John Grupp stories, Page 3

The Aquinas Academy girls basketball team weathered injuries and illness for much of the season, but the Crusaders fought through it. “I didn’t think it affected us that much,” coach Chris Lebakken said, “until it did.” Outscored 21-7 in the third quarter, Aquinas fell to St. Joseph, 65-56, in the...

Hampton sophomore Lainey Sheets popped her head out of the water after the 100 backstroke at the WPIAL Class 2A swimming championships at Pitt on March 1 and was a bit bewildered. Sheets, already the fastest girls swimmer in Hampton history, saw the scoreboard was awarding Mt. Pleasant junior Kiersten...

Hampton all-section senior shortstop Charlotte Lomb said new coach Kate Hedderman’s high-paced workouts were an eye-opener for some of her teammates. “It was a little bit of a culture shock,” Lomb said. “She definitely moves a lot quicker. It’s a lot more serious practices than we are used to. But...

Hampton baseball coach Kellen Wheeler had a numbers problem this offseason. But it was a good one. The sixth-year coach had to figure out how to accommodate an overflow group of players in the school’s auxiliary gym and weight room for the team’s four-times-a-week workouts. “I had anywhere from 24...

Aquinas Academy entered this season with a lot of uncertainty after losing WPIAL all-time leading scorer Vinnie Cugini to graduation. But instead of taking a step backward, the new-look Crusaders proved themselves by recording 15 wins and earning a WPIAL playoff victory for only the second time in program history....

The Hampton wrestlers had such a memorable season as a team, they decided to keep it going as individuals. The Talbots, who won a WPIAL playoff match for the first time since 2018, fared well in the ensuing sectional and WPIAL individual tournaments. “We walked away very proud of their...

Former state champion Will Retsch graduated from Hampton as one of the most decorated swimmers in program history. He didn’t need long to make a splash in college. Retsch broke the Gannon school record in the 200 individual medley less than two months into his freshman season and is following...

The WPIAL’s all-time scoring leader is making his point in other ways as a freshman at Pitt-Johnstown. Former Aquinas Academy star guard Vinnie Cugini is off to an encouraging debut season at the Division II PSAC school. Cugini, who scored a WPIAL-record 3,189 points at the tiny Catholic school in...

In Alan Danner’s first two seasons at Hampton, he spent much more time on the wrong side of pins than on the right side of wins. Two years since he nearly quit the sport because he was tired of losing, the 152-pound senior is eyeing a successful postseason and his...

Hampton standout senior guard Peter Kramer is hoping to go from an ineligible postseason to an indelible one. After being forced to sit out last year’s playoffs due to PIAA transfer rules, Kramer is excited to be joining his teammates in this postseason in a bid for a deep run....

Hampton star guard Meghan Murray sank a half-court shot to end the first quarter against Mars on Jan. 22, but her next basket was even more dramatic. Minutes after her buzzer-beater, Murray scored on a fast-break layup in the second quarter to become the girls basketball program’s all-time scoring leader....

Hampton junior swimmer Wil Cramer is proving that where there’s a will, there’s a way. After an “annoying” sophomore season that saw him miss qualifying for the WPIAL Class 2A swimming championships by less than a second, Cramer has already punched his ticket in two events, the 200 IM and...

Many of the memories have faded into time over the past four decades. The players and coaches for Hampton’s 1984 PIAA runner-up boys basketball team have gaps in their recollection of the winningest season in program history. But one memory endures — the overwhelming support of the Talbots fans and...

On its way to a fifth consecutive losing season, the Hampton hockey team has made a midseason coaching shift. Assistant Ian Cummings was promoted to replace Buck McKee, whose teams went 6-25 in his one-and-a-half seasons. Cummings, 39, of Hampton was approved by the Hampton hockey club board Jan. 11,...

Three days after Christmas, the Hampton boys basketball team wasn’t feeling very joyful. The Talbots were tied with upset-minded Grove City, 28-28, midway through the third quarter of the Hampton Holiday Tournament championship game. Star senior guard Peter Kramer was in foul trouble and still hadn’t scored a point. So...

Hampton senior Caleb Rihn heard “a large pop” from his left knee during club wrestling practice in early November. “It was pretty bad,” he said. “We kind of knew right away that it was my ACL.” Rihn was certain of something else — he wasn’t going to miss his final...

The Hampton girls basketball team flew to California over Christmas break for a three-day tournament and visited several popular spots around San Diego. The Talbots want their next trip to be a return visit to the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. Hampton shrugged off a 1-4 start to win five out...

Former Hampton star Laryn Edwards was sitting in the Providence women’s basketball office in late November when coach Erin Batth entered in a bit of a pickle. Her starting point guard had suffered an injury, leaving the Friars with only two healthy ball handlers, both freshmen. Batth asked Edwards, a...

Hampton didn’t have to look too far to find its new softball coach. There was someone in the Talbots’ own backyard. Kate Hedderman, a private softball instructor who runs a training facility in Hampton, was hired in late November to replace longtime coach Ron Fedell. “I know a lot of...

Hampton’s Lainey Sheets was the only freshman in the state who finished top five at last season’s PIAA Class 2A Swimming championships. And she did it twice. Sheets, who placed third in the 100 backstroke and fourth in the 200 IM, is back for her sophomore season having already established...

Hampton swimming coach Morgan Zweygardt can count on two hands the number of boys on her roster this season. Two years removed from winning back-to-back WPIAL Class 2A titles, the Talbots are in rebuilding mode with just nine swimmers. It is the leanest roster in Zweygardt’s eight seasons, and it...

Playing at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center each of the past two seasons was a dream come true for the Aquinas Academy girls basketball team. Now they just want the dream to have a better ending. The Crusaders return their top four scorers from last season’s team, which lost at the...

The Aquinas Academy boys basketball team spent more time this offseason in the weight room than ever before. They were getting ready for some heavy lifting. Vinnie Cugini, who scored 3,189 career points to shatter a 30-year-old WPIAL mark, has graduated, leaving behind a nearly 44-point-per-game hole in the Crusaders’...

The Hampton wrestling team’s season-ending banquet last March was more about eyeing the future than remembering the past. Returning seven WPIAL qualifiers from last season’s senior-less roster, the Talbots turned their focus to ending a three-year playoff drought and contending for the Section 5-2A team title. “We didn’t have any...

Hampton star point guard Meghan Murray is being realistic when she expects the Talbots to start slow this season. With two-fifths of their starting lineup playing deep into November for the school’s WPIAL champion and PIAA finalist volleyball team, the Talbots girls basketball team got a late start to cohesive...