High School category, Page 443
By working together, Pine-Richland girls lacrosse earns state playoff win
Throughout the season, first-year Pine-Richland girls lacrosse coach Shannen Drennon said the team is at its best when it is creating assisted goals. That formula certainly worked wonders in the Rams’ first-round state playoff game as they had 14 assists in a rout of District 10 champ McDowell, 20-2, on...
Gateway grad Mike Rugh to lead Gators boys soccer team
Mike Rugh joined the Gateway boys soccer coaching staff as an assistant five years ago with the hopes of giving back to his alma mater while remembering all of the good memories he had when putting on the Gators uniform. He, along with head coach Bernie Stiles and fellow assistant...
Sewickley Academy’s ‘skillful seven’ made it a tennis season to remember
It’s not Murderer’s Row. That’s an old phrase coined for the then-dreaded 1927 New York Yankees. They’re not the Fantastic Four comic book and movie heroes. There are too many of them. Call them the Skillful Seven — the starting lineup this season for the Sewickley Academy boys tennis team....
Quaker Valley runs it back with WPIAL girls team championship repeat
It was a celebratory rerun of 2022. Quaker Valley’s talented girls track and field team repeated its performance of last season by winning the WPIAL Class 2A team championship in 2023. The QV girls easily defended its WPIAL title at the finals May 9 at Peters Township, rolling past Winchester...
Bushy Run Legion baseball season delayed by Penn-Trafford run to state tournament
The Bushy Run American Legion season was supposed to begin June 5, but the success of Penn-Trafford’s varsity baseball team has delayed the start. Penn-Trafford not only reached the WPIAL semifinals and qualified for the PIAA Class 5A playoffs, the team defeated the No. 1-ranked team in the state —...
Penn Hills football program honors coach Ron Graham for 30 years of service
The Penn Hills football team still has plenty of time left on the calendar before the Indians open up the 2023 regular season by hosting Seneca Valley. But Penn Hills coach Charles Morris and the school took some time recently to celebrate one of the program’s cornerstones. on June 5,...
Penn Hills notebook: 4-time WPIAL champion wrestler dies in car crash
The Penn Hills wrestling community lost one of its greatest champions due to a car accident June 3. John Dasta was a four-time WPIAL champion and a PIAA champion. He finished with a career record of 135-6-1. Dasta won at least 30 matches in all four seasons with Penn Hills....
Pine-Richland grad finds immediate success as self-taught bodybuilder
Garrett Krieger entered his first bodybuilding competition over Memorial Day weekend and going into it, he didn’t know what to expect. That was a natural reaction because it was his first time trying the discipline, but what made him more uncertain is that he entered without any coaching. Krieger, a...
Hempfield softball team wins with stifling defense
In the PIAA softball playoffs, every team can hit. Short game or long, small ball or power shots. But pitching and defense, now that makes for a lethal combination. Take those two and blend them with just the right amount of offense, and the state championship can be well within...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for June 10, 2023
High schools Baseball PIAA championships Semifinals Monday’s schedule Class 6A Father Judge (16-1) vs. North Penn (21-5) at Neumann University, 3 p.m.; Cedar Cliff (20-6) vs. Mt. Lebanon (15-10) at Mt. Aloysius, 4:30 p.m. Class 5A Strath Haven (21-4) vs. Greencastle-Antrim (19-5) at Wenger Field, 6:30 p.m.; Monsignor Bonner (12-3)...
High school roundup for June 10, 2023: Peters Township, Chartiers Valley scorers lead Southeast team to PIHL girls title
Peters Township freshman Cameron Reese Haught scored the game-winning goal with less than two minutes left in regulation, leading the Southeast team to a 3-2 victory over East in the second PIHL girls league championship game Saturday. After having been stopped on a breakaway with 6:50 to go, Haught knifed...
Hempfield coach Madison hopes for return trip to alma mater
Making the state softball championship would carry special meaning for Hempfield coach Tina Madison, not just because she is a proud alum and former ace pitcher for the Spartans. Hempfield (20-3) can clinch a spot in the PIAA Class 6A title game with a win Monday over Cumberland Valley (19-5)....
WPIAL champion Shaler fends off Canon-McMillan in state volleyball playoffs thriller
In a season where the Shaler boys volleyball team won its first WPIAL championship, the Titans haven’t had to deal with a match that went five sets. You can check that off the Titans’ list now. After dropping their first two sets, Shaler rallied to win the final three sets...
Despite short playoff run, Hampton girls lacrosse team savors season’s successes
Hampton failed to reach the WPIAL girls lacrosse semifinals this season for the first time since 2015, but the journey was worth the while. “To get as far as we did for a predominantly young roster — only two seniors — is a great success in my opinion,” coach Kelsey...
Westmoreland County high school notebook: New Hempfield girls soccer coach up for a challenge
New Hempfield girls soccer coach Jim Jones has several goals. His team will settle for one. Jones is set to lead a struggling program into what he hopes are better times. He takes over for Aryn Askin, who is no longer with the team after two seasons. How tough has...
Hampton staying sharp with summer basketball schedule
So much for resting on your laurels. Coming off its best season in a decade, the Hampton boys basketball team is staying busy this summer. The Talbots went 5-1 and reached the championship game of the Northgate undergraduate league before beginning play in late May in the monthlong Pittsburgh Basketball...
Shady Side Academy boys lacrosse overcomes challenges during successful season
The Shady Side Academy boys lacrosse team knew there was no way Ethan Salvia’s production could be completely replaced. The Bulldogs standout and Marquette recruit tore his ACL during basketball season and was forced to miss his senior season on the lacrosse field. However, Shady Side Academy coach Cam Thompson...
Fox Chapel freshman shows worlds of potential in discus, shot put
Making an appearance at the PIAA Class 3A track championships as a freshman didn’t make Fox Chapel’s Claire Conti want to take a break. During the first week of June, Conti went to compete unattached at a meet in Slippery Rock in the throwing events. “I’m trying to keep working,”...
Riverview baseball says good bye to deep, talented senior class
Riverview baseball coach Bill Gras said during the season and in the postseason, he knew his team could play with anyone. “That comes from the history of the players,” he said. “Other than three players, these guys played in the WPIAL championship game two years ago. They had an off...
Plum girls lacrosse team reflects on section championship season
The Plum girls lacrosse team had big things in mind for the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs and beyond after a regular season which saw it finish undefeated in section play for the first time and rack up a 14-3 overall record. The Mustangs were awarded the No. 2 seed —...
Former WPIAL pole vault champion Tim Tray’s facility offers vaulters a chance to improve
When Tim Tray was in high school at Norwin, the school didn’t have an indoor facility to practice the pole vault. Tray, who cleared 15 feet and was a WPIAL champion in high school in 2003 and was in the mid 16s while winning a conference title at Slippery Rock...
Norwin notebook: Ex-Knights standout Jack Whalen wraps up big freshman year at Seton Hill
Not many freshmen in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference had a better debut season than Seton Hill’s Jack Whalen, a Norwin alum. The outfielder broke a school record for stolen bases in a season and led the team in a couple of offensive categories, finding his place in the lineup...
North Allegheny’s Ray Brinzer takes place among other WPIAL all-time greats
Thinking back to his 109-match winning streak in high school, former North Allegheny wrestler Ray Brinzer admits he was a little surprised. Not surprised that he was winning, but surprised people were keeping track of his wins and losses on the mat. “I was partway through my freshman year before...
Murrysville Star notebook: Franklin Regional standouts earn all-section honors
The Big 56 Conference, a website that recognizes accomplishments of teams and athletes in the WPIAL’s largest classifications, announced its all-section teams. Class 5A baseball’s Section 1 first team included junior Max Bernadowski (IF) of Franklin Regional and senior Dylan Grabowski (P), junior Brody Hoffman (DH) and Chuck Fontana (OF)...
Trib HSSN State Softball Rankings for June 10, 2023
As we prepare for the PIAA semifinals Monday, it looks like when it comes to state softball, the southwest may be best. Of the 24 remaining teams, seven are from the WPIAL. Other western districts include District 6 with three teams and Districts 5, 9 and 10 with one team...
