A-K Valley high school notebook: Teams on the move in WPIAL football realignment
Kiski Area and Knoch dropped, Fox Chapel moved and the Allegheny 7 Conference in Class 3A retained that dominant local flair. Those are some of the highlights of the WPIAL’s football realignment for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. The Cavaliers, under the direction of former Highlands and Westminster standout Brayden...
North Allegheny, Shaler maintain hold on top spots in latest WPIAL boys volleyball rankings
WPIAL boys volleyball section matches pick up in earnest Thursday with nine such contests on the road to the Class 2A and Class 3A playoffs. There also will be nonsection matches throughout the week as teams continue to ramp up their early season resumes and quality of play. North Allegheny...
Shady Side outduels Franklin Regional for team title, Hampton’s Lainey Sheets shines at PIAA Class 2A swim meet
LEWISBURG — Franklin Regional and Shady Side Academy went back and forth over the course of two hours Saturday evening to decide the PIAA Class 2A girls swimming team champion at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium. Each team captured medals. Shady Side junior Ava Jochims was golden again in the 500-yard...
Franklin Regional girls swimmers finish 2nd in team standings at PIAAs, just short of title
LEWISBURG — Franklin Regional and Shady Side Academy went down to the wire Saturday evening to decide the PIAA Class 2A girls team championship at Bucknell University. The Lady Bulldogs led by four points after freshman Ella Kiger’s sixth-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke. The 400 freestyle relay decided it....
Hampton’s Gabriella Elk successfully defends PIAA Class 2A diving title
LEWISBURG — Gabriella Elk left quite a lasting impact on diving at the PIAA-championship level. The Hampton senior defended her girls Class 2A state title Saturday afternoon with an 11-dive total of 452.75 points at Bucknell. The Delaware commit led throughout and captured her fourth PIAA medal. She was eighth...
Several WPIAL swimmers to contend for state titles on Day 2 of PIAA Class 2A meet
LEWISBURG — The final day of PIAA Class 2A swimming Saturday will have several WPIAL competitors in the evening’s championship finals. Indiana junior Joshua Reed returned to the pool this morning in the preliminaries of the 100-yard freestyle and placed third with a time of 46.99. Northgate senior Sam Cavanaugh,...
Ava Jochims, Shady Side Academy girls shine on big stage at PIAA Class 2A swim meet
LEWISBURG — As the No. 1 seed by eight seconds in the Class 2A girls 200-yard individual medley, Shady Side Academy junior Ava Jochims felt confident that she could bring home a second straight state championship in the event Friday evening at the PIAA swimming championships at Bucknell University. But...
Franklin Regional girls relay team wins PIAA gold
LEWISBURG — Scarlett Zolnak waited as patiently as she could. But the adrenaline was building up inside, and she just wanted to race. The junior anchor of the newly minted Franklin Regional state champion 200-yard freestyle relay dove in when fellow junior Aidah Holm, the relay’s third leg, touched the...
Knoch’s Adrian Lavorini places 3rd in 200 IM at state championships
LEWISBURG — Adrian Lavorini knew he could drop time in the championship heat of the 200-yard individual medley Friday at the PIAA Class 2A championships at Bucknell University. The Knoch senior, who will swim next year at Penn State Behrend, was fourth heading into the final leg of the IM,...
Beaver’s Isaac Burtt takes 9th at PIAA Class 2A diving championships
LEWISBURG — Isaac Burtt made his PIAA diving debut at last year’s Class 2A championships and placed 13th overall. The Beaver senior had designs on a higher finish and a state medal in his return to Bucknell on Friday. He was able to achieve the first goal as he bumped...
Several WPIAL swimmers in medal contention at PIAA Class 2A swimming championships
LEWISBURG — The WPIAL will be well represented in the 12 finals heats Friday evening at the PIAA Class 2A championships at Bucknell. The first preliminary of the day saw the Northgate 200-yard medley relay snag the No. 3 seed (1:36.81). Northgate sophomore Greyson McKelvey then scored the No. 3...
Gold goes to Upper St. Clair senior, North Allegheny swimmers at PIAA Class 3A meet
Nazar Zoukovski took third in the boys 100-yard freestyle at the 2024 PIAA Class 3A swimming championships. He placed fifth last year. On Thursday at Bucknell University, gold was on his mind. The Upper St. Clair senior, fourth Wednesday in the 50 free, came back strong and claimed the top...
Fox Chapel’s Delaney O’Toole wins gold, Ellie Lange silver at PIAA swim meet
LEWISBURG — Delaney O’Toole won four WPIAL championships — two individually and two more as part of relays — Feb. 26-27 at Pitt’s Trees Pool. The Fox Chapel swimmer hoped to experience that winning feeling again, this time at the PIAA level. After a runner-up finish in the Class 3A...
Latrobe, Franklin Regional swimmers bring home medals from PIAA Class 3A swim meet
LEWISBURG — Chris Heese swam to a seventh-place medal Wednesday at the PIAA Class 3A championships at Bucknell University. The Latrobe senior came in as the 13th seed in the 50 free, and he made his move. Heese returned to the pool Thursday hoping for a bigger prize in the...
WPIAL trio climbs medals podium at PIAA Class 3A girls diving championships
LEWISBURG — The WPIAL again was well represented on the medals podium at the PIAA Class 3A girls diving championships. North Allegheny senior Maggie Lapina, Mars junior Marin Raible and Seneca Valley senior Ali Walters finished second, third and fourth, respectively, Thursday afternoon at Bucknell. Hayden Taylor, a senior from...
WPIAL swimmers earn top seeds in 5 events on Day 2 of PIAA Class 3A swim championships
LEWISBURG — The WPIAL will have four of the top five seeds for the championship heat of the Class 3A boys 100-yard freestyle Thursday evening at the PIAA swimming championships at Bucknell. Upper St. Clair senior Nazar Zoukovski (44.80) finished first in the morning preliminaries, with Mars sophomore Dom Davis...
North Allegheny’s Claire Bacu, relay teams claim gold on 1st day of PIAA swim meet
Claire Bacu is a state champion. The North Allegheny senior finished 15th and then ninth in her first two cracks at the 200-yard individual medley at the PIAA Class 3A championships at Bucknell University. Last year, she was the runner-up to Fox Chapel graduate Sarah Pasquella. This year, there was...
Latrobe senior cuts time, earns medal on 1st day of PIAA Class 3A swim meet
LEWISBURG — Latrobe senior Chris Heese entered the 50-yard freestyle prelims Wednesday at the PIAA Class 3A championships seeded 13th. He assured himself of a podium finish and a swim in the championship-final heat with a prelim time of 21.09 seconds. Heese then dropped 22 hundredths of a second in...
Fox Chapel’s Ellie Lange rallies for 200 IM gold in PIAA swimming championships debut
LEWISBURG — Freshman Ellie Lange was in fifth place entering the third leg of her swim in the championship heat of the 200-yard individual medley Wednesday evening at the PIAA Class 3A championships at Bucknell University. But she made up three places in the 100 butterfly and finished off her...
Knoch’s Adrian Lavorini eyes golden opportunity at PIAA championships
LEWISBURG — Adrian Lavorini concludes his high school swim career Friday and Saturday at the PIAA Class 2A swim championships at Bucknell. While the Knoch senior has one eye on his future, which includes swimming in college, the other eye is on lowering school-record times and challenging for gold on...
North Allegheny’s Ethan Maravich takes silver at PIAA diving championships
LEWISBURG — A new PIAA Class 3A boys diving champion was guaranteed Wednesday afternoon after last year’s titlist, Governor Mifflin’s Alex Wodehose, graduated and now is diving at Penn State. North Allegheny’s Ethan Maravich, last year’s third-place finisher, hoped it would be him. But Freedom senior Cody Smith, an Arizona...
North Allegheny’s Claire Bacu, Fox Chapel’s Ellie Lange among top seeds after prelim heats at PIAA meet
LEWISBURG — Numerous WPIAL swimmers made their mark and earned spots in evening championship heats Wednesday on the first day of the PIAA Class 3A championships at Bucknell. The boys preliminaries saw North Allegheny and Upper St. Clair go 2-3 in the 200-yard medley relay, and they will swim in...
Mark Jones named Riverview’s head football coach
Mark Jones knew about Riverview football very well from his time as the head coach at rival Leechburg. He got an even more intimate view of the program and the kids who formed its core the past several years as an assistant coach with the Raiders offensive line. Now, Jones...
A-K Valley’s WPIAL champs ready for test vs. state’s best at PIAA swim meet
Kiski Area’s Leah Kunkle enjoyed the chance to celebrate her WPIAL Class 3A girls 100-yard breaststroke gold medal won Feb. 27 at Pitt’s Trees Pool. But not too long after that, it was back to work with the knowledge there was more to be had at the PIAA championships at...
Coaches association sets North Allegheny, Shaler atop WPIAL boys volleyball preseason rankings
WPIAL boys volleyball teams are in the process of preparing for the start of the 2026 season with workouts and scrimmages. The Western PA Volleyball Coaches Association also is gearing up for the start of matches and invitationals Friday and Saturday, and it released its preseason coaches polls Monday morning....
