Michael Love stories, Page 135

It is 65 miles from Lower Burrell to Johnstown. Bob Rukavina, the coach of the Pitt-Johnstown men’s basketball team, makes the round trip several times each week. “My wife (Sharon) was a teacher at Riverview, and she retired a few years back,” said Rukavina, a Verona native and Lower Burrell...

When the Gateway boys lacrosse team celebrated senior night before Thursday’s Section 1-AA game against Knoch at Antimarino Stadium, it was one of the longer ceremonies of that nature for any team in any sport this year. Nineteen seniors were honored, and it was an emotional time for a group...

The Plum softball team outlasted Mars in a nine-inning, Section 2-5A game April 17. The victory clinched a spot in the WPIAL playoffs. But coach Phil Dilonardo said the team hopes to keep rolling in the stretch run of the regular season. “We have some important games coming up, and...

Oakland Catholic senior Jayla Ellis earned a seventh-place medal in the high school girls long jump Thursday at the annual Penn Relays Carnival at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. She recorded a best leap of 18 feet, 4.25 inches. The winning jump covered 19-6. Ellis’ Eagles teammate, fellow senior Hannah Shupansky,...

The WPIAL team track and field semifinal matchups are set, and the four defending champions — the North Allegheny and Riverside boys and the Butler and Shenango girls — now know what they will have to do to get back to the finals. The other participants now are aware of...

The Kiski Area girls high school discus record had a target, figuratively speaking, on its back coming into this season. Senior Jean Starr wanted to put more than two decades of attempts by Cavaliers throwers to rest and establish herself as the record holder. At the Knoch Relays earlier this...

It will be an all-Quaker Valley battle for the Section 2-AA double championship Thursday. Zach Albert and John Watters will face Potter Oliver and Will Sirianni after both teams advanced through Wednesday’s first round, quarterfinals and semifinals. The two Quaker duos also will join the other two semifinal teams at...

Bret Kardos is on a mission. The Leechburg senior hopes to become the first track and field athlete in the five-year history of the Blue Devils program to qualify for the PIAA championships. Kardos, No. 1 this week in the Class AA boys shot put on the WPIAL performance list...

After several weeks of head-to-head matchups in dual meets, the track and field teams from Section 7-AA gather Wednesday at Freeport High School to crown champions and award medals at the fifth annual Allegheny Interscholastic Conference individual championships. Individual athletes and relay teams from the host Yellowjackets, Burrell, Apollo-Ridge, North...

Members of the Quaker Valley boys and girls track and field teams will test their mettle Wednesday at the Midwestern Athletic Conference championships at Mars High School. All field events and the 100-meter dash preliminaries begin at 2 p.m. Medals will be awarded to the top six in each individual...

The Knoch softball team dug itself a sizable hole in its Section 3-4A opener April 2 at Ambridge. The Knights trailed 6-1 after three innings and 9-4 heading to the seventh. But the team rallied in its final at-bat, scoring six runs to claim a dramatic 10-9 victory. Sophomore Bailey...

A group of players from the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League came together last week to claim a second straight America’s Showcase tournament. Team Pittsburgh traveled to St. Louis and went 6-0 in the tournament. It averaged nine goals a game and gave up just five overall with three shutouts. It...

The Sewickley Academy softball team has won four straight since a loss to Union in its Section 1-1A opener April 4. The Panthers and Scotties will meet again Tuesday at 4 p.m. Sewickley Academy, No. 5 in the latest Trib HSSN 1A rankings, is 5-1 overall and in section play,...

The Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association released its latest boys team rankings Monday, and two squads in Class AAA moved into the top 10. Canon-McMillan and Upper St. Clair are slotted at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively. They replaced Pine-Richland and Armstrong. The rest of the Class AAA list...

Mars junior offensive tackle Michael Carmody has committed to play in Hawaii’s Polynesian Bowl high school all-star game. The January 2020 contest will be at Honolulu’s Aloha Stadium, the former site of the NFL Pro Bowl. The 6-foot-6, 295-pound Carmody is listed as a four-star recruit by 247Sports.com. Carmody, who...

After receiving more than two dozen Division I offers, Parkland junior offensive lineman Nicholas Dawkins has chosen to continue his football pursuits at Penn State. The 6-foot-4, 300-pound guard made his decision final Monday afternoon and announced it on his Twitter page. Dawkins tweeted, “Mom I’m staying home!!”, and that...

Two of the top girls lacrosse teams in their respective WPIAL classifications will do battle as Sewickley Academy and Quaker Valley play a nonsection match Monday at 7 p.m. at Quaker Valley High School. The Panthers are 7-1 overall and 5-0 in Section 2 of Class AAA. They have won...

Shelly Jones and Sarah Corrie both earned throwing medals at last year’s WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships. The Gateway seniors picked up respective seventh-place finishes — Jones in the shot put and Corrie in the javelin. Now, the veteran duo has their sights set on improving at WPIALs...

Gateway baseball coach Mark Wardzinski said at the start of the season his relatively young team had the pieces in place to make a run at the Section 3-5A championship and qualify for the WPIAL playoffs for the fourth year in a row. So far, the Gators, with just three...

Earlier this month, Aidan Campbell helped the Pittsburgh Pens Elite 16U hockey team capture the USA Hockey Tier I Elite National Championship. Now, after several years in the Pens organization, the Cranberry native will take the next step in his hockey career. The goaltender, a junior at Seneca Valley High...

The Sewickley Academy and Quaker Valley track and field teams will join dozens of other squads from all around the WPIAL at the 55th annual Butler Invitational on Thursday at Butler High School. Field events and others on the track will begin at 12:15 p.m. as individuals and relays post...

For the second time in as many games, a Clark delivered for Burrell when it mattered the most. Last week, Sara Clark hit a walk-off home run to lift the Bucs to a 13-12 Section 1-3A victory over Deer Lakes. On Wednesday against Freeport, it was Elizabeth Clark’s turn. The...

In 1959, Bruce Linhart Sr. set a standard in the discus at Penn Hills that has yet to be surpassed: He established a school record of 168 feet, 1 inch. The mark also was the state record for five years. Bruce Jr. set Plum’s discus record in 1982, and younger...

The Sewickley Academy boys tennis team finds itself in playoff position in Section 2-AAA with two section matches remaining. The Panthers are 4-1 in section with 5-0 wins over Butler and Mars, a 4-1 triumph over Seneca Valley and a close 3-2 victory against Pine-Richland. The only setback came against...

Deer Lakes scored eight runs in the top of the sixth inning of Tuesday’s Section 1-3A baseball game at Valley and turned a close game into a rout. The Lancers had 10 hits overall, took advantage of nine walks and rode the arm of senior Greg Geis to a 12-2...