Chris Harlan stories, Page 117
Brownsville’s Gionna Quarzo defends 3,200 title in record time at PIAA Class AA championship
Brownsville’s Gionna Quarzo heard a voice from above helping her set a meet record Saturday at the PIAA track and field championships. With her father shouting encouragement from the top rows of Seth Grove Stadium and her mother and sister cheering along the fence, the junior defended her Class AA...
No WPIAL athletes win PIAA titles on Day 1, Beaver’s Emma Pavelek comes very close
SHIPPENSBURG — Beaver sophomore Emma Pavelek leaped plenty high enough to win a state title, matching her top rival jump for jump at Seth Grove Stadium. With only two competitors left, both Pavelek and Elk County Catholic junior Taylor Newton cleared 5 feet, 7 inches in the Class AA girls...
Burrell’s Sharrow redeems herself in 300 hurdles, advances to PIAA finals
SHIPPENSBURG — Burrell’s Kaylen Sharrow stumbled to the finish line last year at Seth Grove Stadium and then waited nervously, hoping to hear her named called for the 300-meter finals. It wasn’t. Now a senior, Sharrow finished the preliminary race cleanly Friday at the PIAA track and field championships, clearing...
WPIAL controversy settled, Waynesburg hurdler has ‘something to prove to myself’ at PIAAs
This week was calmer than last for WPIAL champion hurdler and pole vaulter Daniel Layton, but it wasn’t without incident. The Waynesburg senior broke his favorite pole during Thursday’s practice, a mishap that jarred his right shoulder and made him find a new pole for the PIAA track and field...
WPIAL sprint champion Hayden Robinson among favorites for PIAA gold
Hayden Robinson has one goal for her final trip to Shippensburg. “To win,” she said. “I haven’t won a state championship yet. That’s my ultimate goal.” The Avonworth/Northgate sprinter is a three-time 100-meter champion in the WPIAL, but hasn’t won state gold despite coming close twice. The senior can change...
Former North Catholic linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green commits to Michigan
Former North Catholic linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green committed Thursday to Michigan. Hill-Green, who transferred out of state three months ago, made his announcement on Twitter. He revealed a Top 5 list of finalists last week that also included Pitt, Purdue, Indiana and Wisconsin. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound junior had ranked third among...
Mars celebrates 11th-inning victory over top-seeded West Allegheny in 5A playoffsVideo
Four hours after first pitch, long after the sun had set, Mars players and fans joined together on Burkett Field to celebrate their 11-inning victory in the WPIAL baseball playoffs. This was only a quarterfinal win, but the atmosphere and the suspense made it feel far bigger. “I can’t think...
Bach sharp as Yough takes down South Park in Class 4A quarterfinals
Jarett Bach’s first-round start didn’t meet his high standards, but Monday’s was surely one of his best. The Yough left-hander struck out 10, walked only one and kept South Park off balance to win 3-1 in a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal at West Mifflin. With an MLB scout watching from...
Plum sophomore Kennedie Montue receives 1st Division 1 basketball offer
Plum sophomore Kennedie Montue, the team’s leading scorer two years in a row, announced her first Division 1 basketball offer Sunday from Marshall. The 5-foot-11 forward is a versatile scorer who can play multiple positions. She averaged 18.4 points and 7.1 rebounds last season for Plum, a WPIAL Class 5A...
Western Pa.-connected Colorado State offers WPIAL offensive linemen
Western Pennsylvania football fans probably know Colorado State as the alma mater of former Steelers linebacker Joey Porter. But the school is becoming much more familiar across the region. The Mountain West program recently offered scholarships this week to offensive linemen Kevin Meeder and Josh Kaltenberger of Seneca Valley and...
University Prep’s Michael Snowden lists first FBS football offer
College recruiters are chasing after Westinghouse’s Dayon Hayes, but he’s not the only Division 1 football prospect in the City League. University Prep junior Michael Snowden, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound linebacker, announced his first FBS offer Saturday from Akron. Snowden also played wide receiver and running back last season, and has...
Former Pine-Richland, West A standout Kenny White announces Akron offer
Former Pine-Richland and West Allegheny football standout Kenny White, now a junior college freshman, announced a scholarship offer from Akron. White listed several Division 1 offers while starring in the WPIAL including Iowa State, but this offer from the Zips was his first since enrolling at Garden City (Kan.) Community...
Former North Catholic linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green includes Pitt among Top 5 schools
Former North Catholic linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green, who ranked among the WPIAL’s top college recruits before transferring out of state, announced a Top 5 list Friday that included Pitt and four Big Ten schools. Along with the Panthers, Hill-Green narrowed his list to Wisconsin, Michigan, Purdue and Indiana. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound...
Central Catholic’s A.J. Beatty narrows lengthy offers list to 7 favorites
Central Catholic junior A.J. Beatty, who leads WPIAL football recruits with more than 40 combined FBS and FCS offers, narrowed his lengthy list Friday. The 6-foot-5, 255-pound defensive end announced a Top Seven that included West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Central Florida, Purdue, North Carolina State and Maryland. Rivals...
Baldwin’s Brendan O’Malley earns bragging rights by winning 3 WPIAL gold medals
Brendan O’Malley’s twin brother Bailey won WPIAL gold last season and defended his shot put title again Thursday. So now that his brother owned two gold medals, Brendan knew exactly what he had to do. “I had to win three,” said the senior, who won the boys 200, 400 and...
South Park’s Maura Huwalt leads multiple winners at WPIAL championships with 3 gold medals
As a six-time WPIAL champion, South Park’s Maura Huwalt now ranks among the most accomplished throwers in WPIAL history. But the senior doesn’t consider herself your prototypical thrower. “A lot of people that I’ve met, they always want to be the best thrower, the best thrower, the best thrower —...
Aliquippa’s M.J. Devonshire wins 3 golds, replaces Quips great in record book
Breaking a WPIAL record made M.J. Devonshire smile, but what he liked most was that he’d supplanted a fellow Quips great. “Another Aliquippa guy does it again,” said Devonshire, who won the 100 meters in 10.67 seconds at the WPIAL Class AA track and field championship Thursday at Slippery Rock...
Citing ‘something to prove,’ Waynesburg’s Layton defends WPIAL hurdles title
Waynesburg hurdler Daniel Layton tried not to think about his stressful week when standing at the starting line. “I tried to block it out as much as I could,” Layton said, “but honestly it gave me a little bit more energy because now I had something to prove.” Layton, who...
PIAA overturns WPIAL, Waynesburg’s Daniel Layton can defend hurdles title
A clerical error will not prevent Waynesburg’s Daniel Layton from defending his WPIAL title in the 110-meter hurdles, the PIAA decided Wednesday. A PIAA appeals panel voted 5-0 to overturn a WPIAL decision and allow Layton to compete in the event at Thursday’s WPIAL championships even though his coach had...
Moon basketball’s Donovan Johnson receives North Carolina scholarship offer
Hours after earning all-state player of the year honors, Moon’s Donovan Johnson received a scholarship offer from North Carolina. The Tar Heels offered Johnson on Tuesday, said his father Gil. The 6-foot-7 junior already held offers from Pitt Arizona, Ohio State, TCU, Xavier and others. What makes North Carolina more...
Moon’s Donovan Johnson leads all-state basketball selections as Pa. Player of the Year in Class 5A
Moon’s Donovan Johnson was named as the state’s Class 5A boys basketball player of the year Tuesday and Adam Kaufman was named coach of the year after leading the Tigers to a PIAA title in March. Johnson averaged 22.6 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 1.5 blocks per game as...
WPIAL wants to hear from 2 basketball coaches facing recruiting allegations
The WPIAL board voted Monday to schedule hearings for two basketball programs facing recruiting allegations. The board wants to hear from Central Catholic boys basketball coach Brian Urso, McKeesport assistant girls coach Troy Blackwell and athletic administrators from both schools, said WPIAL executive director Tim O’Malley. Information was presented to...
Waynesburg hurdler Daniel Layton turns to PIAA after WPIAL denies his request
Waynesburg’s Daniel Layton won’t be able to defend his WPIAL hurdles title unless the PIAA intervenes. The senior was accidentally scratched from the 110-meter hurdles by his father/coach Rick Layton, a clerical error that Waynesburg asked the WPIAL to fix before the district championships arrive Thursday. But the WPIAL board...
West Mifflin’s Nahki Johnson receives 2nd football offer from Big 12 schoolVideo
West Mifflin sophomore Nahki Johnson announced his second Big 12 football offer this week. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound defensive end announced an offer Friday from Iowa State. The Cyclones join West Virginia, which offered Johnson a scholarship in April. He also holds offers from Pitt, Penn State, Michigan, Mississippi State, Syracuse,...
Blackhawk safety Marques Watson-Trent announces first FBS offerVideo
Blackhawk’s Marques Watson-Trent, an all-conference safety and running back, received his first FBS offer this week. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound junior announced an offer from Navy. Watson-Trent also added Holy Cross to an FBS offers list that already included Duquesne, Robert Morris, Lehigh, William & Mary and Youngstown State. Watson-Trent had...
