Two Aquinas Academy athletes sign letters of intent in Hampton

Two seniors at Aquinas Academy of Pittsburgh in Hampton signed their letters of intent on National Signing Day, Nov. 9.

Isabella Hite and Vincent Cugini affixed their signatures in a ceremony held in the Rhodora J. Donahue Building in front of classmates, high school coaches and family members.

Hite signed her letter to play for Belmont Abbey College’s Division II field hockey program in North Carolina.

A four-sport athlete at Aquinas, she completed her high school field hockey career at the WPIAL Championships, where the Crusaders were runner-up. While the 2022 field hockey awards have not yet been announced, Hite was named a WPIAL Field Hockey All-Star in 2021 and All-WPIAL (honorable mention) in 2020.

“Bella has been a joy to coach on the field,” Jen Dewitt, Aquinas Academy’s varsity field hockey coach, said. “Bella is not only a well-rounded player on the field who demonstrated hard work, dedication, leadership and skills, but she is also a leader off the field in her academics, as well.”

Hite has been recognized for excellence in basketball and soccer, too. She was named to both WPIAL All-Section and All-WPIAL soccer in 2022. Additional awards for her include WPIAL All-Section soccer, 2021, and WPIAL All-Section basketball, 2022. She was a significant contributor to the Aquinas basketball team that won WPIAL runner-up for Class A.

A team captain in four sports, she will again be playing basketball and lacrosse at Aquinas in the spring. As the 2022-23 Academic Prefect of the high school, Hite was voted by students and faculty last spring to this highest student leadership position.

Cugini signed his letter of intent to play basketball for the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. Cugini, who has led all of the WPIAL in scoring for the past three seasons, has compiled a singular résumé of accomplishments including averaging 37.1 career points per game, the fastest player in WPIAL history to reach both 1,000 and 2,000 career points, and a three-time Class A All-State selection.

Additional awards include WPIAL All-Section selection the past two seasons and the Post-Gazette 1A Fab Five selection for each of his first three high school seasons.

“Vinnie did it the old fashioned way: He worked hard. He was dedicated. He was committed,” George Yokitis, Aquinas boys varsity basketball coach, said. “He should be taken as an inspiration to all of us.”

With Cugini’s senior year season starting in a few weeks, the Crusaders basketball team is eager for a deeper run in the WPIAL playoffs.