High School category, Page 36
Quaker Valley’s Mia Gartley shows multi-sport skills in cross country, volleyball, track
Mia Gartley is a high jump aficionado in the Quaker Valley girls track and field program. Gartley also knows how to jump smoothly from one season to the next for the Quakers. She is one of the most athletic girls at the high school. “Mia is one of those student-athletes...
Penn-Trafford profile: Senior field hockey player Caeley Simon
Caeley Simon Class: Senior Sport: Field hockey Q: How was your season? A: Our season was good. It was exciting because it was my senior season. We did not make the playoffs, but I still had a great year. Q: Did you have any memorable moments this season or during...
Penn-Trafford notebook: Mia Williams geared up for PIAA tennis tournament
It has been more than a month since Mia Williams played in a high school tennis match. Now the Penn-Trafford senior heads to Hershey to compete in her fourth PIAA Class 3A tournament. Williams was a WPIAL champion in 2022 and runner-up in 2023, 2024 and 2025. She has not...
Penn Hills middle school swim team reaching new heights
Mark Spinola was happy to say every swimmer who competed at the middle school championships saw a significant drop in their times. The Penn Hills middle school swim coach is pleased the program is trending in the right direction. “The team has come a long way,” said Spinola, who has...
Fall ball program the latest signpost in Penn Hills baseball’s rebuilding efforts
Joe Capobianco didn’t have to buy a large amount of refreshments for the Penn Hills baseball boosters meetings during his first season with the program. The Indians only had one booster last season. This year, the number has swelled to about eight parents. As Penn Hills attempts to climb the...
Young Gateway volleyball team builds for future
With just three seniors and a roster full of inexperience, this season was an uphill climb for the Gateway girls volleyball team. The Gators made the best of it, though. After a five-match losing streak to start the season, they finished the year on a two-game winning streak, beating West...
Gateway caps conference play with win over Latrobe
Gateway was the only football team in the Big East Conference to complete its conference schedule before last Friday’s games, which wrapped up the regular season. The Gators, at 3-6 overall and 3-3 in conference play, hoped to take care of business Friday against Class 6A Hempfield while also watching...
Chartiers Valley makes adjustments, finds stride in rewarding football season
The 2025 season began very rocky for the Chartiers Valley Colts. They came into the year with a new head coach, Steve Spence, who came from Washington & Jefferson College, and had to learn new schemes and new terminology. And as the season opened against South Fayette, they were without...
Chartiers Valley boys overcome adversity, show improvement during playoff season
As the WPIAL playoffs were just set to begin, Chartiers Valley boys soccer coach Bill Douglass knew it wasn’t about where his team was seeded, just that the team was in the postseason for the third year in a row. “Once you get into the playoffs, everyone has a chance...
Denied a wild card, South Fayette finds WPIAL snub ‘not an easy way to go’
South Fayette coach Marty Spieler gathered his players after a three-point loss to Moon on Friday, a narrow setback against a talented Allegheny Six foe. He knew there was nothing more they could do now. “I told the kids, ‘Guys, I hope that the committee gives you a chance to...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Oct. 25, 2025
High schools Field hockey WPIAL playoffs Championship At North Allegheny Class 3A Tuesday’s schedule Pine-Richland (16-3) vs. North Allegheny (5-7-3), 7 p.m. Class 2A Wednesday’s schedule Peters Township (13-2-2) vs. Fox Chapel (12-3-3), 8 p.m. Class A Wednesday’s schedule Shady Side Academy (16-2-1) vs. Aquinas Academy (9-5), 6:30 p.m. Football...
High school roundup for Oct. 25, 2025: Burrell knocks off top seed in Class 2A girls soccer playoffs
McKenna Miller scored off of an assist from Makiah Buchak while Leah Waldsmith recorded the shutout, leading No. 8 Burrell to a 1-0 upset victory over No. 1 South Park (19-1) in the WPIAL Class 2A girls soccer quarterfinals Saturday. Burrell (12-6-2) will match up against No. 4 Mt. Pleasant...
Two surprises in Westmoreland County WPIAL football pairings: Greensburg Central Catholic in, Mt. Pleasant out
There were a couple of surprises when the WPIAL football committee released the 2025 playoff pairings Saturday: Greensburg Central Catholic (Class A) is in, and Mt. Pleasant (Class 3A) was left out. Greensburg Central Catholic qualified for a Class A wild-card spot thanks to Friday’s 36-7 rout of No. 8...
University Prep dominates Westinghouse to win 1st City League title in 7 years
Lou Berry was in demand, but what he really wanted at the time was his phone. “I need to find it,” the University Prep football coach said in a frantic moment during the midst of a chaotic celebration at Cupples Stadium on Saturday, where the Wildcats dethroned three-time City League...
Plum boys outlast Norwin in penalty shootout to advance to soccer semifinals
As Norwin shooters made the long walk from midfield and stepped to the penalty spot, Chase Eber saw something, felt something. His instincts were tingling. “Their kids looked like they had just seen a ghost,” the Plum goalkeeper said. “I had faith in every single one of my shooters. I...
WPIAL tennis state title contenders bow out in semifinals
The three WPIAL teams still in the hunt for a PIAA tennis championship after Friday night’s matches bowed out in Saturday’s semifinals in Hershey. In Class 3A, WPIAL champion Shady Side Academy (19-1) lost 3-1 to defending state champ Lower Merion (20-0). Cassie Lapina won in straight sets at No....
Breaking down the 2025 WPIAL football playoffs
Class 6A Favorite: Defending champion Central Catholic has dominated Class 6A this year, outscoring conference opponents 265-35. The Vikings, under third-year coach Ryan Lehmeier, are favorites to win the program’s 10th WPIAL title. They’re trying to reach the finals for the 11th time in 12 years. The roster is loaded...
7 Alle-Kiski Valley teams reach WPIAL football playoffs
When football teams from around the WPIAL take the field next Friday, seven Alle-Kiski Valley teams will be among them, following the bracket release Saturday afternoon. Of those teams, none was seeded higher than No. 6, two received No. 8 seeds and after its exciting win over Deer Lakes on...
Norwin girls shake off adversity on road to WPIAL semifinals
Adversity can come at teams without warning in the WPIAL soccer playoffs. There are yellow cards and ill-timed fouls, short benches, cramps and injuries. The Norwin girls encountered their share of misadventure Thursday in the quarterfinals before Leesia Phetsomphou’s clutch winner inside the final minute of the second overtime produced...
Westmoreland County athletes of the week: Mt. Pleasant’s Laurel Rummel and Norwin’s Ben McBride
Laurel Rummel School: Mt. Pleasant Class: Senior Sport: Soccer Claim to fame: Rummel, a fourth-year starter, made six saves to help the fourth-seeded Vikings (15-4-1) blank Avonworth, 2-0, in the first round of the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs. She had four stops in a 2-1 win over Shady Side Academy...
Cam Woods’ overtime winner sends Freeport to semifinals
Cam Woods’ winning goal in overtime sent No. 2 Freeport to the WPIAL Class 2A semifinals in a thrilling 4-3 win over No. 7 North Catholic (13-6) on Saturday. Woods channeled her inner Landon Donovan, dribbling and evading two Trojanettes defenders before shooting. After the ball hit opposing goalkeeper Jules...
Mt. Pleasant girls dispatch Shady Side Academy, clear quarterfinal hurdle
Third time’s the charm. The past two seasons for the Mt. Pleasant girls soccer team ended in tough defeats at home in the WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinals. But thanks to leading scorer Morgan Gesinski, the No. 4-seeded Vikings (14-4-1) were finally able to clear that hurdle Saturday, with a 2-1...
‘Shocking’ 4A pairings debated as WPIAL reveals brackets for 2025 football playoffs
Only eight teams qualified for the Class 4A football playoffs, but the WPIAL’s smallest bracket has surely raised the most eyebrows. McKeesport drew the No. 1 seed, as expected, but the rest of the 4A bracket proved unpredictable until the WPIAL revealed its pairings Saturday. Most notably, there was an...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Fox Chapel’s Emily McKee, Deer Lakes’ Jacob Orseno
Emily McKee School: Fox Chapel Class: Junior Sport: Soccer Claim to fame: Emily McKee’s junior year at Fox Chapel will be one to remember. The junior forward has 45 goals, including 11 in the first two games of the Class 3A playoffs last week. On Monday, McKee had five of...
Plum golfers cap season at WPIAL tournament
Out of the hundreds of boys golfers who took to courses in high school matches this fall, only 36 were able to play for a WPIAL Class 3A championship at Butler Country Club. Plum senior Dany Caruso and Mustangs junior Gavin Fink were two of them. And while they didn’t...
