Bill Beckner stories, Page 111

The second kicker up in a three-person contest at Heinz Field on Saturday night — with 40,000-plus looking on — Ariel Shasko Bonnett lined up her field-goal try from the 5-yard line. A chip shot? Not for someone who had only began kicking a week ago. She is much more...

The Moe Rosensteel Player of the Year Award recognizes the best WPIAL girls soccer player “whose play, leadership and passion for the game emulates that of the award’s namesake.” Kaitlyn “Moe” Rosensteel was a soccer standout at Ringgold who was about to begin a college career at West Virginia Wesleyan...

Jeannette and Monessen have a lot in common. They are small towns that are getting smaller. Both have seen a slow but steady decline in population since the turn of the century. Industrial growth has dwindled, and change has been met with a stiff arm as they forge ahead with...

Ariel Shasko Bonnett admits she is no kicker, but a few short-range field goals through the uprights at Heinz Field Saturday night could change that perception. Especially for a charity. A Norwin graduate and North Huntingdon resident, Bonnett will be one of three contestants in a kicking contest at halftime...

Who knows how far the Carnegie Mellon football team will go this season, but the Tartans’ 2021 run will be the last chapter in the long career of coach Rich Lackner. CMU announced Thursday that Lackner, who has the most wins in program history, will retire at the conclusion of...

When Bobby Fetter learned he might not be able to play football again after he separated his left shoulder for a third time and needed surgery, the Latrobe senior gained a measure of perspective. He didn’t ask for pity, and he didn’t pout. Instead, he used his consternation to help...

High school golf season at a glance Boys Class 3A • Defending champion: Franklin Regional won its first WPIAL title and sent two players to the PIAA tournament, also a program first. The Panthers are not exactly facing a rebuild: They return seniors Zach Abdallah and Jeff Anderchak, both high-30s...

The 2021 High School All-American soccer games will be played Dec. 11 in Orlando, Fla. The WPIAL might have quite a showing on a national stage. Ten senior players from the district are on the All-American games watch list, which came out Wednesday, including eight girls. Selections will be announced...

Justin Shank often asks himself, “Why me?” Fresh off a WPIAL Class A championship and PIAA runner-up finish as a two-way lineman, the Jeannette senior watched helplessly as teammate after teammate transferred to other schools. “I felt betrayed,” Shank said. “We had all talked about winning another championship with everyone...

If you like no-nonsense, hand-in-the-dirt linemen with impeccable smarts and a mean streak, Dan Sierk is your guy. The brawny senior from Hempfield will move from tight end to offensive tackle this season and will be a problem for opponents from his defensive end post. You might have a hard...

Football teams are learning how to read gaps at camp this week so they can open running lanes this season. At Derry, coaches are learning what a generation gap feels like. Derry second-year coach Vince Skillings is 62 years old. Take the combined age of three of his assistants, and...

James Piot was told his clubhead speed ramped up substantially on a few of his drives Sunday during the championship match of the 121st U.S. Amateur at Oakmont Country Club. The fifth-year senior at Michigan State is not an exceptionally long hitter, but a glimmer appeared in his eye as...

It never got to play the actual title game of the Palomino World Series, but the Youngstown Class B AstroFalcons All-Star Team still walked away champions — with some bonus history. The winning sensation felt just like the AstroFalcons thought it would as they celebrated a co-title with Puerto Rico...

The Moe Rosensteel Player of the Year Award recognizes the best WPIAL girls soccer player “whose play, leadership and passion for the game emulates that of the award’s namesake.” Kaitlyn “Moe” Rosensteel was a soccer standout at Ringgold who was about to begin a college career at West Virginia Wesleyan...

Oakmont Country Club isn’t all nightmares and ghosts from the past. The storied venue and USGA holy ground is also a place where dreams can come true. Right, James Piot? “I still can’t believe I am holding this trophy,” Piot said. “I still think I’m dreaming.” Piot, 22, a Canton,...

James Piot will take a 1-up lead over Austin Greaser into the afternoon round of the 36-hole finale of the 121st U.S. Amateur at Oakmont Country Club. The second 18 will begin at 2:30 p.m. A fifth-year senior at Michigan State and a native of Canton, Mich., Piot was all...

Australian Nick Flanagan was in town for the U.S. Amateur, but he had to warm up his throwing arm, not his driver and putter. Talk about a tough pitch shot. Flanagan, the last U.S. Amateur champion to win at Oakmont, in 2003, threw out the first pitch Friday night before...

James Piot said he had to pack up his things and change hotel rooms this weekend because a wedding party was coming in next door. The Michigan State fifth-year senior might have a different kind of party if everything goes his way Sunday at Oakmont Country Club. Piot put together...

Palmer Jackson used to be a baseball pitcher and could freeze-frame a knuckleball with the best of them. He was Franklin Regional’s answer to Tim Wakefield. During the U.S. Amateur earlier this month at Oakmont Country Club, Jackson was thrown a curve ball. The golf standout, who will be a...

It started with 312. It was dwindled to 64. Now only four players remain as the 121st U.S. Amateur moves into the weekend at softened Oakmont Country Club. On Saturday, college standouts Travis Vick, Nick Gabrelcik, Austin Greaser and James Piot will play for spots in Sunday’s 36-hole championship. Vick...

Westmoreland County had strong representation at the recent National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, Pittsburgh Chapter’s 34th Annual Scholarship Sports Night. Among the award winners were Tony DeNunzio, a longtime Jeannette resident known for his exploits in banking, music and his family’s Italian food restaurants. He received the Frank...

Irwin’s Calahan Young is part of the 240-member U.S. Paralympic team that will compete in Tokyo later this month. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced team rosters Wednesday. Young will compete in goalball for the American side in the Paralympics, which begin Aug. 25. The games were postponed in...

Mark Goetz spent most of his 23rd birthday at Oakmont Country Club. Just about dawn to dusk. His morning consisted of a range session, and he watched some friends play a few holes. In the afternoon, he sat through a 3-hour, 50-minute rain delay after playing just two holes. Then,...

The pressure of playing in his backyard did not sit as hard on Sean Knapp’s shoulders as a factoid. He was the second-oldest player in the 312-man field at the U.S. Amateur. It’s an achievement, no doubt. But Knapp wanted this one badly. The veteran just wanted a shot at...