High School category, Page 29
Hampton’s Gabriella Elk successfully defends PIAA Class 2A diving title
LEWISBURG — Gabriella Elk left quite a lasting impact on diving at the PIAA-championship level. The Hampton senior defended her girls Class 2A state title Saturday afternoon with an 11-dive total of 452.75 points at Bucknell. The Delaware commit led throughout and captured her fourth PIAA medal. She was eighth...
Several WPIAL swimmers to contend for state titles on Day 2 of PIAA Class 2A meet
LEWISBURG — The final day of PIAA Class 2A swimming Saturday will have several WPIAL competitors in the evening’s championship finals. Indiana junior Joshua Reed returned to the pool this morning in the preliminaries of the 100-yard freestyle and placed third with a time of 46.99. Northgate senior Sam Cavanaugh,...
Sites set for Chartiers Valley, Neighborhood Academy, Obama Academy in PIAA boys basketball semifinals
Three local teams remain heading into the final four in the 2026 PIAA boys basketball Class 5A, 4A and A playoffs. Two from the WPIAL and one amazing run from a City League team. One thing all three have in common is they are in search of double gold this...
Neshannock, Shady Side Academy, GCC set for Monday’s PIAA girls basketball semifinals
The PIAA girls basketball semifinals are set for Monday for teams in Class 6A, 3A and 2A. Three District 7 teams will look to get a ticket punched for a date at the Giant Center in Hershey later in the week. While there will be no Class 6A rep from...
Franklin Regional baseball eager for fresh start of new season
Franklin Regional lost its final six games of last baseball season, including an 11-1 setback atgainst Bethel Park in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs, but that negative juju is not getting in the way of a new season. Spring, after all, signifies renewal. The Panthers are...
Shady Side Academy girls fighting their way through PIAA bracket
The Shady Side Academy girls basketball team hasn’t seen anyone bow in front of them during the PIAA Class 3A playoffs. The Bulldogs, who reached the championship game for the first time in school history last year, have had to scrap their way back to the quarterfinals. Shady Side Academy...
North Allegheny wrestler Bradyn McConneha caps ‘amazing’ run to state finals
“Big B” got an “A” this postseason. North Allegheny senior heavyweight Bradyn McConneha won sectional and regional titles and reached the PIAA Class 3A wrestling championship match — the first Tiger to advance that far in nearly a decade — to cap a stellar season. The 6-foot, 260-pound McConneha, called...
With new arms, returning talent, Fox Chapel softball excited for new season
The Fox Chapel softball team broke through as the No. 12 seed during the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs last season, upsetting Franklin Regional in the first round. The Foxes have added more pitching depth to help them try to take another step forward. Fox Chapel returns junior Jillian Haigh, who...
Fox Chapel Herald notebook: Fox Chapel grad breaking college track records
Fox Chapel graduate Rowan Gwin has etched his name in the record books for the indoor track team at Appalachian State University. The sophomore runner ran the 8,000-meter run in 8 minutes, 5.08 seconds to break a 15-year-old school record during an event at Boston University. He broke the mark...
Fox Chapel girls ready to kick off school’s inaugural flag football season
Brandon Rios will look out at the inaugural Fox Chapel girls flag football team and see a bunch of athletes from a variety of backgrounds. Not many of them will be seasoned football players. That’s OK. Rios, who was hired to coach the first team in school history, wants them...
North Allegheny softball enters season with something to prove
North Allegheny softball hit over .300 as a team last season while facing a steady diet of dominant all-state pitchers. Second-year coach Bill Aguglia believes the Tigers can do a whole lot better this season. “Hitting is going to be the key,” he said. “I didn’t feel we hit really...
North Allegheny baseball driven to succeed after disappointing end to last season
The North Allegheny baseball team learned hard work is the best way to remove the bad taste from its mouth. Coming off a disappointing year that ended with an abrupt one-and-done WPIAL playoff exit, the Tigers spent this offseason with a renewed focus. “That loss definitely affected all of us,”...
Former Hempfield ace ‘building a complete team’ at Franklin Regional
Maddie Uschock made visits to the pitching circle during games last season as an assistant softball coach at Franklin Regional. The former WPIAL and PIAA championship-winning ace at Hempfield, who played at Shippensburg, brought calmness to ailing pitchers. She helped them reset. As she begins her first season as head...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for March 13, 2026
High schools Baseball Friday’s results Nonsection Avella 4, Washington 0 Baldwin 13, West Allegheny 8 Beaver 16, Freedom 7 Elizabeth Forward 5, Celebration (FL) 1 Ellwood City 5, Chartiers-Houston 1 Franklin Regional 10, Fox Chapel 4 Gateway 11, Highlands 2 Greenbrier Christian Academy 11, Bishop Canevin 1 Moon 11, Archbishop...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on March 14, 2026: WPIAL 6A teams battle for spot in state finals
As soon as the PIAA quarterfinals began, 24 hours later, they will be in the books. The Road to Hershey sees the end of the third round coming up Saturday afternoon as teams from boys Class 6A, 3A and 2A and girls Class 5A, 4A and A take center stage....
Ava Jochims, Shady Side Academy girls shine on big stage at PIAA Class 2A swim meet
LEWISBURG — As the No. 1 seed by eight seconds in the Class 2A girls 200-yard individual medley, Shady Side Academy junior Ava Jochims felt confident that she could bring home a second straight state championship in the event Friday evening at the PIAA swimming championships at Bucknell University. But...
High school roundup for March 13, 2026: Sluggers for New Castle baseball and softball belt 3 homers on opening day
Giovanni Miller homered three times and drove in eight runs to lead New Castle to a 22-8 nonsection victory over Eden Christian on the opening day for WPIAL baseball Friday. Carlo DeSalvo and Dominic Miller also homered and Dominic Filippone went 4 for 5 with three doubles and three RBIs...
High school basketball roundup for March 13, 2026: Neshannock gives coach 800th win
Payton Newman erupted for 29 points to lead Neshannock to a 61-56 victory over Kennedy Catholic in the PIAA Class 2A girls basketball quarterfinals Friday night, giving Lancers coach Luann Grybowski her 800th career win. Newman went 9 for 10 from the free-throw line and Jaidon Nogay and Sophia Bonner...
Obama Academy makes statement for City League, tops Deer Lakes in Class 4A quarters
The Obama Academy boys basketball team will be the first team to carry the City League flag to the PIAA semifinals in 10 years. The Eagles beat Deer Lakes, 53-41, in the PIAA Class 4A quarterfinals Friday night at Norwin to become the first City League team since Allderdice reached...
Franklin Regional girls relay team wins PIAA gold
LEWISBURG — Scarlett Zolnak waited as patiently as she could. But the adrenaline was building up inside, and she just wanted to race. The junior anchor of the newly minted Franklin Regional state champion 200-yard freestyle relay dove in when fellow junior Aidah Holm, the relay’s third leg, touched the...
GCC girls basketball roars back in state quarterfinals, earns rematch with Shady Side
ALTOONA — Late in the first half of Friday’s PIAA Class 3A girls basketball quarterfinal against Trinity of Camp Hill, Greensburg Central Catholic trailed by 10 points. But that’s when the Centurions started to chip away, thanks in part to Avery Jones getting to the free-throw line including drawing the...
Chartiers Valley puts Best foot forward in PIAA Class 5A quarterfinal win over Johnstown
On a night when the lights temporarily went out at Norwin High School, Julius Best provided much-needed energy for Chartiers Valley. With the Colts off to a slow start during Friday night’s PIAA Class 5A quarterfinal against District 6 champion Greater Johnstown, Best came off the bench and sparked a...
Knoch’s Adrian Lavorini places 3rd in 200 IM at state championships
LEWISBURG — Adrian Lavorini knew he could drop time in the championship heat of the 200-yard individual medley Friday at the PIAA Class 2A championships at Bucknell University. The Knoch senior, who will swim next year at Penn State Behrend, was fourth heading into the final leg of the IM,...
New Kensington grad Billy Clarke never planned on wrestling, but he made school history
Billy Clarke was caught off-guard when a coach asked him to join the New Kensington High School wrestling team as a sophomore. “At the time, I didn’t realize we even had a wrestling team,” said Clarke, a 1966 Ken High graduate. “I was walking through the hall, and Leonard Hoak,...
2026 WPIAL Class A baseball preseason breakdown
Four of the five top-ranked teams heading into the 2026 Class A baseball season are private schools. The last three district champions were private schools. The last time two public schools collided for the WPIAL Class A crown was five years ago. Now this isn’t a boundary vs. non-boundary school...
