Michael Love stories, Page 95

The WPIAL Board of Directors in December, fearing covid cancellations and other interruptions to team schedules would create unbalanced section standings, voted to have the basketball playoffs decided with open-tournament formats. As of Wednesday, all 14 Alle-Kiski Valley girls teams plan to participate. “We’re young, and our numbers aren’t the...

When Knoch senior Mike Formica and Deer Lakes junior Carson McCoy, two of the top distance runners in the WPIAL, got to talking at the Spire Ohio Championship Preview Meet in Geneva, Ohio, on Jan. 30, they discussed plans to break away from the usual individual races they had run...

The WPIAL, citing weather concerns, has postponed the team rifle championships from Tuesday to Wednesday. “We have people coming from five counties, we have no idea what the conditions will be, and we don’t want to put anyone in an unsafe position,” said Matt Rodrigues, Woodland Hills coach and the...

The WPIAL released its latest swimming and diving performance lists Monday, and individual swimmers, relays and divers continue to produce new WPIAL-best performances. There were several changes at the top from meets this past week. New leaders in Class AAA are Seneca Valley junior Kevin Donaldson (200-yard freestyle, 1:42.66), North...

The West Virginia men’s basketball team will play one of its two games against Baylor on Feb. 25 in Waco, Texas, the Big 12 Conference and Mountaineers athletic department announced Monday. The road game for WVU had been postponed twice, the first time Jan. 12 when WVU was not able...

A regular season far from normal has concluded for the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Bowling League, and top teams and individuals now are looking forward to the team and singles championships set for this week and next. The top two teams from each boys and girls section will face off Wednesday...

Last year as a freshman, Parker Sterlitz had a goal of joining classmate Levi Hansen on the medals podium for the Class AAA boys 500-yard freestyle at the WPIAL championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool. However, the Kiski Area distance specialist fell two seconds short, placing 12th in 4 minutes, 47.58...

Gateway junior Andrew Holmes earned a WPIAL swimming championship automatic qualifying time in the 200-yard individual medley with a personal-best of 1 minute, 52.04 seconds against North Hills on Feb. 9. That put him at the top of the list in the event, surpassing Seneca Valley junior Daniel Simoes (1:52.25)...

Olivia Miller takes nothing for granted as she trains and competes for the Pitt women’s gymnastics team. The Gateway graduate remembers how quickly a season can be taken away as the Panthers’ 2020 campaign ended prematurely when the coronavirus pandemic started to take hold last March. The 2021 season has...

Kennedie Montue had scored 30 or more points three times this season and added a fourth game with 29, so 28 points — what was left for the Plum senior forward to secure the program’s all-time career scoring record — was attainable Friday as the Mustangs battled Section 2-5A rival...

The Plum wrestling team turns its focus this week from team competition to individual accomplishments with subsection and section tournaments taking center stage throughout the WPIAL. The Mustangs were slated to wrestle at the Class AAA Section 1B tournament Wednesday which feeds surviving qualifiers to Saturday’s main Section 1 tournament...

Riverview senior Beth Shoop swam the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 5 minutes, 31.36 seconds during Fox Chapel’s Jan. 14 meet with Woodland Hills. She was excited with that time, which was about a half-second faster than her medal-winning eighth-place finish (5:31.96) at last year’s WPIAL Class AA championships...

The West Virginia football team will open its 2021 season with a road trip to Maryland on Sept. 4. Six home dates — four Big 12 matchups and games against Virginia Tech and Long Island — plus five conference road dates also make up the Mountaineers upcoming schedule, WVU director...

The Fox Chapel girls basketball team hopes to get back on the winning track, while Plum hopes to keep a winning streak alive. The Foxes and Mustangs meet for the second time this season Friday evening at 6 p.m. at Fox Chapel. The teams continue to battle for positioning in...

With a mix of experienced seniors and younger players still testing their abilities at the high school level, the Apollo-Ridge girls basketball team remains a work in progress, veteran coach Ray Bartha said. But that progress for the Vikings, hoping to make their way towards the open WPIAL Class 2A...

In crunch time, the Apollo-Ridge girls basketball team stood tall. Despite seeing a double-digit lead disappear in the second half of Monday’s Section 4-2A game against Greensburg Central Catholic, the Vikings made the necessary plays down the stretch in the fourth quarter to secure a 46-42 victory. “We all, as...

The WPIAL released its latest swimming and diving performance lists Monday, and there are changes at the top in four individual events and a relay from meets this past week. In boys Class AAA, Butler senior David Bocci landed in the top spot for the 500-yard freestyle with a time...

The West Virginia men’s basketball team was scheduled to face Big 12 Conference foe Baylor twice in four days next week, but both games have been postponed. The conference announced Monday that the games, a home contest slated for Feb. 15 and a road matchup Feb. 18, will not be...

The top boys and girls bowlers in the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Bowling League compete at Wildlife Lanes in Lower Burrell. Freeport’s Mark Livingston is at the top of the heap on the boys side, and Burrell junior Lydia Flanagan is tearing it up on the girls side with a league-best...

It has become tradition with the Gateway football team that the first Wednesday in February is a day to celebrate the achievements of its senior players and also look ahead to what they hope are bright futures in college. Last week was no exception as a trio of Gators standouts...

When the Gateway boys basketball team’s Section 3-5A game with Woodland Hills was postponed from Feb. 2, Gators coaches and school officials looked for another opportunity to play. “Our AD (Don Holl) asked if we wanted to play Avonworth,” Gateway assistant coach Verne Benson said. “We said, yeah. It beats...

The Fox Chapel girls basketball team came into Friday’s Section 2-5A matchup with Hampton winners of three straight. The Foxes added a victory to that streak in emphatic fashion with a 62-39 victory over the Talbots to sweep the home-and-home section series. “I am really pleased with the team effort...

Fox Chapel is the only team in Section 2-5A to topple Hampton (8-2, 4-1) this season. The Foxes upended the Talbots, 58-49, on Jan. 12, and Hampton followed that loss with seven straight victories. The rematch is at 6 p.m. Friday at Fox Chapel. Behind 13 points from senior Ellie...

The WPIAL swimming steering committee met Wednesday afternoon and made some highly anticipated decisions regarding the Class AA and Class AAA championship meets. The Class AA meet will be held in its entirety Saturday, March 6, with the Class AAA meet to follow March 7. All decisions rendered, committee chairman...

As the lone senior on the Freeport girls basketball team, Grace Soilis had concerns about the status of her final high school season and what might happen in the face of covid postponements and cancellations. “I had so many conversations with my parents and was all worked up about it,”...