Ted Sarneso stories, Page 2

The football hung in the air for about three seconds. It was thrown without too much arc and wasn’t a bullet pass. It was on a perfect line. Off of play action, the receiver broke away from his defender at the 50-yard line, caught the ball in stride and coasted...

Coach Ryan Krull returned to coach Carmichaels football last year after a four-year hiatus. He brought with him an intensity he’s known for and expects from his players. “We’re very demanding of our players here, but from an intensity standpoint,” he said. “If we want to accomplish the goals we...

Waynesburg football went into last season with one goal in mind: to remain healthy throughout the season. The Raiders went 0-10 in 2022. Quarterback Jake Stephenson was lost for the whole year with an elbow injury and starting running back Breydon Woods missed a lot of time with nagging injuries....

Ron Balog’s whirlwind beginning as head football coach at Freedom last year opened with the most important task when starting fresh in a new locale. “The biggest expectation for me was to get here and build relationships,” said Balog, who was the offensive coordinator at North Catholic before coming to...

It was a hard, long road for the Ellwood City football program the past decade and change, but for the first time since 2011, the Wolverines posted a record of .500 or better and made the playoffs last year. After going 5-5 overall and 3-4 in the Midwestern Athletic Conference...

Nerve-wracking. That’s how Riverside’s Rob Magnifico described taking the reins for the first time as a head coach. “I coached at Ellwood for 17 years. The last year there I was their interim coach. I’ve been at Riverside the last five years as an assistant coach,” Magnifico elaborated. “Trying to...

The New Brighton Lions are entering a new era of football and would love to distance themselves from the last two years, where they won zero games. New coach John Macuga has the experience to bring winning football back to New Brighton. Last year, Macuga shared the offensive coordinator duties...

Every football team, no matter what level, counts on the strength of the team to be the focal point. The strength of the South Park Eagles has been, more often than not, the running game and star ball carrier Eric Doerue, a senior who was a first team all-conference selection...

When the WPIAL released the new conference alignments for the 2024 football season in February, there were a lot of changes with teams switching conferences or moving up or down in classification. The Yough Cougars are one of the teams moving up this year from Class 2A to 3A, and...

It was another close finish to the Westmoreland County Golf Association’s Senior Championship on Wednesday at Latrobe Country Club. Arnie Cutrell had a three-shot lead over 2023 champion Sean Knapp heading into the nine-hole third round and was clinging to a one-shot lead as they made their way to the...

Sometimes, all it takes is one hit or one pitch to win or lose a game. For the Bushy Run American Legion baseball team, it was one bad inning. Quakertown (26-2) scored 11 runs on nine hits in the top of the third inning to defeat the Beavers (21-5), 11-6,...

In last year’s PIAA track and field championships, Burrell’s Allison Smola got hurt in the preliminaries for the 100 hurdles. This year, she was looking for redemption and it started with her offseason training. “I know she did a lot of lifting at the local gym, and that was her...

Expansion and parity were the name of the game for the PIHL Girls Division in the league’s third year of existence. The popularity of girls hockey in the area had grown so much that two new teams were added — the South and Northwest squads — bringing the total number...

In the third annual PIHL hockey girls division championship game, the Southwest and West teams played a close game to the very end. With 37 seconds left in regulation, Southwest forward Kayla McCarthy scored the game-winning goal and senior Alexa Carney added an empty net goal with eight seconds left...

Highlands senior high jumper Kyan Chambers wants to leave high school knowing he’s made an impact. One way he’s left his mark is how he’s coached and given pointers to the other jumpers. “That’s Coach Kyan right there,” Highlands track and field coach Mike Foster said. “It’s not just our...

Going into the WPIAL Class 3A championship game at Lilley Field at Cal (Pa.), Mohawk knew it needed to be ready to face the most dominating pitcher in 3A. The Warriors were well-prepared, having been in the cage since immediately after their semifinal win against Avonworth. With the postponement of...

Freeport senior shortstop Abby DeJidas was not pleased with her performance in the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs. “I felt I could have had more hits,” DeJidas said. “I had two strikeouts. I was upset about those because it’s rare for me to strike out.” Perhaps DeJidas is her own worst...

In 2013, Caleigh Epolito, Jacob Parker and Jordan Thomas needed a name for a competitive cheer gym they were opening in McKeesport. They came up with Rain Athletics and based the name off an inside joke. “We realized anytime something good was happening in life, we always made the joke...

Coming into the season, the Mars boys volleyball team had a goal of going undefeated and winning a WPIAL championship. On Friday night, the top-seeded Fightin’ Planets accomplished their goal with a 3-0 sweep of No. 6 Armstrong in the Class 2A title match at AHN Arena at Peters Township....

When they met in the regular season, top-seeded Shaler and No. 2 North Allegheny split a pair of matchups. When they squared off in the WPIAL Class 3A boys volleyball finals Thursday at AHN Arena at Peters Township High School, they battled all night. When it all was over, the...

There’s no stopping the offensive onslaught once Mars starts rolling. Once the Fightin’ Planets get up on a team, they don’t let off the pedal. In a rematch of last year’s championship game, Mars cruised to a 16-5 victory Wednesday over South Fayette in the Class 2A finals at Joe...

In their WPIAL Class 3A first-round games, Burrell and Neshannock scored six runs apiece and manufactured runs by stealing bases. The Bucs swiped six, and the Lancers stole five. In the quarterfinal matchup, neither team had many runners as the top pitcher for each squad was on the mound. Burrell...

Senior Rayla Smith set the all-time goals record for Plum girls lacrosse last season and has added to her total. The record of 179 goals was set by Plum graduate Sam Casile in 2010. Going into last season, Smith had 121 goals and went on to lead the team with...

Stealing bases is a small chess match in the middle of a baseball game between the pitcher and the runner. Burrell senior center fielder AJ McLafferty enjoys the mental game as the Bucs leadoff hitter. “I have fun when I’m on base,” McLafferty said. “There’s a lot of little things...

Given the spirited nature of WPIAL football during the fall, it came as no surprise that the third annual girls flag football championships, sponsored by the Pittsburgh Steelers, were just as exciting. Athletes from 15 high schools showed off their skills on a beautiful, sun-drenched Sunday afternoon at Carnegie Mellon’s...