Michael Love stories, Page 52
WPIAL swimmers set for championship heats on 2nd day of PIAA Class 3A meet
LEWISBURG – WPIAL swimmers in Class 3A are gearing up for consolation and championships heats Saturday afternoon and evening on the final day of the PIAA state meet from Bucknell University. Mt. Lebanon sophomore Sylvia Roy, second Friday in the 50-yard freestyle, has positioned herself as the top seed for...
Franklin Regional relay sets school record, wins state title
The Franklin Regional boys 200-yard medley relay team had some unfinished business as it arrived at Bucknell for the first day of the PIAA Class 3A swimming championships. The Panthers quartet of junior Holden Thomas, senior Aiden Bunker, junior Ben Holm and senior Jason Tosh swam a time of 1...
Franklin Regional boys relay team makes jump from 3rd at WPIALs to state gold
The Franklin Regional boys 200-yard medley relay team had some unfinished business as it arrived at Bucknell University for the first day of the PIAA Class 3A swimming championships. The Panthers quartet of junior Holden Thomas, senior Aiden Bunker, junior Ben Holm and senior Jason Tosh swam a time of...
PIAA meet brings ups, downs for Fox Chapel standout Sophia Shao
Sophie Shao and the 100-yard butterfly go hand in hand. The Fox Chapel senior closed out her four-year run in the event as a four-time WPIAL champion, the WPIAL Class 3A record holder and a two-time state champion. Shao, an Ivy League commit at Brown University, added her second straight...
North Allegheny’s Christina Shi captures 3rd straight PIAA diving title
LEWISBURG — The WPIAL populated the medals podium Friday afternoon at the PIAA Class 3A girls diving championships as all four entries from the district earned medals. North Allegheny senior Christina Shi led the WPIAL quartet with her third straight state championship. Latrobe senior Hannah Polosky was second, North Allegheny...
WPIAL swimmers position themselves for finals at PIAA Class 3A championships
LEWISBURG — WPIAL swimmers are positioned for several championship finals swims on Day 1 at the PIAA Class 3A championships at Bucknell. Mt. Lebanon, North Allegheny, Fox Chapel and Upper St. Clair are seeded second through sixth, respectively, in the girls 200-yard medley relay. North Allegheny senior Lexi Sundgren is...
WPIAL swimmers rack up 14 gold medals at PIAA Class 2A meet
WPIAL swimmers didn’t slow down Thursday as the PIAA Class 2A swimming championships continued at Bucknell University. They won seven more state titles, bringing the WPIAL’s total gold-medal haul to 14 for the two days of competition. Indiana sophomore Preston Kessler captured two of the championships as he added the...
Mt. Pleasant girls swimmers finish off PIAA team championship in style
LEWISBURG — After receiving their PIAA Class 2A championship trophy Thursday at Bucknell, the coaches and swimmers of the Mt. Pleasant girls team jumped into the water to celebrate. It was a repeat of the plunge they made at WPIALs as the Vikings swept both postseason team accolades. “So many...
Kiski Area athletes swim to glory at PIAA meet
Parker Sterlitz finished outside the top 16 in last year’s Class 3A boys 500-yard freestyle at the PIAA swim championships at Bucknell. What a difference a year makes. Sterlitz, the WPIAL Class 2A champion in the 500 and the No. 1 seed after a successful preliminary swim Thursday morning, captured...
A-K Valley softball preview: Realignment freshens local matchups
To Katie Armstrong, it seems like just yesterday the Burrell softball team was making its run in the WPIAL and PIAA playoffs en route to a 14-3 final record. “It was so cool to see what we did because we were so young to start the season with a number...
WPIAL trio claims PIAA Class 2A boys diving medals
A trio from the WPIAL took their places on the medal podium at the conclusion of the PIAA Class 2A boys diving championship meet Thursday afternoon at Bucknell University. WPIAL champion Brecken Finkbeiner, a junior from Blackhawk, led the WPIAL contingent with a fourth-place finish with 219.35 points, 15 points...
Mt. Pleasant’s Lily King breaks state record in 100 freestyle in PIAA Day 2 preliminaries
LEWISBURG — After a strong opening day of the PIAA swimming championships Wednesday, WPIAL Class 2A boys and girls swimmers returned to Bucknell on Thursday morning and carried the momentum into some top preliminary swims in the 100-yard freestyle, 500 free, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke and 400 free relay ....
WPIAL swimmers claim 7 state titles on 1st day of PIAA Class 2A swim championships
WPIAL swimmers had a banner day Wednesday to open the PIAA Class 2A championships at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium. The WPIAL came away with seven state titles – two relays and five individuals – and earned numerous other top medal-winning performances. Southmoreland senior Henry Miller went 2 for 2 Wednesday...
Southmoreland’s Henry Miller rocks PIAA competition with pair of gold-medal swims
A perk of being the No. 1 seed for a PIAA swimming finals heat is getting to pick the walk-up music that is played while the eight finalists make their way to the starting blocks. Southmoreland senior Henry Miller had that opportunity twice Wednesday evening as he was the top...
Freeport’s Kira Schrecongost, other A-K Valley swimmers face best, score medals at PIAA meet
Freeport sophomore Kira Schrecongost and South Park junior Katie Jackovic know the power of Bedford junior Leah Shackley. Schrecongost placed third in the girls Class 2A 100-yard butterfly with a time of 56.16 seconds Wednesday at the PIAA swimming championships at Bucknell. Jackovic was second in a time of 55.51....
North Catholic’s Maggie Foley collects 3rd silver medal in PIAA Class 2A girls diving
North Catholic senior Maggie Foley had gold on her mind Wednesday afternoon at the PIAA Class 2A girls diving championships at Bucknell University. She finished runner-up the past two years to Marple Newtown graduate Alexandra Pastris. But the Pitt commit’s rise to the top of the podium was cut off...
WPIAL swimmers earn No. 1 seeds for PIAA Class 2A finals
The WPIAL will be well represented Wednesday afternoon and evening in the championship finals at the PIAA Class 2A swimming championships at Bucknell University. On the girls side, the Mt. Pleasant 200-yard medley relay of sophomore Kiersten O’Connor and seniors SaraJo Gardner, McKenna Mizikar and Reegan Brown (1:48.29); King in...
Armstrong Sports Hall of Fame to welcome 12 new members
The Armstrong Sports Hall of Fame is back. After a three-year hiatus because of the covid pandemic, the hall of fame will host an induction banquet April 30, at Laube Hall at Freeport Community Park. The Class of 2023 is John Bartolovic (football coaching, Ford City), Pamela Hobaugh (basketball, Ford...
Mt. Pleasant swimmers gearing up for medal haul at PIAA championships
Mt. Pleasant sophomore Lily King reigned supreme at the WPIAL swimming championships March 2 and 3 as a strong contingent of Westmoreland County and Alle-Kiski Valley Class 2A and Class 3A competitors made their marks at Pitt’s Trees Pool. Now, they hope to do the same at the PIAA championships...
Gateway swimmers hope to finish season strong at PIAA championships
Members of the Gateway boys and girls swim teams are at Bucknell this week competing at the PIAA Class 3A and 2A championships, and they hope to build on strong individual and relay performances from the WPIAL meet at Pitt two weeks ago. “All of the kids are pumped for...
After tough season, Gateway softball seeks improvement in ’23
When the Gateway softball team faced Thomas Jefferson for the first of two Section 2-5A matchups last year, the Jaguars stung the young Gators, 15-0, in three innings. Three weeks later, Gateway took TJ to the full seven innings in a 9-0 loss. To second-year Gators coach Donny Holl, that...
Early deficit too much for Highlands girls to overcome in 1st PIAA playoff game
The Highlands girls basketball team dug itself an early hole in a PIAA Class 4A first-round playoff game Saturday against District 6 champion Penn Cambria at Mt. Aloysius. The Golden Rams, playing in the program’s first tournament, fought their way back from a 15-point deficit in the second quarter and...
Experienced Riverview baseball team adjusts to Class 2A competition
The Riverview baseball team lost just two starters from last year’s WPIAL playoff qualifier. While catcher Taylor Zellefrow and pitcher/outfielder Vinnie Shook will surely be missed after producing strong varsity careers, veteran coach Bill Gras said the returning starters and others ready to step up and step into new roles...
Plum baseball preparing for promising season with Florida training trip
The Plum baseball team is in Florida this week for some practice time and game play under sunny skies and in temperatures expected to reach the upper 70s. The excursion south, veteran coach Carl Vollmer said, is expected to serve as an extension to an already productive series of workouts...
Riverview unable to field softball team this spring
Faced with roster numbers that would be far fewer than required, Riverview softball will not field a team at the varsity level this spring. Athletic director Corey Thomas said this week that there was an initial sign-up meeting for the spring season, and only four girls were there. A second...
