Michael Love stories, Page 113

The Tribune-Review and the TribLive High School Sports Network are profiling each member of the 25-player Trib HSSN Preseason WPIAL Football All-Star team. The players will be recognized July 23 during a HSSN Media Day live broadcast at Kennywood Park. Johnny Crise announced his arrival on the high school football...

Knoch senior shortstop Monica Gourley has been selected the state’s Class 4A Softball Player of the Year by the Pennsylvania High School Softball Coaches Association. Gourley was the only WPIAL player to earn the player of the year recognition in the six PIAA classifications. Each candidate for the player-of-the-year designation...

2019 Valley News Dispatch Baseball All-Stars Player of the Year Jarrett Heilman, Junior, Pitcher, Freeport Jarrett Heilman said he and his Freeport baseball teammates are getting noticed more in the community since they lifted the program to its first PIAA playoff appearance since 1998. “I’ll go into Tony’s Pizza in...

The A-K Valley’s Senior Legion baseball teams continue to move through their league schedules as they enter a busy stretch run to the playoffs. Plum visits Highlands on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Allegheny South action at Highlands High School. Plum enters the game 4-2 overall after a 7-2 win...

When longtime St. Joseph boys basketball coach Kelly Robinson resigned in April after 21 seasons at the helm, the search began in earnest to find his replacement. A little less than a month later, the Spartans had their man in Hart Coleman, who led the Plum boys team the past...

When Mark Marino joined the men’s basketball coaching staff at Lycoming College in 2008, his first task as a high school talent evaluator was to observe Plum standout Andrew Cressler as Cressler was going into his senior season with the Mustangs. “I sat down, watched him play and took notes...

Several of the top WPIAL golfers from the fall 2018 season will compete at the National High School Golf Association’s inaugural High School Golf National Invitational on June 27-28 at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The boys and girls fields for the invitation-only tournament were...

When Gregory Guzzo was 13, he was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect, and open-heart surgery was needed to correct the issue. The recent Valley graduate was given a renewed opportunity at life, and he didn’t want to waste it. Guzzo was told he couldn’t take part in contact sports,...

The Sen. John Heinz History Center and Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum provided the setting Monday evening for the eighth annual Positive High School Athlete Awards. Student-athletes representing 30 boys and girls high school sports from throughout western Pennsylvania, along with two coaches and North Allegheny High School, were recognized and...

C.J. Hepler emerged this spring as one to watch for the future of throwing events in the WPIAL and beyond. The Kiski Area rising sophomore was the lone freshman to compete in the discus at the WPIAL Class AAA championships last month at Slippery Rock, and he placed 12th overall...

Kiski Area rising sophomore CJ Hepler placed sixth in the freshman discus competition Friday at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor Championships in Greensboro, N.C. Using a disc slightly lighter than what is used for high school competitions, Hepler completed a toss of 164 feet, 1 inch on his first of...

Hempfield East and Latrobe didn’t play a league game this past week, but the teams remain atop the District 31 American Legion standings heading into Monday’s action. Hempfield East is undefeated at 5-0, and Latrobe is 5-1. Kiski Valley split a pair of games and joined Hempfield East and Latrobe...

When Graham Childs joins the Hofstra men’s lacrosse team in the fall, he will bring many memories from his time playing for Fox Chapel. His high school resume includes more than 50 victories, playoff triumphs and several section and WPIAL all-star selections. Childs recently added one of his biggest honors...

For the second year in a row, Ryan Skladany participated in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Golf Championship. The Gateway graduate and sophomore at the Boyce campus of Community College of Allegheny County in Monroeville carded a four-round total of 331 to tie for 48th from June...

For two months this spring, Alyssa Schofield put her softball talents on display and helped Plum to a co-section championship and a No. 2 seed in the WPIAL 5A playoffs. The Mustangs junior then expanded her visibility in the sport over the Memorial Day weekend as one of a select...

Seven years ago, Lauren Ferragonio was a rookie with the Pittsburgh Passion, and as she began her journey in women’s tackle football, she leaned on the numerous veterans who had shaped the franchise’s fortunes for a decade. Now, the Plum graduate is the experienced veteran — a starter for several...

Penn-Trafford’s Logan Sherwin and Paige Kalik and Beaver Area’s Andrew Cestra have been recognized by the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association as diving All-Americans. The NISCA released its national lists Thursday. Cestra, a senior and a Clarion commit, captured his first WPIAL Class AA title in February with a record...

The dirt racing track at Westmoreland BMX in Allegheny Township’s Northmoreland Park, with its varying jumps throughout the S-shaped course, had not be altered in more than a decade. That changed in November when the track was leveled and redesigned. The course’s length and the position of the turns and...

The Sen. John Heinz History Center and Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum will host the eighth annual Positive High School Athlete Awards on Monday at 7 p.m. Student-athletes representing 31 boys and girls sports from high schools throughout Western Pennsylvania, along with two coaches and North Allegheny High School will be...

Max Sheppard turns 24 next week, and he picked up an early birthday present Saturday as he brought home Most Valuable Player honors at the inaugural American Ultimate Disc League all-star game in Madison, Wis. The Fox Chapel and Edinboro graduate is making the most of his fifth season on...

The PIAA baseball and softball championship matchups are set, and five WPIAL teams – Beaver and Serra Catholic for baseball and Penn-Trafford, Elizabeth Forward and Frazier for softball – will attempt to bring home state titles. The WPIAL has a team in the 4A baseball final for the second year...

Nikki Scherer enjoyed a prolific high school track and field career in which she produced championship performances at both the WPIAL and state levels. The Burrell graduate made a transition to the women’s team at Pitt last spring, and by her own admission, it took some time to get used...

Max Sheppard, a Fox Chapel High School and Edinboro University graduate, captured Most Valuable Player honors at the American Ultimate Disc League’s annual all-star game Saturday in Madison, Wisc. Representing his hometown Pittsburgh Thunderbirds, Sheppard helped Team KPS score a 28-27 victory over Team Rowan in double overtime. He finished...

Hempfield East sits atop the District 31 American Legion standings heading into a new week of games. The team is 5-0 and has outscored its opponents by a 52-14 margin. Not far behind in second place is Latrobe at 5-1. It has only surrendered six runs in its six games...

Seven area collegiate golfers wrapped up the spring season Friday at the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Division III National Championship at Chautauqua Golf Club in Chautauqua, N.Y. Butler County Community College’s Noah Morgan, an Allegheny-Clarion Valley grad, led the way with a tie for 20th out of 90 golfers...