Michael Love stories, Page 49

The last time the Gateway boys tennis team captured a section title, Bill Clinton was ramping up his campaign to become President of the United States, Duke has just routed Michigan to win the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament, and “Jump” by the hip-hop duo Kris Kross was moving...

The Gateway boys lacrosse team last made the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs in 2019. The Gators that year defeated Sewickley Academy in the first round before falling to No. 2 Hampton in the quarterfinals. Gateway’s momentum was stunted the next year as the covid pandemic wiped out the entire spring...

It was a long road to recovery for Riverview junior Jack Loughren. The three-sport Raiders standout saw his football season come to an end Sept. 10 when he suffered a severely broken leg in a game against Northgate at River­side Park. Surgery and several months of healing followed. Loughren missed...

Plum graduate Nick Hubner, a senior attacker on the Westminster men’s lacrosse team, earned his second straight Presidents’ Athletic Conference men’s lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. He scored nine goals and added two assists in a pair of games for the Titans. Hubner tallied a pair of...

The Deer Lakes softball team hoped to return to the win column against Freeport in a Section 1-3A game Friday and finish the bounceback from Tuesday’s eight-run setback to Class 5A power Armstrong. The Lancers did just that against a Yellowjackets team hoping to stay competitive despite not having heart-and-soul...

The Deer Lakes softball team lost four starters to graduation from last year’s team, which finished runner-up to Avonworth in WPIAL Class 3A and made it the PIAA quarterfinals before falling to Bald Eagle Area. The entire outfield is new with two first-year starters and veteran senior Delanie Kaiser moving...

The Pittsburgh Karate Championships made a triumphant return last year after a nearly decade-long hiatus. More than 300 competitors of all ages flocked to the Quality Inn in New Kensington to compete and celebrate a myriad of martial art styles and practices. Event organizers, led by Caliguri’s Academy of Martial...

Alle-Kiski Valley athletic greats Greg Meisner and the late Willie Thrower are among a group of 10 who will be enshrined in the Robert “Tick” Cloherty Western Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday at the Pittsburgh Sheraton Station Square. “This is very exciting,” said Thrower’s son,...

The Plum softball team put up three runs in the top of the first inning of a Section 1-5A game Monday in cool, drizzly and sometimes breezy conditions at Fox Chapel. Mustangs freshman pitcher Riley Stephans then retired the Foxes in order in the bottom of the inning with two...

The Washington Wild Things baseball club, in conjunction with The Coury Firm, will host its third Three Rivers Celebrity Softball Game on July 15 at Wild Things Park. Dorin Dickerson, who will be inducted Saturday into the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, will host the event. A portion of...

The WPIAL boys volleyball section schedule for Class 3A and Class 2A is at or is nearing its midway point, and teams are settling into or moving into playoff position. Shaler (Class 3A) and Latrobe (Class 2A) continue to rule from the top of their respective top-10 rankings in the...

Shane Valko knows the Pitt-Johnstown wrestling program and its traditions inside and out. A 2010 Division II national champion with the Mountain Cats, Valko, who works with the Young Guns wrestling program, later served as an assistant coach at UPJ under legendary coach Pat Pecora. It was that knowledge and...

The Gateway baseball team got a daily double April 3 with some timely offense and strong pitching and defense in a 3-1 victory over Franklin Regional at the newly refurbished field at the Gateway Sports Complex. Senior Nate Demchak tripled home three runs in the bottom of the fourth, while...

The Plum softball team found itself in a hole at Shaler in a Section 1-5A game April 12. The Titans led 7-0 after two innings and threatened to blow out the youthful Mustangs. But Plum didn’t fold its tent and mounted a rally, drawing to within four in the sixth...

Last year, the Plum baseball team lost seven games. Five of the seven were decided by two runs or less, including a two-run setback to Shaler in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. The Mustangs also won four of their 12 games by one run. Plum has...

Angelo Marziale began his journey in martial arts competition more than 40 years ago, and, since those early days, the 50-year-old Creighton resident and fifth-degree Shorin Ryu black belt has captured many championships near and far. A former student of Lower Burrell martial arts legend Frank Caliguri, Marziale continues to...

The Deer Lakes softball team got back in the win column Friday, two days after suffering its first loss of the season. The Lancers, who fell to Section 1-3A leader Avonworth on Wednesday, returned to the field at section rival Valley and collected 10 hits en route to a 5-0...

Aidan Herman has his track and field future in his sights. The Deer Lakes senior middle distance standout expects to run at the Division I level next year, and Eastern Kentucky is a likely landing spot. “I am talking with them a lot right now,” said Herman, a PIAA qualifier...

A senior playing his third WPIAL tournament and a freshman making his WPIAL debut took home boys tennis singles championships Wednesday afternoon at Bethel Park High School. Moon senior Anthony Lounder, the No. 2 seed in the Class 3A bracket, claimed WPIAL gold with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over No....

The Valley boys tennis team already has clinched a spot in the WPIAL Class 2A team playoffs, which are set to begin May 1. But veteran coach Rachel Link said her Vikings players, who improved to 8-0 overall and 4-0 in Section 1 on Monday with a 3-2 victory over...

Alanna Miller said the Burrell softball players, two weeks into the season, are not where they want to be. And the Bucs senior outfielder said that is OK. Despite a strong start — the Bucs are 4-2 overall and 2-0 in Section 1-3A heading into a section contest at rival...

Teams in both Class 3A and Class 2A continue to jockey for position as the WPIAL boys volleyball spring season continues in the first cycle of section play. Shaler (Class 3A) and Latrobe (Class 2A) remain atop their respective classification rankings in the Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association polls revealed...

Kiyara Sawyers is making the most of her freshman season on the Point Park women’s track and field team. At the Tim Weaver Invitational at West Liberty State (W.Va.) on April 1, the 2022 Gateway graduate placed fourth overall in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 5 minutes, 25...

Kiki Pitts and Daniella Gardner form a formidable 1-2 hurdles punch for the Gateway girls track and field team, and both hope to make an impact over the next several weeks leading up to the WPIAL Class 3A championship meet. Both say the support and push each gives the other...

It’s been quite a positive last couple of weeks for Riverview senior distance runner Amberson Bauer. Last month, Bauer finalized his recruiting process by committing to run at Division I William & Mary. He then began April with a standout performance in the 800- and 1,600-meter runs at the season-opening...