Michael Love stories, Page 72
Nick Dizon steps down as Kiski Area’s girls basketball coach to lead Penn State Greater Allegheny program
Nick Dizon called it a very tough decision, but after four years as coach of the Kiski Area girls basketball team, he is stepping away to lead the women’s program at Penn State Greater Allegheny. “I met with the team (Monday) night, and talking with them was probably one of...
North Catholic regains top spot in volleyball coaches association’s Class 2A rankings
A section clash last week between WPIAL heavyweights produced a change at the top of the latest Western Pa. Volleyball Coaches Association Class 2A rankings released Monday morning. North Catholic, No. 2 last week, upended No. 1 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 3-1, on April 12 and has moved...
Plum’s Kaitlyn Killinger commits to Pitt women’s soccer
Pitt is it for another Plum girls soccer standout. Junior Kaitlyn Killinger, an All-WPIAL and all-state forward who helped the Mustangs reach the WPIAL Class 3A championship game for the second year in a row and make a deep run in the PIAA playoffs, gave a verbal commitment to the...
Plum girls lacrosse in hunt for Section 2 championship
The Plum girls lacrosse team reached the midpoint of its Section 1-2A slate in contention for the section title. The Mustangs, who are gearing up a nonsection clash with Class 3A Penn-Trafford on Friday, improved to 4-1 in section play and 5-2 overall with an intense 11-8 victory over rival...
Gateway sprinter Amaya Robinson to continue career on a familiar track
Amaya Robinson is building on the past and making the most of the present while lending an eye to the future. The Gateway senior sprinting standout, a WPIAL medalist last year in the Class 3A girls 100-meter dash (sixth) at Slippery Rock, will make Slippery Rock her collegiate home starting...
Gateway baseball team earns split with Penn-Trafford
The Gateway baseball team split last year’s Section 1-5A series with Penn-Trafford on the way to a 6-4 record and a trip to the WPIAL playoffs. Early last week, the Gators hoped to break out the brooms and sweep past the Warriors. But Penn-Trafford wouldn’t go quietly after Gateway took...
Riverview runners working toward more WPIAL success
Parker Steele has high hopes the Riverview boys 3,200-meter relay can defend its WPIAL Class 2A title from a year ago. With three of the four runners back — Steele, a senior, along with junior Amberson Bauer and senior Ty Laughlin — and a mix of veterans, including senior Lucas...
Plum girls lacrosse in hunt for Section 2 championship
The Plum girls lacrosse team reached the midpoint of its Section 1-2A slate in contention for the section title. The Mustangs, who are gearing up for their next game, a nonsection clash with Class 3A Penn-Trafford on Friday, improved to 4-1 in section play and 5-2 overall with an intense...
Stallsmith’s 6-RBI game helps Knoch beat Burrell in Section 1-4A
Burrell took Game 1, but the Knoch baseball team returned the favor in a big way Friday afternoon in a Section 1-4A rematch at sun-splashed No Offseason in Russellton. Jacob Stallsmith doubled, singled and drove in six runs as the Knights collected 12 hits in a 15-5 victory over the...
Deer Lakes softball team off to good start in pursuit of section title
Early last season, Deer Lakes suffered a 6-3 loss to Valley, and that ended up playing a big part in costing the Lancers a share of the Section 1-3A championship. North Catholic and Deer Lakes ended up splitting their season series, but the Trojans won the title outright with a...
A-K Valley campus clippings: Kiski Area grad Jalen Cloud among nation’s best in triple jump
Jalen Cloud produced a highly successful indoor season with the Cal (Pa.) men’s track and field team, and those positive outcomes have carried over to the outdoors. The Vulcans senior and Kiski Area graduate improved on his NCAA provisional mark in the triple jump Saturday at IUP’s Ed Fry Invitational....
North Allegheny, OLSH maintain top spots in WPIAL Volleyball Coaches Association rankings
North Allegheny (Class 3A) and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (Class 2A) held on to their respective No. 1 spots in the Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association’s Week 3 WPIAL boys top 10 polls released Monday morning. The Tigers capped this past week with a semifinal finish at the...
Gateway boys volleyball ready to make its mark in Class 2A
The Gateway boys volleyball team got a chance to show its potential at the early-season Seneca Valley tournament on April 2. Fourth-year coach Phil Randolph said he saw a lot of good things from his players as they came together to advance to the tournament semifinals before falling to Norwin...
Gateway baseball team off to strong start after extra-inning victory
With five seniors and several other returning underclassmen to fuel the machine, the Gateway baseball team’s optimism for the 2022 season grew in the weeks leading up to the season opener at Pine-Richland on March 29. The Gators won that game in close fashion, 7-6, and it sparked the team...
A-K Valley HOF inductee Haney was coach of year in 2006
When Dianne Haney stepped down as Kiski Area softball coach in 2014, she had completed 22 years at the helm of the Cavaliers and helped the program to 248 victories, 12 section championships, 15 playoff appearances, four undefeated regular seasons and a 1995 WPIAL runner-up finish. She also garnered Valley...
Plum boys volleyball hunting for Section 2 championship
The Plum boys volleyball team has goals and aspirations of claiming the Section 2-2A championship. Six starters are back from last year’s team which outlasted Trinity, 3-2, in the first round of the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs before falling to eventual WPIAL champion Seton LaSalle in the quarterfinals. Second-year coach...
Promising performances highlight start of season for Plum track and field
Plum boys and girls track and field coach Stephanie Kennedy witnessed a plethora of promising performances from the more than two dozen athletes who competed at the early-season Altoona Igloo Invitational on April 2 at Altoona’s Mansion Park. “It was awesome,” said Kennedy, who saw three individuals and four relays...
Armstrong’s Olsen winner of 2nd Willie Thrower Award as top QB in Southwestern Pennsylvania
Cadin Olsen stood tall, literally and figuratively, among a wide-ranging crop of talented quarterbacks in the WPIAL and City League. The 6-foot-5 junior was a running and passing threat for Armstrong during the 2021 season, and the standout helped the River Hawks to an 8-4 overall record, a 5-2 mark...
Golden Gloves Western Pa. finals set for Saturday in Monroeville
The Western Pennsylvania Golden Gloves winter and spring 2022 schedule comes down to Saturday evening and a card full of championship bouts at Pro Sports in Monroeville. Boxers representing Butler Cubs, Team 412 WPAL, Wolfpack Boxing, Jack’s Gym, 3rd Avenue WPAL, Pittsburgh Boxing, Scorchin Boxing, Erie Boxing Academy, South Park...
Burrell’s Armstrong guides young, determined squad
Katie Armstrong’s freshman softball season was over before it got a chance to get going. The now-Burrell junior was in the running for varsity starting time in the pitcher’s circle with Kylie Karns, a freshman pitcher this spring at Mt. Aloysius, and things went well in her scrimmage debut against...
Steel City Ice Renegades, Selects hockey teams capture national championships
The Steel City Ice Renegades boys Tier II 16U 3A and Steel City Selects girls Tier II 19U A hockey teams were not to be denied Monday as they finished title runs at their respective USA Hockey national championship tournaments. Both teams played six games. The Ice Renegades finished 5-1,...
Highlands softball team pounds 5 HRs among its 20 hits in win over Freeport
After scoring single runs in losses to Shaler and Laurel to open its season, the Highlands softball team broke out in a big way Monday in the Section 1-4A opener against Freeport at Freeport Community Park. The Golden Rams pounded out 20 hits, including five home runs, and senior Jaycee...
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart is Class 2A’s new No. 1 in coaches association volleyball rankings
There’s a change at the top of the Western PA Volleyball Coaches Association’s WPIAL Class 2A rankings released Monday morning. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart ascends to the top spot in the coaches’ vote from its No. 2 position in last week’s poll. It won three nonsection matches in...
Monroeville SNAP program a success for quartet of swimmers
When Jamee Kovacs helped get the Special Needs Aquatic Program off the ground in September, she hoped to give her son, Caleb, and others throughout the Monroeville area more opportunities to find comfort in the water. Now, seven months later, Kovacs, a board member with the Monroeville Marlins Swim Club,...
Gateway swimmers send off coach at PIAA championships
The 2021-22 season is the last for Sherry Sonetti as head coach of the Gateway swim teams, and she also is retiring from the Gateway School District at the end of the academic year in June. She said she was pleased with the ending to her tenure with the Gators....
