Ray Fisher stories, Page 10
Excitement builds for Quaker Valley track season
One of the many talented athletes to watch at Quaker Valley during the outdoor track and field season is senior Thomas Debelak. He finished third in the boys triple jump at the PTFCA indoor championships March 2 at Penn State, hitting a mark of 45 feet, 11 inches. Debelak holds...
Stellar season meets abrupt ending with playoff loss for Quaker Valley hockey
High school hockey teams operate on a lengthy schedule that runs for the better part of a half year. Players must skate on high-octane throughout the fall and winter months. The current PIHL season began Sept. 30 for the Quaker Valley hockey team, which won 17 consecutive games through the...
Long-range shooter leads Sewickley Academy to PIAA win
A 1 p.m. starting time apparently suits Sewickley Academy boys basketball player Lucas Grimsley just fine. Eight minutes later, the Panthers’ 6-foot-4 junior forward had 15 points in his team’s March 8 PIAA Class 2A playoff game against visiting Windber. Grimsley sparked Sewickley to an impressive 64-36 victory against the...
Royal family of Quaker Valley wrestling leaves massive mark on program
The Richey brothers — Justin, Logan and Marcus — aren’t the only family members who were able to achieve 100 wins in their wrestling careers. Their father, Jason, 53, reached the century mark while competing at Allegheny College. “They canceled the team after I graduated (in 1993), which is still...
Freeport’s Allyson Turk hopes to build off medal-laden sophomore gymnastics season
Allyson Turk has an unwavering commitment and tireless determination, perfect qualities for an up-and-coming high school gymnast. And she’s only a sophomore. The Freeport athlete earned the silver medal in the silver division all-around competition at the Pennsylvania Classic held Feb. 22 at Huntingdon High School. Turk was the state...
Sewickley Herald notebook: Relay teams make splash at Quaker Valley
The relay teams had successful seasons in the Quaker Valley swimming program. All three girls and all three boys relay teams qualified for the WPIAL Class 2A championships. The girls 200 medley relay team consisted of sophomores Lydia Kilpela (backstroke) and Anna Fuener (breaststroke), freshman Amelia Suhayda (butterfly) and senior...
As competition ramps up, Sewickley Academy boys earn trip to state playoffs
The Sewickley Academy boys basketball team wrapped up its run in the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs with a 3-1 record, including a 51-37 victory against Neshannock in the third-place consolation game. Lucas Grimsley, a 6-foot-2 junior guard/forward, has led the Panthers in scoring the past two years with 15 and...
Quaker Valley’s Marcus Richey joins older brothers in 100-victory club
The Richey brothers are student-athletes in the truest sense of the term. Not only are they exemplary in the classroom, they also are high-quality wrestlers. Each has attained an “A” grade as a Quaker Valley grappler as all three are linked together as members of the program’s century club, where...
Quaker Valley track team collects medals at indoor state championships
Quaker Valley wrapped up a successful indoor track season at the PTFCA state championships March 2 at Penn State. Cecilia Montagnese led the way with a second-place finish in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9 minutes, 42.25 seconds. “Cecilia’s place was the highest ever (indoors) by a Quaker...
Senior’s 4-medal haul highlights successful WPIAL meet for Quaker Valley swimmers
Thomas Fuener ended his WPIAL swimming career in style. The Quaker Valley senior was a four-time medalist at the WPIAL Class 2A championships Feb. 27-28 at Pitt’s Trees Pool. “WPIALs went well,” Fuener said. “It was a great way to wind down my high school career, and I’m proud of...
Sewickley Academy playoff run stops just short of WPIAL finals
Sewickley Academy’s boys basketball team rolled through the first two rounds of the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs, defeating No. 15 Bentworth and No. 7 Chartiers-Houston. The second-seeded Panthers faced a more formidable opponent — No. 3 Jeannette — in the semifinal round and lost a 45-24 decision Feb. 24 at...
Quaker Valley sends wrestler to WPIAL finals for 8th straight season
The streak continues. Quaker Valley extended its streak of having at least one WPIAL finalist in its wrestling program to eight consecutive years. QV junior Bruce Anderchak advanced to this year’s WPIAL Class 2A championship match in the 114-pound weight class, where he lost a tough 3-2 decision to Elizabeth...
Quaker Valley diver claims more WPIAL silver, looks forward to state meet
Quaker Valley senior Ruby Olliffe repeated as runner-up at the WPIAL Class 2A girls diving championships Feb. 21 at North Allegheny. Olliffe, a Bucknell recruit, racked up a final score of 431.95 to finish second to Hampton junior Gabby Elk, whose winning score was 444.25. “At one point through the...
Coming off strong regular season, Quaker Valley skates into Penguins Cup playoffs
Quaker Valley’s quest for an undefeated season in the PIHL hit a snag in early February. After building a 17-0 record, the Quakers lost a pair of 3-2 decisions to Plum on Feb. 3 and Montour in overtime on Feb. 10. The Quakers roared back a week later with a...
Mimi Thiero makes big impact during productive season for Quaker Valley girls
Mimi Thiero ended her junior basketball season at Quaker Valley with some spectacular credentials. Thiero scored 578 points and grabbed 413 rebounds, giving her 1,248 points and 915 rebounds for her three-year career. A 6-foot-5 guard/forward, Thiero averaged 23.1 ppg and 16.5 rpg this season. In the QV girls’ WPIAL...
Quaker Valley boys pleased with progress during playoff season
The Quaker Valley boys basketball team took a 15-7 record and No. 10 seed into the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs. But the Quakers, the fourth-place representative out of Section 2, were forced to make a quick exit, losing to No. 7 Deer Lakes, 83-58, in the first round. QV coach...
‘Almost flawless’: Mt. Pleasant’s Olivia Kovach offers picture-perfect performance at WPIAL meet
Mt. Pleasant’s Olivia Kovach put on a picture-perfect performance at this year’s WPIAL individual gymnastics championships. Her coach indicated it was near-seamless. Kovach dethroned three-time champion Abby Rexrode from Baldwin in winning the WPIAL Advanced Division all-around title Feb. 8 at Moon. “It was something I really wanted this year,”...
Kiski Area’s Ellie Arnold caps freshman season with WPIAL gymnastics gold
Kiski Area’s Ellie Arnold recently wrapped up an unforgettable freshman season in gymnastics. The 14-year-old won the WPIAL all-around championship in the Intermediate II Division on Feb. 8 at Moon. Arnold, who also is a leading athlete in the Kiski Area girls soccer program, finished first on the vault with...
Thomas Jefferson wrestlers find success at sectional tournament
Maddox Shaw, Bode Marlow and Shep Turk are three of a kind. All three seniors are WPIAL champions and standard-bearers of the Thomas Jefferson wrestling program. And they have the highest respect from their coach, Michael Ladick. “These guys have continued to set the bar higher for the program moving...
Thomas Jefferson gymnasts celebrate 3rd WPIAL team title
The girls on the Thomas Jefferson gymnastics team were all smiles, beaming perhaps, following the WPIAL championships held Feb. 13 at Moon. The Jaguars edged North Allegheny for the team title, winning by a 141.975-141.425 score. The final team standings were TJ, North Allegheny, Central Valley (140.425), Baldwin (139.35), Beaver...
South Hills Record notebook: Abby Rexrode again leads way for Baldwin gymnasts
The Baldwin gymnastics team was led once again in 2024-25 by the talented Abby Rexrode, a senior athlete and multiple-time WPIAL titlist. After winning the past three WPIAL all-around championships in the advanced division, Rexrode placed second at this year’s WPIAL finals with a 37.9-point total — three-tenths of a...
After capturing long-awaited section title, Baldwin boys fall in WPIAL 1st round
Athletic talent overshadowed by grit and determination carried the Baldwin boys basketball team to a banner 2024-25 regular season. Baldwin defeated South Hills rival Bethel Park, 64-55, on Feb. 4 to clinch the Highlanders’ first section title since 1986 — 39 years ago. “We set goals at the beginning of...
Sewickley Herald notebook: Panthers shake off nerves in playoff-opening win
Sewickley Academy’s boys basketball team didn’t experience any playoff jitters in its WPIAL Class 2A first-round game Feb. 17 against Bentworth. The second-seeded Panthers jumped out to a 19-2 lead after just eight minutes and won by a resounding 59-26 final score. Freshman Mamadou Kane, a 6-foot-8 forward/center, sparked Sewickley...
Quaker Valley wrestlers show championship form at section tournament
Quaker’s Valley’s dominance on the mat was on full display at the WPIAL Class 2A Northern Sectional tournament Feb. 15 at Keystone Oaks. Nine QV wrestlers finished as top-six placers, including five that advanced to the championship round. All nine qualified for the WPIAL tournament. “I’m happy with how our...
Quaker Valley girls’ defensive effort rewarded with playoff win
The Quaker Valley girls basketball team is a resilient group. The seventh-seed Quakers displayed their adaptability Feb. 14 against No. 10 McGuffey in the first round of the WPIAL Class 3A basketball playoffs. QV defeated the visiting Highlanders, 39-35, to advance to a quarterfinal matchup Feb. 17 against No. 2...
