Ray Fisher stories, Page 31

Quaker Valley’s boys soccer team has the toughest of acts to follow in 2022. A year ago, the Class 2A Quakers captured PIAA, WPIAL and Section 4-2A championships and finished with a 24-2 overall record. QV was dominant, outscoring the opposition 128-8 in the regular season, 27-3 in the WPIAL...

She is beyond being a freshman prospect. Baldwin’s Abby Rexrode was one of the top freshman athletes in the area in the 2021-22 school year. Rexrode flourishes in the gym, working out year-round and looking to perfect her techniques and routines. The Baldwin underclassman won both WPIAL and state all-around...

They were mainstays in the Bethel Park girls lacrosse program for four years. Caitlyn Schultz, Riley Miller and Tori Krapp proved to be near-unstoppable four-year starters for the Black Hawks. “Those three have led this team in every way over the last four years,” coach Becky Luzier said. “Tori was...

The seniors on the 2022 Bethel Park championship baseball team enjoyed tremendous success in their varsity careers. The Black Hawks captured back-to-back PIAA titles in 2021-2022 after finishing second and third in WPIAL Class 5A. In 2022, Bethel Park was 14-3 in the regular season, took second place in section...

Sewickley Academy’s Michael DiSantis has modest individual goals for the boys soccer season. “My personal goals are to score more than I did last year and stay healthy throughout the season,” DiSantis said. DiSantis and Hudson Colletti paced the Panthers in scoring last year and were complemented offensively by Adin...

High school golf starts in a month. That’s when Quaker Valley senior Eva Bulger officially will begin her quest to win a fourth consecutive WPIAL Class 2A championship. Although if you ask Bulger, it’s more about team goals than personal aspirations. Quaker Valley does not have a girls golf program,...

Quaker Valley athletics is synonymous with success. Over the years, the Quakers have established a championship caliber reputation around the WPIAL with many elite performances. But there hasn’t been a better school year for title-winning teams and individuals, perhaps, than 2021-22. “QV athletics over the last 10 years has won...

Nora Johns is a natural. Name the sport and she’s a natural fit. It didn’t surprise Quaker Valley coach Jared Jones that the rising senior won WPIAL and PIAA titles during the 2022 track and field season. “Nora is a great athlete but an even better competitor,” Jones said. “I...

Adin Zorn’s baseball acumen runs the gamut, from A to Z. A senior-to-be at Sewickley Academy, Zorn has been a two-year starter and team leader on the Panthers baseball team. His freshman season was wiped out because of the covid-19 pandemic. “Adin is an exceptional talent,” SA coach Anthony Garofalo...

They formed a firm foundation for the Quaker Valley boys tennis program the past four years. Twin brothers Mike and Will Sirianni were top-flight singles players at QV since their freshman season. “As a coach, if someone came to you and said you will ‘inherit’ twin brothers who will define...

Quaker Valley’s boys lacrosse season started early and ran late. “This was a historic and fun season,” coach Chip Hansen said. “This started with the senior dinner in February when the seniors set their goals to win the section, finish in the top three of the WPIAL and win a...

Four seniors on the Bethel Park girls lacrosse team were honored as all-section selections this season. Caitlyn Schultz and Riley Miller, both midfielders, were named to the first team while midfielder Tori Krapp and defender Chloe McDaniel were chosen to the second team. Miller also was voted All-WPIAL. Schultz was...

The similarities are uncanny. Bethel Park advanced to the PIAA Class 5A championship game in 2022 for the second consecutive season. And for the second straight time, the Black Hawks played for the title June 17 at Penn State’s Medlar Field. The opening pitch both years was scheduled for 4:30...

Bethel Park’s boys lacrosse team had big designs for the 2022 season. “Our ultimate goals (were) to bring a section championship back to Bethel and win our first WPIAL championship,” said senior midfielder Max Radcliffe in discussing the team earlier in the season. The Black Hawks did qualify for the...

The inaugural season of the highly anticipated PIHL girls division has been completed. One of the top squads in the league was Team Central, which finished as PIHL runner-up with an 8-4 record. Coached by RMU youth hockey coordinator Joe Cummings, the Central girls won six of seven regular-season games...

Anthony Cherico was appointed this spring as athletic director in the Baldwin-Whitehall school district. The board of directors voted to appoint Cherico to the fulltime position in late March. He previously served as Baldwin’s interim AD throughout the 2021-22 school year. Cherico, 46, was a coach and teacher in the...

Quaker Valley’s boys tennis team ended its banner 2022 season on a high note coated with a bit of disappointment. QV finished 16-1 overall, winning section and WPIAL Class 2A titles and advancing to the PIAA semifinal round. The Quakers were the only WPIAL team in either Class 2A or...

There wasn’t a single “unsung hero” on the 2022 Quaker Valley boys championship tennis team. Instead, it was a group of players that carried the Quakers to their second consecutive WPIAL Class 2A title and an appearance in the PIAA semifinal round. “In my mind, this year’s whole senior varsity...

Sally Ackerman coached the girls basketball team at St. Joseph for five years from 2013-14 to 2017-18. The Spartans advanced to the WPIAL postseason four times, the PIAA playoffs once and compiled a 71-48 record during that span. Ackerman, also the girls JV coach at St. Joseph from 2010-13, has...

Sewickley Academy approached the WPIAL baseball playoffs with a “one game at a time” attitude. The Panthers ended up playing two games, defeating Avella, 7-4, in the Class A first round before losing to Rochester, 2-0, in the quarterfinals. SA finished in second place in Section 3-A and ended the...

The big news circulating out of the Quaker Valley baseball program is that veteran coach Dean Owrey has resigned. Owrey was hired in 2018 and served as the Quakers’ field boss for four seasons, including the pandemic-marred 2020 campaign. He led QV to three WPIAL playoff appearances and posted a...

Quaker Valley’s celebrated three-sport athlete Nora Johns didn’t just repeat as the PIAA Class 2A girls 300-meter hurdles champion. Johns broke the school record in accomplishing the feat May 28 at Shippensburg University. The talented QV junior won the event with a time of 44.78 seconds, lowering her personal-best time...

Donato Fanelle’s goal as mental performance coach at Sewickley Academy essentially is to work himself out of a job. “I want you to hone your mental skills to the point to where you no longer need the help,” Fanelle said. “The good thing about working at a high school is...

Dr. Joseph Maroon doesn’t just walk the walk and talk the talk. The UMPC neurosurgeon, who recently celebrated his 82nd birthday, has been a triathlete for most of his life and a proponent of a healthy lifestyle. He’s a staunch advocate of the “sound body, sound mind” way of life...

Quaker Valley’s girls track and field team offered cogent proof as to why it was able to claim its first WPIAL title since 2007. The QV girls reeled in medals in 10 events at the WPIAL Class 2A individual championships May 18 at rain-soaked Slippery Rock University. “I am very...