Michael Love stories, Page 101
Monroeville bodybuilder claims Amateur Olympia title
When the Mr. Olympia and Amateur Olympia bodybuilding competitions were moved to this month from September because of covid-19 logistical concerns, Monroeville’s Ahmad Matour didn’t waver in his goal to compete at one of the world’s biggest events of its kind. “I knew it would give me plenty of time...
PSNK athletes cope with latest changes caused by coronavirus
Penn State New Kensington athletic director Megan Bratkovich said she wasn’t surprised when the executive committee of the Penn State University Athletic Conference voted unanimously Dec. 18 to cancel all sports for the 2020-21 fall and winter seasons. “Given the current state of the pandemic, I think we all knew...
Freeport hockey hopes to continue winning ways after shutdown
Excitement remains high for the Freeport hockey team despite having to work through a couple of stops and starts over the first two months of the 2020-21 PIHL regular season. Covid-19 concerns and Thanksgiving slowed the Yellowjackets in November, and then they and the rest of the league were affected...
Unbeaten Hempfield, rest of PIHL eager for return
Hempfield is one of three hockey teams without a loss in PIHL Class AA in a season heavily impacted by covid issues. The Spartans are 4-0 in league play after a 6-2 triumph over Shaler on Dec. 3. They are hoping, along with the rest of the league, things get...
Deer Lakes Youth Baseball Association gets Pirates grant
Safety is a top priority for the Deer Lakes Youth Baseball Association, and a matching “Fields for Kids” grant from Pirates Charities will help keep that mission going. Pirates Charities, the philanthropic arm of the Pittsburgh Pirates, announced Wednesday that the association will receive grant money to improve fencing on...
PSUAC cancels fall and winter athletic seasons
The athletic programs in the Penn State University Athletic Conference, including Penn State New Kensington, Beaver, Fayette, Greater Allegheny and Shenango, continue to come to terms with Friday’s decision by the conference’s executive committee to cancel all intercollegiate athletics competition for men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer and...
High school basketball teams appreciate, take lessons from pre-shutdown games
Last Friday, 71 WPIAL and City League boys and girls basketball teams kicked off their 2020-21 seasons in the shadow of a looming shutdown that will extend through the first couple of days of the New Year. In the climate of covid uncertainties, the games were a chance for those...
Seniors who drove Plum football to new heights make college choices on signing dayVideo
Evan Azzara anchored the Plum offensive line with power for several years. Now, the 6-foot-6, 290-pound senior is signed, sealed and delivered for what he hopes is the same kind of success at Miami (Ohio). Azzara was one of nearly two dozen from the WPIAL and City League to sign...
Former Plum slugger pleased to be back in purple as coach at Evansville
Jordan Seneca had last worn purple in a softball-game setting in the spring of 2014 as a senior at Plum. This past fall, she again donned that familiar color, beginning a tenure as a graduate assistant coach with the softball program at Division I University of Evansville. It is a...
Burrell grad Scherer honored with education scholarship
Burrell graduate Nikki Scherer, a senior member of the Pitt women’s track and field team, is a recipient of $2,500 in tuition from the Go Teach Dr. Pepper Tuition Giveaway, a partnership of the Atlantic Coast Conference and the College Football Playoff Foundation, the conference announced Tuesday. She is one...
WPIAL contenders wonder how sports shutdown will impact swimming season
Ian Shahan hopes for big things in his senior swimming season. Like many others throughout the WPIAL, the Belle Vernon senior who is the defending WPIAL Class AA champion in the 100-yard freestyle and 100 butterfly, is keeping his fingers crossed that when the calendar turns to 2021, the season...
Gateway’s Summer Raymer has sights set on school swimming records
Summer Raymer’s name already is on the swimming record boards in the natatorium at Gateway High School. The Gateway junior standout is part of the 200-yard medley relay team that set the record last year with graduate Olivia Livingston and sophomores Ayva Harris and Morgan Holmes. Raymer, the runner-up last...
Gateway athletes pick up postseason honors after challenging fall
The Gateway boys and girls soccer teams and the Gators football team each earned WPIAL playoff berths in a fall season dominated each week by covid concerns, cancellations and delays. The teams overcame a week-long practice and competition stoppage in pursuit of postseason opportunities. Several individual standouts helped fuel the...
Valley News Dispatch Offensive Player of the Year: Apollo-Ridge’s Logan Harmon
Alle-Kiski Valley Offensive Player of the Year Logan Harmon RB, Senior, 5-8, 215 pounds, Apollo-Ridge Logan Harmon saved one of the best rushing performances of his career for Apollo-Ridge’s WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal game against Washington on Oct. 30 at Owens Field. The 215-pound senior running back helped dash the...
Oakland Catholic girls hold off spirited Fox Chapel rallyVideo
The Fox Chapel girls basketball team gave host Oakland Catholic all it could handle in a nonsection game Friday night. The Foxes rallied from a double-digit deficit in the first half and were within two possessions heading into the fourth quarter, but the Eagles held off a final Fox Chapel...
St. Joseph girls ‘all-in’ on playing opener, lose to Neshannock
St. Joseph girls basketball coach Dennis Jones said there was no question his team wanted to take the court Friday to open its season less than 24 hours after Gov. Tom Wolf announced high school sports would shut down for four weeks as part of covid-19 mitigation efforts. “The girls...
A-K Valley teams disappointed, not shocked by high school sports shutdownVideo
Over the past few weeks, coaches, athletes and administrators from around the Alle-Kiski Valley have been battling the unknown. With the coronavirus pandemic looming large and cases continuing to spike in Allegheny and Westmoreland County, the outlook for the winter sports looked bleak and teams were preparing for the worst....
WPIAL standouts earn spots on all-state girls volleyball lists
More than three dozen from the WPIAL have earned all-state girls volleyball recognition by the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association. The four lists were released Monday and honor the top players from each of the 12 districts for accomplishments during a season unlike any other. Seneca Valley senior setter Sarah White...
Boys basketball preview: Valley wants redemption after missing playoffs
After three straight trips to the WPIAL playoffs, the Valley boys basketball team was not as fortunate last season as it skidded to a 4-17 overall record and a 3-9 mark in Section 3-3A. But veteran coach Mark Faulx sees a different path for the Vikings this year with several...
Girls basketball preview: Valley seeks 1st winning season in 17 years
Jada Norman is ready to take that next step, both in her personal game and for the team overall. The Valley sophomore forward feels this year’s team can raise its level of success higher than in recent seasons. The Vikings won just one game a year ago. “We’re working hard...
Bill Viola Sr., Viola Jr. to receive national karate recognition
Father and son will be honored together for their contributions to karate in a virtual awards ceremony Saturday. Bill Viola Sr. and Bill Viola Jr. are inductees into the 2020 American Martial Arts Alliance’s Who’s Who Legends Hall of Honors with martial arts legend Chuck Norris. They also are featured...
Girls basketball preview: Numbers shouldn’t be a problem for St. Joseph this season
The St. Joseph girls basketball team won just three games a year ago, but an opportunity to take part in the WPIAL Class A playoffs was a positive end to a season of growth for a team that lost just two to graduation. “I think we played as good as...
St. Joseph boys basketball eyes return to postseason after down year
Andrew Sullivan remembers the feeling two years ago when the St. Joseph boys basketball team won 18 games and advanced to the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class 1A playoffs. Eight seniors graduated from that team, and a younger and less experienced Spartans squad slipped to six wins last season. With...
Gateway swimmers have medal ambitions, wait patiently to dive into competition
The last time Gateway swimmers competed in a high school meet, coronavirus impacted the proceedings. In the initial stages of what would become a pandemic, PIAA officials shortened the second day of March’s Class AAA state championship event at Bucknell University. Several Gators competitors were affected. Covid concerns have again...
Gateway boys look to build off WPIAL playoff berth
The Gateway boys basketball team made strides last season, going from just three wins in section and five victories overall the year before to 10 wins and a return berth in the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. The Gators, junior Will Kromka said, now are ready to take the next step....
