Michael Love stories, Page 99
WPIAL’s Finest distance relay takes 2nd at national indoor track championships
WPIAL’s Finest almost was the finest in the nation. The 3,200-meter relay grouping of Greensburg Salem’s Quintin Gatons, Knoch senior Mike Formica, Riverside senior Colby Belczyk and Deer Lakes junior Carson McCoy finished second in the championship race Saturday at Adidas Nationals in Virginia Beach, Va. The team, which came...
Plum grad Maria Lawhorne making most of shortened season at W&J
In November, the Presidents’ Athletic Conference released a return-to-competition plan for the spring 2021 semester. Plum graduate Maria Lawhorne, a senior on the women’s basketball team at Washington & Jefferson, was encouraged as she completed remote-learning classes for the fall semester. “It was challenging and definitely not something I was...
Plum swimmers seeking success at WPIAL championship meet
The Plum boys and girls swim teams are making final preparations for this weekend’s WPIAL Class AAA and AA championships at Upper St. Clair High School. After a month and a half of meets and numerous qualifying attempts, the Mustangs swimmers found out last week where they would be situated...
Inaugural Willie Thrower Award to honor football pioneer, recognize top WPIAL QB
Willie Thrower established himself as a top-level quarterback at New Kensington High School in the 1940s before making his mark in college at Michigan State and making history as the first Black quarterback in the NFL. More than a half century after he worked to break color barriers in the...
RMU women’s basketball eliminated from Horizon League Tournament
The Robert Morris women’s basketball team saw its season come to a close Thursday night with a 68-54 loss to Northern Kentucky in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament. The ninth-seeded Colonials held an 11-10 lead after the first quarter, but No. 8 NKU used a 13-2 run...
Thomas Jefferson junior wins WPIBL boys singles title by 4 pins
Thomas Jefferson’s Nick Johnson edged Freeport’s Mark Livingston by four pins to capture the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Bowling League boys singles championship Wednesday at AMF Mt. Lebanon Lanes. Johnson, the No. 2 seed for the bracketed playoffs, rolled a 195 in the finals to Livingston’s 191. The Jaguars junior made...
Sisters team up — or in one case, square off — on A-K Valley hardwood
When Kalleigh Nerone took the court for her second varsity game Jan. 11, the freshman guard at Highlands found herself going up against a unique opponent. As the Golden Rams faced Section 1-4A rival Knoch, Nerone matched up for the first time with her step-sister, Knights sophomore standout Nina Shaw....
Alle-Kiski Valley girls basketball notebook: Deer Lakes ready for Southmoreland
Deer Lakes last played a game Feb. 9 at North Hills. Shortly thereafter, the Lancers went on a covid pause, halting practices and games until they were able to return to the court earlier this week. Coach Dave Petruska said his players are excited to be back and have put...
WPIAL releases entry lists for swimming championships
The WPIAL swimming psych sheets for the Class AA and Class AAA championship meets March 6-7 at Upper St. Clair High School have been released on WPIAL.org. The swimming committee met Wednesday morning to assemble the lists — the top 16 entries for individual events and top 12 for relays...
Date set for WVU football spring game
Spring football is in the air at West Virginia, and the Mountaineers will host their annual Gold-Blue Spring Game at 1 p.m. April 24, at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. Because of ongoing covid-19 protocols in place, and for the safety of the spectators, the WVU athletic department announced...
Apollo-Ridge girls race past nonsection rival St. Joseph
Despite not residing in the same section, the St. Joseph and Apollo-Ridge girls basketball teams have played every year since the 2009-10 season. That streak continued Monday as the Spartans and Vikings renewed pleasantries to open the final week of the regular season. Behind 17 points apiece from sophomores Brinley...
WPIAL posts final swimming and diving performance lists
The WPIAL released its final swimming and diving performance lists Sunday evening, and individual swimmers and relays continued to produce new WPIAL-best performances during the final week of the regular season. Posting new top times in Class AAA are Butler senior David Bocci (boys 100-yard butterfly, 49.82), Upper St. Clair...
Busy month ahead for undefeated Freeport hockey team
In a normal high school hockey season in Western Pennsylvania, the regular season would be all but finished by now and teams would be looking to start a possible run in the playoffs. But that is not the case in this season of covid uncertainty, when many teams have a...
Gateway’s Morgan Holmes aims for faster times in 2nd trip to WPIAL meet
Morgan Holmes’ introduction to swimming at WPIALs as a freshman last year came in the 200- and 50-yard freestyle events and as a member of the Gateway 200 and 400 free relays. Her inaugural WPIAL race in the 50 produced a time of 25.48 seconds and landed her in 21st...
Gateway basketball teams prepare for WPIAL postseason
The Gateway boys and girls basketball teams have reached the end of the regular season. The Gators will host a varsity doubleheader against McKeesport at 6 and 8 p.m. Friday. Then, it is on to their respective open WPIAL Class 5A playoff tournaments where they hope to make things happen....
Riverview basketball teams look forward to open playoffs
When the WPIAL announced in December that it would stage open playoff tournaments for basketball, fearing unbalanced section standings would create issues in determining playoff qualifiers, the Riverview girls basketball team knew it would be one of the participants. But Raiders veteran coach Keith Stitt said he didn’t want his...
Plum’s Logan Parker improves on indoor shot put record
At the third Youngstown State open high school meet of the indoor season Feb. 13, Plum senior Logan Parker threw further than anyone else in the shot put. He recorded a heave of 57 feet, 6½ inches to claim the title, outdistancing regional rival Connor Vass-Gal, a senior from Wilmington...
Plum’s Proviano to play soccer at Division I Long Island University
Plum senior Gina Proviano scored 70 goals and had 33 assists over four years as one of the WPIAL’s top girls soccer players. The last two years, the All-WPIAL performer helped the Mustangs capture back-to-back section titles and earn WPIAL Class 3A runner-up finishes. Now, Proviano, the Valley News Dispatch...
Valley, Leechburg opt out of WPIAL girls basketball playoffs
Earlier this week, Valley girls basketball coach Ernie Sipolino said he was optimistic his team, despite only having five players able to take the court, would enter the open WPIAL Class 4A playoffs. However, one of those five, freshman guard Ryleigh Kasten, has been trying to play through a condition...
Greensburg Salem girls repeat as WPIBL champions
For the second year in a row, the Greensburg Salem girls bowling team is the WPIBL champion. The Golden Lions prevailed over top-seeded Butler, 2-1, in a best-of-three title match Thursday afternoon at Sims Lanes in Beaver Falls. Greensburg Salem won the first game of the finals, 215-156, while Butler...
Burrell girls basketball team gets revenge with win over Highlands
Highlands won the first meeting Jan. 30. Burrell returned the favor Wednesday. Behind 17 points from freshman Kate Myers and 11 more from junior Allison Fisher, the Bucs earned a 47-37 victory in a competitive Section 1-4A girls basketball game at Highlands High School. It was the Bucs’ fourth win...
A-K Valley girls basketball notebook: Plum, Fox Chapel part of exciting section race
With just a week left in the truncated WPIAL girls basketball regular season, Section 2-5A is in position to have every team complete its section slate. It would be one of the few sections, boys or girls, to be able to accomplish the feat. Every remaining game has a scheduled...
All A-K Valley girls basketball teams intend to compete in playoffs
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...
WPIAL distance running all-star team clocks nation’s best time
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...
WPIAL postpones team rifle championships
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...
