Westmoreland high school notebook: Girls volleyball moving to 6 classifications
Girls volleyball was one of the few WPIAL sports that had maintained four classifications through the PIAA changeover to six classes in 2016-17. But the sport finally joined the party. Starting next fall, girls volleyball will have six classes. There will be nine teams in 6A, 30 in 5A, 16...
Norwin track teams out to defend WPIAL team titles
Norwin is eyeing WPIAL championship repeats in boys and girls track and field. The Knights pulled off a team title sweep last spring as the boys won for the first time since 1977 and the girls grabbed their first trophy since 2008. The girls also won their first PIAA title....
Norwin notebook: Knights baseball team prepares for section play
No matter how long the season, a strong start is a good sign for any baseball team at any level. Norwin won its first two games, carrying over momentum from its run to last year’s WPIAL Class 6A championship game. Norwin took the season opener, 4-3, over Fox Chapel. Jake...
Franklin Regional notebook: Panthers baseball earns 2 out-of-state wins
Franklin Regional opened the baseball season with three wins in four games, with two victories coming out of state. After a 10-4 win over Fox Chapel in a rare season-opening home game that wasn’t postponed because of weather, the Panthers defeated DePaul Catholic (N.J.), 1-0, and Glenelg (Md.), 6-0, in...
2026 TribLive Westmoreland County girls basketball all-stars
Player of the year Erica Gribble Sr., G, Greensburg Central Catholic The next time the Gribble sisters get together, Erica, the youngest of the three, will probably be wearing her shiny gold medal. Her PIAA championship gold medal. “Oh yeah, I am definitely going to brag,” Erica Gribble said with...
2026 TribLive Westmoreland County boys basketball all-stars
Player of the year Markus McGowan Jr., G, Jeannette Markus McGowan had a career season at Jeannette, but that doesn’t mean the long-bombing junior shooting guard is content. Far from it, in fact. “Was I satisfied? I don’t think so,” McGowan said. “I definitely didn’t plan for it to go...
Hoffer steps down after 4 seasons as Yough football coach
Some coaches put more into a football program than they get out of it. Numerous attempts at a rebuild end up becoming a skipping record. Even with the best intentions in place, moving a mountain — in this case, Cougar Mountain — is a lot harder than it looks. That...
Westmoreland County college notebook: Saint Vincent bowlers return to NCAA Tournament
The Saint Vincent women’s bowling team is headed back to the NCAA Tournament, a Division III power among a cluster of Division I and II programs, and the Bearcats will roll on at the local regional. Saint Vincent (45-3), which has the best winning percentage in the nation, will take...
Westmoreland County players picked for CJ2K vs. The World Charity Classic
Four local basketball players were selected to play in the We Got Next Concrete Jungle 2K vs. The World Charity Classic games Saturday at Aliquippa. The girls game starts at 1 p.m. with the boys to follow at 3. Greensburg Central Catholic senior Erica Gribble will play for the CJ2K...
Westmoreland County softball notebook: Wildcats do double duty on gridiron, diamond
The best girls flag football teams in the WPIAL will probably be the ones with the most multi-sport athletes. One thing is for sure: Latrobe’s team has some good softball players. Natalia Scekeres and Morgan Maiers are among them. Scekeres is the quarterback, and Maiers is a rangy wide receiver...
Franklin Regional shakes off early deficit, rolls past Penn Hills in section opener
Faced with a surprise two-run deficit in his team’s home and Section 1-5A baseball opener, junior pitcher Nico Fioravanti didn’t show much concern. He shrugged off Penn Hills’ quick start because there was a lot of game left. Well, at least a few more innings. “The first inning was a...
Westmoreland County baseball notebook: Teams head south for sunnier days
More teams are coming to grips with the reality that if you want to play games early in the season, you’ll probably have to do so out of state. Another cold, wet stretch of weather greeted many teams when the season began last week. Boosters clubs and their fundraisers helped...
Penn-Trafford reverses fortune, tops Latrobe
There was no comeback for Latrobe this time. Senior pitcher Dom Delio and his Penn-Trafford teammates made sure of it, finishing what they started to earn a series split. Less than 24 hours after Penn-Trafford blew an eight-run lead and lost in extra innings, the Warriors put up an early...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Triumph and tragedy intersect in poignant weekend
Sports are filled with where-were-you-when moments. Highlight plays, iconic individual performances and banner wins often stick with fans and communities. Just the same, so do somber moments and events, like young people whose lives were taken too soon, or the loss of well-respected figures who became the face of their...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Saint Vincent swimmer Dzurica earns 3 All-American honors
Saint Vincent senior swimmer Jacob Dzurica came home with three All-American nods from the NCAA Division III Championships in Indianapolis. Dzurica, a Hempfield graduate, earned All-American honors in the 50-yard freestyle (19.79 seconds) as he finished fourth, the 100-yard freestyle (44.01), good enough for seventh — he swam a school-record...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Breen officially named Norwin boys soccer coach
Carter Breen got an up-close-and-personal look at being a head coach in 2023 when Norwin penalty-kicked its way to its first WPIAL boys soccer championship. Breen, Norwin’s all-time leading goal scorer with 68, was an assistant coach and stepped in as interim head coach when Scott Schuchert was suspended and...
Former Norwin standout Carter Breen, 25, takes over boys soccer program
Carter Breen got an up-close-and-personal look at being a head coach in 2023 when Norwin penalty-kicked its way to its first WPIAL boys soccer championship. Breen, Norwin’s all-time leading goal scorer with 68 tallies, was an assistant coach that year and stepped in as interim head coach when Scott Schuchert...
Norwin softball ready to challenge Hempfield again
A fully embraced underdog, Norwin softball has become a regular contender in WPIAL 6A. The team made the WPIAL final two years ago and the semifinals last year. With seven seasoned returning starters coming back, the softball Knights are aiming for another postseason run. Norwin will try to push top-ranked...
Norwin notebook: Baseball grad steals show at Seton Hill
Some say Jack Whalen was a recruiting steal for the Seton Hill baseball program. The Norwin alum has a record to prove it. Whalen, a senior outfielder, is now the all-time leader in stolen bases in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, with 118. Through 13 games this season, he had...
Legendary Hempfield softball coach Bob Kalp dies at age 80
“Let’s go to work.” Bob Kalp would say those words when an inning turned over, and his Hempfield softball teams took the field to play defense. No matter the opponent, score or situation, he would clap his hands, set his fielders and nestle into the coaching box at third base...
Greensburg Central Catholic girls revel in state championship victory after tough WPIAL final loss
HERSHEY — Asked how long it would take her to eat the 1-pound chocolate bar that was tucked under her arm like a math textbook, Jayla Peterson pulled back. “I don’t even like chocolate,” the senior guard from Greensburg Central Catholic said. “They can all have it.” But what about...
Greensburg Central Catholic girls win program’s 2nd state title
HERSHEY — Greensburg Central Catholic girls basketball coach Chris Skatell is an attorney whose face appears on two billboards on Route 30 in Westmoreland County. It was his players who had their name up in lights Thursday night, state champions for the first time in 29 years. Senior standouts Erica...
Westmoreland softball notebook: Hempfield twins showing promise early
Two games is a small sample size, but if it is any indication of the impact the Luft twins are going to have on Hempfield softball, opponents are in trouble. Jayelyn and Jocelyn Luft, the twin daughters of coach Tina Madison, came out swinging at the season-opening KSA Spring Training...
Westmoreland County college notebook: Pitt-Greensburg’s Trent Rozich earns postseason honors
Trent Rozich had a senior season to remember at Pitt-Greensburg. The bulky, 6-foot-6 forward led the Bobcats in points (16.6), rebounds (5.6) and assists (4.3) per game. He was named to the D3Hoops.com All-Region Second Team. This weekend, the AMCC Player of the Year and All-AMCC first team selection will...
Westmoreland County baseball notebook: Healthy Luke Williams boosts Franklin Regional
One good sign for Franklin Regional at the start of a new baseball season is the return of shortstop Luke Williams, who injured his ankle in a WPIAL Class 5A first-round playoff loss to Bethel Park and went through months of rehabilitation. The talented senior is healthy and ready to...
