Michael Love stories, Page 75

No softball team in the WPIAL has built a streak quite like Leechburg’s. The program’s penchant for consistency has equated to 33 straight WPIAL playoff seasons. That is a run, coach Debbie Young said, this year’s team will fight fiercely to maintain. But the goals and expectations, she added, are...

One moved up, and one moved down. Both were good things when talking about senior Logan Minick and junior Sam Schohn’s swims representing Plum at the PIAA Class AA championships March 19 at Cumberland Valley High School. Minick, seeded 13th in the 500-yard freestyle, moved up two spots to 11th...

Jon Williams can light it up from long range. The Robert Morris guard led the Horizon League in 3-point field goal percentage (.440) for the 2020-21 season. Now, Williams will get a chance to show what he can do on a national stage as he will take part in the...

While covid protocols and safety precautions made the 2020-21 Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Bowling League season like no other, an experienced Gateway boys varsity team worked through all of the obstacles to finish with successful results. The Gators capped play at the Western Regional Championships on March 5 and 6. Senior...

Luke Jackson played 14 games and collected 33 at-bats as a sophomore in 2019 as Gateway finished 13-7 and qualified for the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. The senior center fielder, along with a returning group that included nine seniors, hoped to build on the experience, which included a tough 2-1...

The Penn-Trafford boys 200-yard freestyle relay entered Saturday’s PIAA Class AAA swimming championships at Cumberland Valley High School tied for the 10th seed. But the quartet of senior Austin Prokopec, freshmen Patton Graziano and Conner Alexander and senior Ben Yant didn’t let their seeding tie them down. They finished with...

After defending her WPIAL title in the 100-yard butterfly two weeks ago, Fox Chapel sophomore Sophie Shao went looking for a similar repeat performance Saturday at the PIAA Class AAA championships at Cumberland Valley. Mission accomplished. Taking to the pool for the third time in a little more than 60...

Bill Gras has high hopes this spring for his Riverview baseball team, a group he said which is high on both youthfulness and talent. The Raiders have settled into their move down to Class A, and Gras said his players are anxious to put their abilities to the test in...

Two years ago, the Plum baseball team missed the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since 2005. The Mustangs finished 8-12 and were fifth in Section 2-6A. Plum hoped to get back in a postseason mindset last year, but covid concerns wiped out the 2020 season before it started. But...

Neshannock’s Conner McBeth and Belle Vernon’s Ian Shahan picked up where they left off from WPIALs in the 50-yard freestyle as the seniors did battle for state gold at the PIAA Class AA boys swim championships Friday at Cumberland Valley High School. They finished tied for the WPIAL title March...

In his final high school meet, Ian Shahan put his stamp on the PIAA state record book. The Belle Vernon senior set a record in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20 seconds flat, bettering the previous record of 20.45. “I knew it was going to be a fight,”...

Alexis Schrecongost wanted more. After winning the WPIAL Class AA girls 100-yard breaststroke two weeks ago at Upper St. Clair, the Freeport junior made her return to the PIAA championships hoping to capture her first state medal. However, she fell just shy of her goal. Schrecongost swam to a time...

John Kinnamon is cautiously optimistic his Apollo-Ridge softball team can add to recent successes which include three straight WPIAL playoff appearances. While he likes the talent he has assembled, he sees a lot of work still to be done with only a week before the start of the season. “With...

It took Ella Menear a little longer than she had hoped to make her PIAA Class AA swimming debut. But when the independent sophomore from Mapletown reached the light at the end of the tunnel Friday at Cumberland Valley High School, she found herself in possession of a state gold...

A long and winding road finally leads to Cumberland Valley High School for the start of the PIAA swimming championships Friday morning. Covid concerns and restrictions forced PIAA officials to make numerous changes to the regular format. No longer at Bucknell because of capacity limitations, additional reductions to the championships...

One title defense down, one to go. Two weeks after Fox Chapel sophomore Sophie Shao captured her second WPIAL Class AAA girls 100-yard butterfly championship in as many attempts, she will go after her second PIAA gold medal in the event Saturday as the state championships descend on Cumberland Valley...

Henry Miller and his father were about 10 minutes away from Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium last year when they got the call that the PIAA, out of growing concern with what would become the covid pandemic, canceled the two-day Class AA swimming and diving championships. “At first, we were like,...

Jake McCaskey had about a week to prepare for his first collegiate pitching start after getting the call from the Cal (Pa.) coaching staff. The Deer Lakes graduate didn’t let his opportunity go to waste. McCaskey, the Valley News Dispatch Player of the Year in 2018, was in control from...

Andrew Holmes had WPIAL gold on his mind March 7 at the Class AAA championships at Upper St. Clair High School. Soon enough, after posting a school-record time of 1 minute, 41.43 seconds in the 200-yard freestyle, he had gold around his neck. “It was an amazing feeling to see that...

All Will Kromka could do was watch. The Gateway junior guard/forward missed the Gators’ WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal game at No. 1 Chartiers Valley on March 6 after suffering a broken wrist in his team’s first-round win over Albert Gallatin three nights earlier. “It was obviously really tough not being...

After Plum seniors Logan Minick and Sam Schohn secured top-eight medals in the 500-yard freestyle and 100 breaststroke, respectively, at the WPIAL Class AA championships March 6 at Upper St. Clair, the waiting game began. While only the WPIAL champions qualified automatically for the PIAA championships, set for Friday at...

Plum girls soccer coach Jamie Stewart knew that at the end of the 2020 season he would be losing another strong senior class that had accomplished a great deal on and off the field. The senior group finished 32-5-1 at home and 58-16-1 over four seasons. The Mustangs won back-to-back...

Last spring was one of loss for high school teams across the state as the covid pandemic caused the PIAA to suspend and ultimately cancel the spring sports season. A renewed optimism abounded throughout the WPIAL one week ago with the start of practices, and good weather enabled boys tennis...