High School category, Page 107

When it comes to the shot put, Ryan Crouser is the gold standard. Literally — having won the past three Olympics in that event. Gateway senior standout Dino Nadarevic isn’t quite in that territory, but his list of accomplishments continues to grow in the sport. And after a very successful...

Building a team is a process that takes time. For Gateway girls basketball coach Curtis Williams, the process included some growing pains this past year. Faced with fielding a very young team, Williams had a tall task assigned to him: Guide a group of inexperienced girls, many of whom were...

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...

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 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...

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 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...

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...

Carlee Valenta, a 2024 Penn-Trafford graduate qualified for the NCAA Division I rifle championship, set for March 14-15, at Kentucky. The freshman at the University of Texas-El Paso set two school records. She is the first Miner since 2012 to compete in the championship. Valenta has had an outstanding season,...

When Penn-Trafford boys basketball coach Doug Kelly was watching junior forward Zach Feldman play in the summer, he did not realize how athletic the 6-foot-4 forward was. But Kelly knew he had a player to run his offense through. Feldman, who also is an outstanding baseball player, has continued to...

Wrestle. Like. A. Girl. Those four words inspire females dressed in the signature singlet to grapple and take down opponents, just like their male counterparts. In the past two years, the sport has grown by the largest percentage of mainstream high school sports including football, basketball, baseball, hockey and soccer...

ALTOONA — The WPIAL nearly was shut out Saturday in the championship matches of the PIAA Class 2A Southwestern Regional wrestling tournament at Altoona High School. Fort Cherry’s Braedon Welsh made sure there was a winner. Down to the final two weight classes — PIAA Districts 5 and 6 dominated...

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...

The Path to the Pete is complete with six WPIAL boys basketball champions crowned the last three days at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center. Upper St. Clair became the first boys 6A team to repeat as District 7 champs and the only squad to win back-to-back this season. Three schools ended...

Chartiers Valley went from being a basketball program in turmoil to a WPIAL champion in a little over a year. Led by first-year coach Corey Dotchin and prolific senior scorer Jayden Davis, fourth-seeded Chartiers Valley finished off its turnaround Saturday night by defeating No. 6 Peters Township, 73-66, in the...

High schools Basketball WPIAL playoffs Boys Class 5A Finals Saturday’s result Chartiers Valley 73, Peters Township 66 Class 3A Finals Saturday’s result South Allegheny 37, Aliquippa 35 PIAA Class 4A District 8-9 subregional Saturday’s result Clearfield 68, Obama Academy 60 Girls Class 6A Finals Saturday’s result Upper St. Clair 45,...

Bailey White scored 23 points and City League champion Allderdice rolled to a 64-48 victory over Erie in the PIAA Class 6A District 8-10 subregional final Saturday. Peyton Lynch scored 16 points and Seena Teshome added 10 for the Dragons (20-5), who will meet WPIAL third-place finisher Canon-McMillan in the...

The Path to the Pete is complete with six WPIAL girls basketball championship games from Pitt’s Petersen Events Center in the books. Union captured a third straight Class A title and Greensburg Central Catholic won a second straight district crown. The other four teams — Upper St. Clair in 6A,...

So far, so good for Hempfield junior Nico Kapusta. Even though he missed most of the regular season with a left elbow injury he suffered during a preseason tournament, which made him doubtful to compete, Kapusta healed faster than expected. Now he has his eye on winning a PIAA Class...

Upper St. Clair finally broke through to win another championship, for Pete’s sake. Coach Pete Serio, denied titles in two of the last three years as the Panthers were stricken by injuries to star players — most recently Rylee Kalocay — was able to celebrate with his team after a...

In a rematch of last month’s WPIBL finals, Plum defeated Hempfield in three games to win the girls team title at the Western PA Regional Bowling Championships on Saturday. Hempfield won the first game of the finals, 172-149, before the Mustangs roared back with victories in the final two games...

The Oakland Catholic Eagles defeated the Blackhawk Cougars, 52-50, in the Class 4A finals Saturday at Petersen Events Center, taking home their seventh WPIAL title and first since 2006. The Cougars trailed 39-32 halfway through the third quarter. Nevertheless, Blackhawk battled back and took the lead early in the fourth...

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...

The Westmoreland County Athletes of the Week is presented by Smail Kia. Look for the tags and look for the savings at Smail Kia in Greensburg. Ashley Bensur School: Hempfield Class: Junior Sport: Bowling Claim to fame: Bensur reached the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Bowling League finals for the second time...

Josh Jackowski wanted to roll the dice. The rest of the South Allegheny boys basketball team came to a similar conclusion. When the Gladiators pressed, they were able to force a bad pass from Aliquippa’s Marques Council. Jackowski picked up the loose ball and scored on a layup with 29...