John Grupp stories, Page 6
Hampton junior RB Evan McAneny enjoys breakout
Hampton coach Steve Sciullo was content to settle for overtime after Chartiers Valley scored a game-tying touchdown with under 40 seconds to play Sept. 20. Hampton running back Evan McAneny had other plans. The 5-foot-9, 180-pound junior broke loose for an 83-yard touchdown run on the next play, giving the...
Diabetes, torn ACL can’t slow Hampton runner
Like everyone else, Hampton junior Marissa Bigante has good days and bad days. But lately, there are so many more good ones. Roughly one year since being diagnosed as a Type 1 diabetic and suffering a torn ACL in a one-month span, Bigante is blossoming as a first-year cross country...
Hampton grad Dawson Dietz hoping for ‘amazing’ final season at Washington & Jefferson
Hampton graduate Dawson Dietz is already among the most decorated Washington & Jefferson football players in the past 25 years. This season, he can join an elite list on the national level. After earning first-team All-American honors by D3Football.com each of the past two seasons, the senior defensive tackle is...
Hampton triathlete covers distance to school’s hall of fame
Angie Raimondi admits her high school career lacked enough to earn a spot in the Hampton Athletic Hall of Fame. Turns out she was just getting started. The former Hampton swimmer and rower developed into an accomplished triathlete with three Ironman competitions and a 321.6-mile Ultraman to her credit. “I...
Aquinas Academy field hockey gets off to fast start with WPIAL title in its sights
One of the first things new Aquinas Academy field hockey coach Albert Casas told his players is that “winning is a consequence, not a goal.” But after losing in the WPIAL Class A finals three years in a row, the Crusaders’ goal definitely involves winning. “I know all of them...
Hampton senior Ray Kirsopp dedicates football season to late father
When Hampton hosts Upper St. Clair on Sept. 13, the highlights will include much more than a typical WPIAL nonconference football game. “It’s going to be a special night for me, for sure,” Hampton senior wide receiver/linebacker Ray Kirsopp said. “It’s a lot for me to process.” Hampton will hold...
Aquinas Academy girls volleyball joins big leagues
The Aquinas Academy girls volleyball team is a first-year WPIAL program, but the Crusaders plan to grow up quickly. After two seasons as a club sport, the players at the tiny Hampton Catholic school have their sights on a WPIAL Class A playoff berth. “We just put up some new...
Hampton boys, girls cross country teams out to make history in different ways
The Hampton boys and girls cross country teams are trying to run into the record books this season. But they would take different paths. The boys are looking to become only the second program in 61 years to win four consecutive WPIAL Class 2A cross country titles, while the girls...
Revamped lineup looks to keep Hampton girls volleyball in championship form
Second-team all-WPIAL setter Lilly Muczinski has a message for anyone doubting the Hampton girls volleyball team this season. “We can take anyone, any day,” she said. “We’re scrappy. We are everywhere. We can pick up balls. We can block. We can do everything.” Next up, they get to try to...
Roster full of returning starters powers Hampton girls soccer
The Hampton girls soccer team returns a loaded roster — and one bitter memory — for a 2024 season filled with expectations. “It’s going to be a fun one,” said senior midfielder Gigi Rudy, one of 10 returning starters from a 15-4 team. “Right after the loss, we said ‘We’re...
Hampton boys soccer hungry after title-game near-miss
Rebuilding is a dirty word for Hampton’s Matt McAwley. The 10th-year boys soccer coach doesn’t want inexperience or youth to be used as an excuse at a program that has reached the WPIAL Class 3A finals twice in the past three seasons. “There are a lot of shoes to fill...
Butler stays motivated amid independent, no-playoff schedule
Pennsylvania will be a swing state in November, but Butler this fall is strictly independent. After four seasons as an “associate member” in District 10, the Golden Tornado will play an independent schedule this season and are ineligible for the D-10 playoffs. “Every game becomes a playoff game for us,”...
Hampton girls tennis ready to be ‘road warriors’
Coming off the best season in program history, the Hampton girls tennis team has suddenly found itself homeless. Continued delays to a renovation project at the tennis courts at Hampton Community Park have forced the Talbots to plan for a promising 2024 season in which every match and practice will...
Rare losing season jolts North Catholic
The drop to Class 3A could have prompted North Catholic to conclude winning will come easier this season. But it has done exactly the opposite. “Our mindset is that it’s going to be harder,” Penn State-bound senior tight end Brady O’Hara said. “We’ve got to push ourselves even more to...
WPIAL title-game losses fuel Avonworth
Avonworth knows well the path to Acrisure Stadium. But after back-to-back lopsided losses in the WPIAL Class 3A championship game, the Antelopes are determined to complete the journey. “For us to be there and be 0-2 (in the WPIAL finals), it’s going to be big-time and a lot more motivation,”...
‘Phenomenal’ growth spurt lifts Hampton’s hopes
The Hampton Talbots return their starting quarterback from last season, but you might not recognize him. Second-team all-conference QB Porter Kelly hit an offseason growth spurt that transformed the senior, lifting the Talbots’ hopes along with it. “He was a little guy,” Hampton coach Steve Sciullo said. “He looks like...
Hampton ties bond national champ Northern Steel U13 girls soccer
A national championship girls soccer team this summer had a lot of Hampton flavor to it. Northern Steel, coached by two former Hampton soccer stars and led by three Talbot middle schoolers, won the 2024 National Cup XXIII Premier Division U13 finals July 21-25, in Denver. A never-in-doubt 5-1 victory...
Hampton boys golf team welcomes new look
Hampton first-year golf coach Terry Hales has much in common with his golfers this season. Almost all of them are new to the Talbots. Hales, who replaced longtime coach Bruce Steckel, inherits a roster that returns only one golfer from a 5-11 team. “I’m just really excited and looking forward...
Runners ready for inaugural Talbot Shuffle fundraiser
The inaugural Talbot Shuffle fundraiser hopes to hit the ground running. The Aug. 10 event, which benefits the Hampton cross country program, is the first of its kind in the school district. “We were talking, the boosters and the coaches, and we wanted to do something to fundraise for Hampton...
Hampton girls wrestling alum ramps up aggressiveness with college on horizon
Hampton’s Isabella McNutt is becoming a little bit McNasty. After graduating this year as the most decorated girls wrestler in school history, McNutt has added a new level of aggressiveness to her approach on the mat. “I realized that I had a lot more success when I was more aggressive,”...
Hampton teen quickly climbing gymnastics ladder
Hampton teen Ella Lattimore enjoyed gymnastics long before she became any good at it. “It definitely took some time,” she said. “I really liked to do it, but I wasn’t very good. I just kind of showed up at the competitions, I did OK, and I left.” Now she leaves...
Hampton long snapper Braeden Ballintine hits his target ahead of freshman season at Cal (Pa.)
Hampton’s Braeden Ballintine was about 10 years old when his dad challenged him to try something with a football. Throw a spiral between your legs while looking upside down. “Before I even started playing football,” Ballintine said, “he was trying to mess around and show me how to snap a...
Hampton grad Tyler Bischke: ‘No-brainer’ to play for Pitt
Tyler Bischke’s college baseball career took him thousands of miles away before bringing him back to nearly where he started. And right back to where he wanted. After playing at three schools in four years, including programs in southcentral Oklahoma and New Orleans, the Hampton graduate spent his final season...
Ex-Hampton softball star Bella Henzler takes big step forward
When Bella Henzler set a goal of making all-conference in the Sun Belt, the James Madison sophomore had to know the odds were stacked against her. Of the 278 softball players in the Division I conference, only 15 will earn first-team recognition. But the former Hampton star made the decision...
2-time state champ Dale Hall leaves Hampton as one of track program’s all-time greats
When two-time state champion Dale Hall was a freshman, he got kicked out of Hampton track practice one day. He wanted to run hills with the Talbots, but there was one problem: He wasn’t even a Hampton student. “That might not have been my brightest move,” said Hall, an Aquinas...
