Other Local category, Page 58

As the sun sets on another year in local sports, it’s time to look back on the best stories of 2019 in Westmoreland County. There were championships, comebacks, program rebirths and coveted recruits. The final year in the second decade of the 2000s featured repeat winners and playoff newcomers and...

There’s something about being a long-snapper that just fits for Michael Pifer. The precision. The repetition. The search for perfection with every special teams snap. An added perk is anonymity. That is, until a mistake is made. “There’s so much repetition, but you’re trying to find little flaws and correct...

For the third straight year, Lamont “Showboat” Robinson is on the ballot for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The Jeannette graduate is known for having a pivotal role in comedy basketball when he played for three Harlem teams: the Globetrotters, Roadkings and Clowns. Among the list of candidates...

Kathryn Plummer had 26 kills and defending champion Stanford swept Minnesota, 25-19, 25-22, 25-22, on Thursday night to reach the NCAA women’s volleyball final. Stanford (29-4) will face Wisconsin on Saturday night, seeking its third title in four years and ninth overall. The Cardinal also beat the Gophers (27-6) in...

Once a slick-fielding shortstop with power at the plate, Warren Schaeffer continues to pass down his baseball knowledge to aspiring minor-leaguers — perhaps while climbing a different ladder to the big leagues. The former Greensburg Central Catholic star has been named manager of the Albuquerque Isotopes, the Class-AAA affiliate of...

At the beginning of November, Valley grad Zach Clarke traveled to Villanova University to compete in the Pennsylvania Special Olympics championships and came home with more than enough gold to go around. Clarke won the overall gold in powerlifting and also won gold in the squat and bench press with...

Lernerville Speedway has a virtual twin on the most popular sim-racing platform in the world. On Tuesday, iRacing released Lernerville on its platform, giving fans around the world an opportunity to drive on the track without getting behind the wheel of a race car. The Buffalo Township speedway has been...

His first reception for Franklin Regional went for a touchdown. So did his first two at Villanova. Todd Summers knows a few things about making a strong initial impression, but those events pale in comparison to what first-year Villanova offensive coordinator Chris Boden thought when he first saw the redshirt...

College-level esports finally may be getting a little respect. They haven’t signed any deals to replace college football on Saturday afternoon TV. And it’s not exactly Gatorade, but the Robert Morris University esports team has a new corporate partnership deal with Mountain Dew AMP Game Fuel, an energy drink especially...

The Monroeville Marlins swimming team expects to up its number of entries at the Pitt Christmas Meet on Dec. 12-15 at Trees Pool. Kathy Bernardi, an administrative coach with the USA Swimming club based at Gateway, said six members will try to qualify individually or add events at a meet...

Wrapped in a black-and-gold blanket with a tablet in his lap and a black Pittsburgh Riverhounds jacket on, 11-year-old Ty George of Irwin was exhausted on his plane ride home from Kansas City. So much so he spent most of a 3½-hour trip curled up in a deep sleep. This...

Kason Harrell was released by the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA G League on Nov. 6. Guess how many days since then the former Hempfield star sulked about his first shot at the pros? Better yet, guess how many days he did not pick up a basketball in...

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds had one of the best defenses in the USL Championship this year, and Joe Greenspan was at the center of it. On Tuesday, Greenspan was awarded for his efforts and was named the USL Championship Defender of the Year. The Westfield, N.J. native was crucial to Pittsburgh’s...

Another successful summer on the amateur golf circuit earned Katie Miller more postseason recognition. For the second time in three years, the Hempfield and North Carolina alum was named to the Global Golf Post All-Am Team. She was added to the publication’s Mid-Amateur Team. Miller, a Jeannette native, made the...

The fifth- and sixth-grade Norwin youth football team’s season was filled with big moments. It won the league’s offseason Lineman Challenge after finishing last in the competition last season, played at halftime at Heinz Field during a Steelers preseason game and ended its season in the Washington/Greene Football League Championship...

The James 5:16 Boxing Center in Tarentum will host amateur boxing Saturday. Chris Archer, a trainer at the facility, said there will be 13-15 bouts between fighters from local gyms throughout the area and region who continue to prepare for the Golden Gloves and USA Boxing tournaments early next year....

During his days as a football player at Chartiers Valley, Dave Marquis, by his own admission, didn’t apply himself perhaps as much as he should have. That revelation might be surprising considering his background. Marquis’ father, Gus, was the football coach (1988-94) and athletic director (1988-2006) at Chartiers Valley, so...

Building a sustainable athletic program starts at the roots. The Penn Hills Midget Football Association is looking to create deeper roots in the community under new leadership. It has gotten off on the right foot after their Baby Scouts team captured the Western Pennsylvania Youth Athletic Association title in the...

For a record fifth time, the Three Rivers Rowing Association on Washington’s Landing received the USRowing Club of the Year Award. In announcing the 2019 selection, USRowing praised the club for offering junior and masters rowing programs, which compete on national and international levels; serving as home to high schools...

Emily Clark is fine not being one of Team Canada’s top offensive threats. She had no problem putting the puck in the net Sunday, though, as her hat trick lifted the Canadians to a 5-3 win over Team USA at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry. “It feels a little...

It was called an “exhibition” but Friday night’s game between Team USA and Team Canada was anything but friendly. The women’s hockey teams brought the intensity of a regular international showdown. Team Canada emerged with a 4-1 win at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry. “I think we did everything...

The Pennsylvania Karate Championships is the second-longest running event of its type in the United States, and Saturday’s 47th annual event at Valley High School again is expected to attract the top martial arts competitors from the Alle-Kiski Valley as well as the region, state and country. “It was one...

It’s a generally accepted principle in hockey circles that it’s unfortunate at best and anticlimactic at worst when an important game is decided by a shootout. The women’s gold medal game in the 2018 Olympics in South Korea might be the exception to that rule. Jocelyne Lamoureax-Davidson’s jaw-dropping triple move...

Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Maddie Rooney supplied the shootout heroics that gave the United States the gold medal in women’s hockey in the 2018 Olympics. You might bump into them in the toiletries aisle at Target tomorrow morning. Marie-Philip Poulin and Melodie Daoust are the faces of women’s hockey in Canada...

Norwin played North Allegheny for the WPIAL Class AAAA girls soccer championship Thursday night, and Emily Harrigan intently watched the match from East Brunswick, N.J. When broadcasters mentioned Norwin’s 2017 state championship team, Harrigan took notice. After all, she played a key role in the run, earning Tribune-Review Player of...