Paul Schofield stories, Page 81

Joe Whipkey has already reached his main goal of his senior season. Now the Penn-Trafford athlete set some new goals. After winning the Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association 800-meter title in 2 minutes, 3.94 seconds May 1, he turned his focus to success at the WPIAL Class AAA meet and earning...

A third Peters Township graduate has qualified for the U.S. Open Sectional on June 7. Connor Schmidt joined Jimmy Ellis and Jake Sollon on the list of golfers hoping to qualify for the 121st U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. Schmidt, a senior at Drexel, earned his berth at the Country...

Ligonier Valley junior Miles Higgins turned some heads recently. When Higgins won the Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association javelin with a throw of 180 feet, 4 inches, it became the top throw in either classification in the WPIAL. Higgins goes into Wednesday’s WPIAL Class AA track and field championship at Slippery...

Nothing seems to bother baseball coaches when it comes to pairings. So it was no surprise to see North Allegheny (17-3) seeded No. 1 in Class 6A despite a nonsection loss to No. 2 Norwin (13-3). All three Tigers losses were by a run. “Class 6A was pretty straightforward,” Hempfield...

Yough baseball coach Craig Spisak called his team young and inexperienced when the 2021 season began. After plodding through the regular season, which included some interruptions and quarantines because of covid-19, Spisak has changed that from inexperienced to experienced. Yough clinched second place in Section 4-3A on Tuesday by sweeping...

It takes a complete team effort to win a track and field meet. Every point is important. That’s what occurred Wednesday in the WPIAL Class AA Championship at Peters Township. The Riverside boys reversed an earlier defeat to Shenango to capture their fourth consecutive team title and eighth in school...

It has been a wild baseball season for the teams from Yough and Southmoreland. Weather and the coronavirus have postponed or canceled games and forced players to sit. The teams ended section play headed in opposite directions. The two-game series between the neighboring rivals a week ago was wiped out...

Hempfield softball coach Bob Kalp spent time over the weekend mapping out the WPIAL 6A playoff pairings. He had his Spartans facing Canon-McMillan in the first round. Kalp got a firsthand look at the Big Macs on Monday during his team’s Senior Day. Hempfield won the nonsection meeting 4-2 behind...

Hannah Dobrinick played her final collegiate softball game May 9. The senior first baseman at Otterbein could have played one more season after the NCAA allowed an extra year of eligibility because of the coronavirus pandemic, but Dobrinick said she’s ready to pursue her career. “We’re going to miss her,”...

Peters Township’s Jimmy Ellis shot a 3-under-par 67 to take medalist honors Wednesday at the USGA local qualifier May 5 at Butler Country Club. Ellis and three others qualify for the U.S. Open Sectional on June 7. Others to qualify were Carnegie Mellon teammates Jason Li and Benjamin Huber, both...

It’s been quite a season for the Greensburg Central Catholic track and field teams. After the coronavirus caused the shutdown of the 2020 spring sports season, the Centurions came back strong in ’21. The boys and girls teams finished the regular season undefeated and won the WPIAL Section 8-AA titles....

The Franklin Regional boys tennis team was seeded No. 1 for the WPIAL Class AAA team tournament. The Panthers opened up the tournament on April 5 at home against Moon and scored a 5-0 victory. Anup Nadesan, Shrey Ramesh and Advait Kulkarni won straight sets matches in singles, and the...

The Norwin baseball team clinched at least a tie for the Section 2-6A title Wednesday behind a strong pitching performance from Jake Bazala and timely hitting. Bazala blanked Hempfield into the sixth inning, and Zach Potthoff came in for a save as Norwin won 3-0 on a cool, damp day....

Hempfield junior Briar Priest wasn’t sure college was in his future before the 2020-21 season. But what a difference six months can make. After becoming a PIAA champion in March, offers from Division I wrestling programs started rolling in. Priest announced on Twitter on Sunday he is making a verbal...

Diamond Run golfer Rick Stimmel opened the 2021 local season by winning the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s 80th Dressler Memorial Championship at Valley Brook Country Club. Stimmel used six consecutive birdies in the first round and fired consecutive 3-under-par 69s to finish at 6-under, 138. He was five shots better than...

Before the running finals at Saturday’s Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association track and field championships, a moment of silence was held in honor of association president Larry Sellitto and Hempfield coach and historian Roger Sullenberger, who passed away this past year. Sellitto was a strong president and a fighter for all...

The Penn-Trafford boys volleyball team continues to make strides. After opening the season with a loss at Hempfield, the Warriors won eight consecutive matches heading into a first-place Section 3-AAA battle with the Spartans. Penn-Trafford’s every win was by a 3-0 score, including victories over Central Catholic and Bethel Park....

Greensburg Central Catholic junior Corinn Brewer has put together an impressive resume during her high school career. She added MVP at the 2021 Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association meet Saturday at Latrobe’s Memorial Stadium after winning three events: pole vault, 800- and 1,600-meter runs. She also earned a sixth-place finish in...

Franklin Regional senior Rayna Todero isn’t the tallest or most imposing triple jumper in the state; she just happens to be one of better ones. Todero recently leaped 38 feet, 1 inch in winning the Butler Invitational. She also won the event at the Lady Spartan Invitational in April. She...

Franklin Regional grad Michael Krauza is having quite a season as a relief pitcher for Mercyhurst University. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound graduate student has appeared in 16 games and is 6-1 with an earned run average of 2.34 in 34⅔ innings. He’s allowed 24 hits while striking out 38 and walking...

There were a lot of similarities to the two winning WPIAL doubles teams. First, they were their school’s first doubles teams to win a WPIAL title. Franklin Regional’s squad won the Class AAA title and South Park’s duo the Class AA title. Each team had a right-hander and left-hander, which...

Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association officials decided Wednesday to postpone Thursday’s track and field championship because of the threat of inclement weather. The meet will be moved to Saturday at Latrobe Memorial Stadium with a starting time of 9 a.m. Instead of splitting the boys and girls, which was planned for...

Despite having 18 players out at one point because of coronavirus protocols and the team being sidelined for 20 days, Seton Hill baseball has been nearly unbeatable this season. The Griffins are ranked No. 7 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division II Top 25. On Tuesday, Seton Hill...

The Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association track and field championship will resume after a year absence because of the coronavirus. The meet will be Thursday at Latrobe’s Memorial Stadium. Because of the pandemic, the girls portion will begin at 9:30 a.m. with the running finals at noon, and the boys at...