Ted Sarneso stories, Page 5
North Allegheny senior brings home synchronized skating gold
At the U.S. Figure Skating Eastern Championships in Hershey on Jan. 24, the Steel City Blades Open Juvenile (Blue) synchronized skating team was chosen to go first among the 23 competing teams. As nervous as the team felt just being in the championships, the thought of having to perform their...
A-K Valley Senior Spotlight: Freeport’s Colin Cummings
It can be devastating when an athlete goes from being at the top of his game, or even the best player in his sport, to a level that is unsatisfactory to him. Freeport senior bowler Colin Cummings went through a difficult season last year, and it almost caused him to...
Pine-Richland students bring home gold with Steel City Blades synchronized skating
One shot. The Steel City Blades Open Juvenile (Blue) synchronized skating team had one opportunity to impress the judges with their 2 minute, 40 second routine at the U.S. Figure Skating Eastern Championships at Hershey on Jan. 24. Like a classroom filled with students nervous to see who would be...
Pine-Richland swimmers giving all for coach as he recovers from stroke
“Swimming for Coach Pete.” That’s what was emblazoned on the Pine-Richland swimmers’ shirts for the WPIAL championship meet at the end of February and the PIAA championship meet last week. Pete Barry, the long-time Rams swimming head coach, suffered a stroke in mid-February and has since been recovering in the...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Burrell’s Mike Morascyzk, Knoch’s Giona Lavorini
Giona Lavorini School: Knoch Class: Senior Sport: Swimming Claim to fame: Lavorini earned a silver medal in the 100-yard breaststroke at the PIAA Class 2A championships Thursday at Bucknell. She posted a time of 1 minute, 3.18 seconds. Lavorini won the event at WPIALs in February, swimming a 1:03.03. It...
5 Westmoreland County girls bowlers bond together through love of the game
Sports always find ways of bringing people together. It’s helped so many build new relationships despite personal differences. For five Westmoreland County high school bowlers, their love and passion for the game has helped them look past the borders of their school districts — and the rivalries therein — to...
A-K Valley Senior Spotlight: Fox Chapel’s Trip Goehring
Fox Chapel senior defenseman Trip Goehring has learned to never take playing ice hockey for granted. A major injury tends to refocus an individual. Goehring lost his entire junior year due to a torn ACL, and he knows exactly how long he was away from the game he loves. “Four-hundred-and-eight...
Penn-Trafford basketball teams looking to make runs in PIAA playoffs
As a 15th seed in the WPIAL boys basketball playoffs, Penn-Trafford surprised some people with a first-round win against No. 2 seed Baldwin. The Warriors hope to repeat that same magic in the PIAA first round as they take on District 3 champion Hershey (21-3). “It’s going to take an...
Latrobe makes early offensive outburst stand up in PIHL quarterfinal win over Hempfield
The objective was clear for the Latrobe IceCats heading into their PIHL Class 2A quarterfinal matchup with Hempfield. “We wanted to come out and beat them to every loose puck, smother them on the boards, win the battles in the corners and be physical,” Latrobe sophomore Joey Crimboli said. “Very...
Southmoreland’s Murphy continues to rise in WPIAL girls wrestling
A year ago, Southmoreland’s Zoey Murphy came away with silver at the WPIAL girls individual wrestling championships after being pinned by Plum’s Alaina Claassen in the 235-pound final. After an offseason during which she developed her skills, Murphy came into the WPIAL championships Feb. 15 at North Allegheny ready to...
A-K Valley Senior Spotlight: Freeport’s Mary Anne Altman
Mary Anne Altman’s senior year at Freeport was all about a change in mindset. Last year, the swimmer didn’t know if she wanted to compete in college and was swimming her best to help the Yellowjackets be successful. Once she made the decision over the summer to swim in college,...
Kiski Area’s Golding earns another girls wrestling regional title as WPIAL fares well
All the usual suspects were at the PIAA girls regional championships Saturday at North Allegheny High School. Ava Golding of Kiski Area, Plum’s Safia Davis and Alaina Claassen, Southmoreland’s Zoey Murphy and a contingent of 10 Canon-McMillan wrestlers were present and eager for the action to start. But there was...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Freeport’s Kira Schrecongost; Fox Chapel’s Owen Howell
Kira Schrecongost School: Freeport Class: Senior Sport: Swimming Claim to fame: Schrecongost took gold in the 100-yard butterfly in 54.85 seconds, setting a school record at the WPIAL Class 2A championships this week. The win gave her a title in the event three out of her four years. She was...
Mt. Pleasant swimmers look to add accolades at WPIALs
It is once again the end of February, and as the calendar prepares to put the shortest month in the rearview mirror, the WPIAL swim championships descend upon Pitt’s Trees Pool on Thursday and Friday. The Class 2A seedings are topped once again by swimmers from Mt. Pleasant who are...
A-K Valley Senior Spotlight: Burrell’s Calio Zanella
Wrestling is one of those high school sports that has the distinct feature of having team and individual championships. So there’s always the dichotomy of exceling individually and needing to perform as a group to get the team to the playoffs. Burrell senior wrestler Calio Zanella knows what it takes...
Chartiers Valley soccer standout John Krug follows recruiting trail straight to Robert Morris
In his senior year with the Chartiers Valley soccer team, John Krug was deployed by coach Mike Blatz all over the field. “We played him on the wide part of the field, played him as a 10, an attacking midfielder. We moved him around so he wasn’t as predictable when...
Chartiers Valley hockey eager to tackle PIHL playoff gauntlet
The loss Chartiers Valley suffered against Quaker Valley at the midway point of the PIHL season might have come at the right time. “We hadn’t lost for so long to a team from Western Pa. that it was like, hey guys, it can happen, wake up,” said coach Paul Bonetti....
Top seeds mostly reign at WPIAL Class 2A wrestling
Although there were some surprises peppered in the semifinals of the WPIAL Class 2A wrestling championships Saturday at Chartiers Valley, the finals were another story. Twelve of the 13 finals matches had the No. 1 seed in each weight class as a competitor, and all but one came away with...
Shady Side Academy swimmers eye success at WPIAL championships
Shady Side Academy swim coach Erika Cooper was very pleased with how her swimmers performed during the regular season. The boys team went undefeated with a 10-0 overall record and were 6-0 to finish as Section 3-2A champions. The girls team went 3-6 overall and finished fifth in the seven-team...
No. 1 Montour scrapes past ninth-seeded Latrobe in Class 5A quarterfinals
In what was a tightly contested matchup between top-seeded Montour and No. 9 Latrobe on Friday night, both coaches admitted their teams didn’t execute as well as they had hoped. Each team had its troubles, but Montour did enough to win 60-52 over Latrobe to advance to the WPIAL Class...
Cheswick Christian Academy seeking to go back-to-back as champs in the SWCAC
For the second time in the past 10 years, the Cheswick Christian Academy boys basketball team is playing in a third straight Southwestern Christian Athletic Conference championship game. Previously, the Chargers reached the SWCAC final from 2015-17, winning the title in 2015. This year’s iteration of the team is looking...
A-K Valley Senior Spotlight: Plum’s Giuliana Ricciuti
It’s a rare feat when a swimmer can post WPIAL qualifying times in every stroke. Plum senior Giuliana Ricciuti just missed achieving that this season. Out of the eight individual events for which a swimmer can qualify, Ricciuti qualified for seven. She posted 25.91 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle, a...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Plum’s Addison Then, Springdale’s Patrick Wylly
Addison Then School: Plum Class: Junior Sport: Bowling Claim to fame: Then bowled a team-high 618 series to help Plum (10-0) repeat as WPIBL champion by defeating Hempfield in the team championships Thursday. Then was also named to the all-tournament team. She led the East division in pin average (196),...
Ferraro brothers, Pine-Richland teammates out to make waves in wrestling postseason
After going 39-7, winning the section tournament and placing second at the WPIAL tournament last year, Dominic Ferraro had only one goal in mind for his senior year. He wanted to finish his high school wrestling career with an undefeated season. “I’ve been thinking about that since last season,” Ferraro...
Confidence soaring as Fox Chapel hockey blazes into February
For Fox Chapel hockey coach Ryan Loebig, January is an important month in the season. In his experience, how a team plays in that month is a harbinger of how successful they will be in the playoffs. Going into the final game of the month on Jan. 30 at Latrobe,...
