smashed a deep first-inning drive at Fox Chapel on March 20 that was called a ground-rule double. But umpires eventually ruled the ball cleared the fence, giving Lomb...

The motto for the Hampton boys basketball team this season was “to live in the moment.” The Talbots did just that, and it turned out the moments were many. “It was a great year,” coach Joe Lafko said. “We accomplished a lot. … I’m just so proud of the way...

The Hampton baseball team is hoping one ace and a bunch of wild cards can turn into a winning hand. The Talbots return senior Ryan Apaliski, a James Madison recruit, but are left with question marks on the mound behind their star southpaw. “We don’t have any of the experience...

Bored, restless and stuck at home during the lockdown three years ago, then-Hampton eighth grader Meghan Murray grabbed a notebook and jotted down five goals for high school basketball. “One of them was ‘Get 1,000 points by junior year,’ ” she said. Check. Murray reached her goal on a free...

When Hampton freshman Gabriella Elk made the transition from gymnastics to diving, one part of the switch proved to be tricky. “I was never used to landing on my head,” she said. “That took some getting used to.” Elk has landed among the best young divers in Hampton history. Despite...

Hampton freshman Dustin Kerr proved a wrist fracture and a sore elbow couldn’t prevent him from climbing a podium. The 15-year-old 127-pounder, who missed a total of six weeks this season with lingering injuries, placed second at sectionals in mid-February and fifth at the WPIAL Class 2A wrestling championships Feb....

Hampton senior Benny Haselrig agonized a bit during the recruiting process. Should he walk on at a big-time Division I football program or take a full ride to a smaller Division II school? In the end, Benny bet on himself. The three-time all-Greater Allegheny Conference first-team wide receiver committed to...

Aquinas Academy fencing coach John Carroll got right to the point when asked about his expectations this season. “I’m pretty confident,” he said, “that we are going to do well.” The Aquinas Academy boys team returns one starter from the 2022 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Fencing Association runner-up, while the school’s girls...

When Addy Maguire showed up for Hampton softball tryouts as a freshman three years ago, coach Ron Fedell was baffled. “I had no idea that she was even out there,” Fedell said. “The first time I saw her in the gym, I saw her move and I saw her hit,...

When it comes to the Hampton girls basketball team, forward Claire Rodgers is one of a kind. The 6-foot Rodgers is the only senior on the Talbots’ 13-player roster. Last season she was the lone junior, and two years ago she was the only sophomore on coach Tony Howard’s squad....

No. 2 Hampton is getting ready to try to show it can win games with its best player in street clothes. Junior 6-foot-4 guard Peter Kramer, the Talbots’ top scorer at 20 points per game, is ineligible for the WPIAL and PIAA boys basketball playoffs after transferring from Shady Side...

Hampton missed the WPIAL wrestling playoffs in its first season as a Class 2A program, but there’s still a lot to shoot for. The Talbots have turned their attention to the WPIAL individual postseason, which begins with the 14-team Eastern Sectional Feb. 18 at Greensburg Salem. The top six finishers...

Rebuilding is a dirty word for the Aquinas Academy girls basketball team. One year after graduating four starters from the most successful team in program history, the Crusaders are top five in the WPIAL Class A rankings and assured of a sixth consecutive playoff berth. The Crusaders opened the season...

The unexpected news rattled Hampton’s Kayla Hoehler. Four months after signing a national letter of intent to play basketball at Pitt-Greensburg, Hoehler learned then-Bobcats coach Kelsey Oddis was stepping down after one season. “Honestly, it threw me off,” Hoehler said. “She was definitely one of the main reasons why I...

Hampton’s Pax Carslaw is starting to get a grip on competitive climbing. The 15-year-old sophomore was tied for No. 1 in his age group in the final 2022 USA Climbing Youth Boulder Region 62 rankings and is preparing to compete at the Division 6 championships Feb. 11-12 in Chicago. Carslaw...

Hampton first-year hockey coach Buck McKee is short on wins and players, but he has an abundance of one thing — optimism. “I’m really excited about Hampton hockey moving forward,” he said. “We’re doing with what we have. They are making leaps and bounds, and I couldn’t be prouder of...