Michael Love stories, Page 2

Piper Munyon split her time as a Gateway freshman last fall between soccer, her first love, and competing as a member of the Gators cross country team. It was a several-month balance, combined with her school studies, that she worked on through the end of the soccer season in mid...

Antonio Perkins is heating up at the right time as a dual threat for the Burrell football team. Friday night against Mt. Pleasant, the Bucs sophomore shined with his feet and his arm. He scored on touchdown runs of 1, 42, 10, and 3 yards to help Burrell get into...

Isabel Chaparro likes what she sees from the Riverview girls soccer team’s early set of games. The Raiders were 3-0 in nonsection action through a 9-0 victory over Apollo-Ridge last Wednesday at Riverside Park. Junior midfielder Mary Quinlan tallied a hat trick, giving her a team-best eight goals through three...

The Plum girls soccer team ran its current section winning streak to 30 games with a convincing 9-0 home win over West Mifflin last Wednesday. The Mustangs, 4-0 overall and 3-0 in Section 4-3A with the win over the Titans, contributed to that run of section success in their opener...

In Week Zero, Plum snapped a seven-game losing streak to rival Franklin Regional. On Friday, the Mustangs ended another long streak. This time to neighboring Gateway. Plum had lost 13 in a row to the Gators, but the Mustangs were able to make the plays they needed to in all...

Mike Rairigh earned nine varsity letters in football, basketball and track and field as a Kiski Area athlete. He finished his high school football career as the Cavaliers’ all-time leader in receptions, picked up all-conference recognition football and basketball and earned a silver medal in the javelin at the WPIAL...

After seven seasons as head coach of the Gateway boys basketball team, Alvis Rogers felt it was time to step down from the post, citing family and personal issues for his decision. “There was a lot of things that were weighing on me mentally, and I felt I needed to...

Player of the week Tim Andrasy Leechburg, Sr., RB/LB Andrasy is a threat to break a big run with power in the Blue Devils offense, and he had a memorable impact in Friday’s 58-6 victory at Beth-Center. He had a career night with six rushing touchdowns, scoring on runs of...

The Gateway and Plum football teams have played 13 times over the past 23 years, with the Gators winning each game. A couple of the matchups have gone down to the wire, including last year when Gateway scored a late touchdown to rally for a 22-15 victory. The Mustangs, who...

Sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-70s at first serve greeted the Norwin and Kiski Area girls volleyball teams for the fifth annual Pack the Park outdoor grass-court match at Vandergrift’s Kennedy Park. The energy put forth by both teams was matched by their coaches and the many spectators who...

Tim Toy beamed with excitement as he talked with spectators and organizers and watched the action at last year’s Pack the Park event between the Kiski Area and Norwin girls volleyball teams on the outdoor grass court at Kennedy Park in Vandergrift. The Cavaliers and Knights went the distance with...

Eight Gateway girls soccer players scored at least one goal in their season-opening wins over Penn Hills and Obama Academy. Junior midfielder/forward Savannah Boden tallied a hat trick in the 8-1 win over Penn Hills and added five assists over the two victories. Senior captain and forward Julia Beam also...

The Gateway boys soccer team held a 2-1 lead with 32 minutes left in its season-opener at perennial Class 2A power Deer Lakes on Aug. 23. But the Gators were not able to hold on as the Lancers rallied and pulled away for an 8-2 victory. It wasn’t the start...

Leechburg left Apollo-Ridge’s Owens Field with a bad taste in its mouth after a close Week Zero loss to the rival Vikings that saw the home team rally with 13 unanswered points in the second half. But the Blue Devils were able to use the 20-16 loss as motivation to...

The Riverview boys soccer team didn’t have to wait to be tested as it opened the season Aug. 22 at the Indiana tournament. The Raiders, featuring a mix of seasoned talent and several newcomers, including freshmen, in the starting lineup and coming off the bench, needed a rally to overcome...

The South Park football team got a measure of payback and remained undefeated on the young season Friday night at Deer Lakes’ Lancers Stadium. The Eagles, who lost just twice last season with one of the defeats coming at the hands of the Lancers on their home field, got three...

The Plum boys soccer team is known for its strong play and success at its annual season-opening kickoff tournament. The Mustangs’ two games Aug. 22-23 against Shaler and North Hills were no exception. They topped the Titans, 3-0, and then captured the tournament title by rolling past the Indians, 4-0....

Player of the week John Nonnenberg Plum, Jr., QB/DB Junior John Nonnenberg fronted the Plum quarterback group last year by throwing for more than 500 yards and six touchdowns. Wanting to take that next step in the Mustangs offense this season, he is off to a strong start. Nonnenberg got...

South Park lost just once last year en route to the WPIAL Class 2A championship. The only blemish through its first 13 games? A 35-22 home loss to Deer Lakes. “They took care of business against us last year, and we took that and used that as a positive piece...

Sophia Ruggeri showed strength and power while winning awards as an accomplished gymnast, reaching the highest levels of club performances while also starring as a member of her high school team at Burrell. Now, she is making her mark in a different arena. Ruggeri has immersed herself in the world...

Several Division I women’s soccer programs connected with Emily McKee throughout her recruiting journey. It gave the Fox Chapel junior and team captain a lot to think about. But in the end, McKee, an all-section, All-WPIAL, and all-state selection who powered the Foxes program to much success in her first...

It was an all-Alle-Kiski Valley final at the Deer Lakes volleyball tournament Saturday as St. Joseph, for the second year in a row, topped the host Lancers for the championship. Spartans coach Ann McCarthy was pleased with her team’s performance to kick off the season, one that she and her...

Erica Bosh likes the way her Gateway girls volleyball team has come together. The second-year coach says the team, with a trio of returning starters and others ready to step up into bigger varsity roles, should be in the mix again for a spot in the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs....

Gateway boys golf coach Paul Doonan understands where his team stands compared to some others in Section 5-3A and beyond. With a few players who have varsity experience and a majority still getting more familiar with the game, competing for wins in matches is not the main goal right now....

Three head coaches made their debuts with new teams Friday, and two of them went head-to-head in a Week Zero nonconference clash. Colyn Haugh topped TJ Wiley as Kiski Area shut out Knoch, 21-0, at Richard Dilts Field at Kiski Area High School. Haugh said it felt good to be...