Ray Fisher stories

Defense dominated on the Sewickley Academy pitch this season. More than half of the wins in 2025 by the Sewickley boys soccer team were shutouts. The Panthers advanced to the WPIAL Class A playoffs via a 7-3 record in Section 1 and ended up 12-5 overall. Seven of the 12...

Quaker Valley extended its proficiency in sports all the way to New England this season to the small town of Middlebury, Vt., site of Middlebury College. Quaker Valley graduate Molly MacDonald finished her freshman season on the Middlebury women’s volleyball team ranked among the team leaders in kills (third) and...

The Eden Christian Academy girls volleyball team had its eyes on the district’s big prize in Class A this season. And the Warriors never lost their focus, winning a WPIAL title in any sport for the first time in school history. “What an amazing season it has been,” coach Jillian...

It proved to be yet another championship season this fall for the Quaker Valley athletic program. • The boys cross country team captured the WPIAL Class 2A championship after winning the Section 2 crown in Division II. The Quakers advanced to the PIAA finals where they placed second in 2A....

The only way to beat the Sewickley Academy girls soccer team in 2025 was via a shutout. And that happened only three times. The Panthers won the Section 3-A title with a 12-0 record, advanced to the WPIAL championship round at Highmark Stadium and saw their season end in the...

The Thomas Jefferson football team advanced to the WPIAL playoffs for the 31st consecutive year in 2025. The last time the Jaguars missed the postseason was in 1994. The Jaguars did not achieve the end results they were seeking, losing to McKeesport, 28-7, in the WPIAL semifinals in a game...

The Thomas Jefferson boys soccer team strung together an 11-game unbeaten streak in the first half of this season. “A lot of people, I believe, overlooked us coming into the season with the players we lost last year,” TJ coach Michael “Doc” Kulish said. “We had a lot of guys...

The Baldwin wrestling program has a youthful look to it this season. Baldwin product Gehrig Hutchison, who graduated from Gannon in 2023, is the Highlanders’ new coach. He wrestled at both Baldwin and Gannon. Baldwin has nine returning starters on this year’s team: juniors Mikey Griffiths (139), Jason Alex (127),...

Bethel Park goaltender Kevin Teamann proved inspirational at the start of the PIHL season. Teamann was named the Class 2A Player of the Month for October after posting a 2-1-1 record, 1.96 goals-against average and .916 save percentage. “Kevin has been a four-year member of our varsity program, so seeing...

One of the strengths of the Bethel Park football team this season was its offensive firepower. The Black Hawks accounted for 416 points, an average of 34.6 per game, and 4,584 total offensive yards. Here is a further look at Bethel Park football 2025, by the numbers: 9 — Players...

The Bethel Park boys soccer team lost its first and last games of the regular season. In between, the Black Hawks were unbeatable. Bethel Park won the Section 2-3A title with a 12-0-2 record and finished 14-4-3 overall after advancing to the WPIAL semifinals. The Black Hawks fell to section...

Livia Jobbins, Jane Lenhard and Parker Barnes shared a common bond on the Quaker Valley girls tennis team this season. The three seniors served as the QV team’s tri-captains and did so in exemplary fashion as the Quakers won the WPIAL Class 2A team championship. The QV girls also advanced...

Quaker Valley’s girls volleyball team had inconsistent results this season partly because of the Quakers’ all-around inexperience. The 2024 WPIAL Class 2A champion Quakers advanced to the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year in 2025 and finished with a 9-11 overall record. They netters received the No. 15 seed in...

Quaker Valley’s hockey team jumped out to a flying start in the PIHL season. QV was 5-1 with four shutouts in the season’s first month, then kicked off November with a 12-2 win over Richland’s varsity team. “Given our injuries and fall sports commitments, we are very pleased that we...

This is a story of perseverance and determination. Quaker Valley sophomore Lucy Montagnese, much like her other family members, loves to run. But Montagnese, unfortunately, wasn’t able to do much running during the 2025 cross country season because of a stress fracture in the second metatarsal of her left foot...

Makenna Kamnikar was a member of the Quaker Valley boys golf team all four years of high school. “This season is really important to me as it’s my senior season so I’m going into it with a positive mindset,” Kamnikar said prior to the start of QV’s fall golf schedule....

Quaker Valley’s Jonah Montagnese was a virtual one-man wrecking crew in cross country this year. After a sensational regular-season, Montagnese ended his junior year on the off-road trails as a state champion. Montagnese finished the Hershey Park course on Nov. 1 in 16 minutes flat to edge Hughesville senior Tyce...

Borrowing a phrase from one of Sly & the Family Stone’s big hits, it appears the 2025 season was a “family affair” for the Quaker Valley girls tennis team. “The season was all we hoped it would be and more,” said Christi Hays, QV’s hall-of-fame coach. “It was a truly...

The Quaker Valley boys soccer team strung together a 17-game unbeaten streak against WPIAL competition this season. QV advanced to the PIAA tournament after finishing 16-1-1 against WPIAL opponents. The Quakers were the Section 2-2A champions thanks to a 14-1-1 record. Avonworth finished as the section runner-up at 13-2-1 and...

Quaker Valley football finished 4-6 record in coach Tom Eshenbaugh’s first year. The Quakers competed in a meat-grinder of a conference as five Western Hills teams — No. 1 seed Avonworth, No. 3 Central Valley, No. 5 North Catholic, No. 9 Beaver and No. 10 Hopewell — all qualified for...

Sewickley Academy sophomore Zachary Sharara took top honors in Class A at the WPIAL boys cross country championship Oct. 23 at White Oak Park. Sharara breezed to the title, running a time of 15:41.60. “I am so happy for Zak after the consistent daily commitment that he has shown over...

Trey Susa is a 5-foot-9 golfer at Sewickley Academy who has an iron game to more than match his size. A bit of irony was experienced by Susa at the WPIAL boys individual golf championships this season, as the Sewickley freshman tied for third in Class 2A. “I was thrilled...

When top-seeded Sewickley Academy and No. 2 Bentworth advanced to the WPIAL Class A girls soccer championship game at Highmark Stadium, it guaranteed the final would be a star-studded affair. The teams’ rosters include seven district all-stars, including four from Sewickley. The Panthers are led by junior midfielder Emilia Carabba,...

The Quaker Valley girls soccer team did not reach double digits against any regular-season opponent on its way to a 13-2-1 record and section title in 2025. That all changed in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs. The third-seeded Quakers blanked No. 14 Southmoreland, 11-0, to advance to the...

The Quaker Valley football team walked off the field as a winner in 2025. QV shut out McGuffey, 21-0, in its season finale Oct. 24 on the Highlanders’ home turf. “It was a great way to end the season for us,” said Tom Eshenbaugh, the Quakers’ first-year coach. “Our defense...