Chris Harlan stories, Page 77
WPIAL grants eligibility to pair of football players
The WPIAL granted eligibility to Central Catholic’s Jayden Thrift and McKeesport’s Jake Miller, two football players who switched schools this winter. Each took part in separate eligibility hearings Monday at the WPIAL office in Green Tree. Thrift, a freshman, transferred from Norwin. Miller, a junior, came from Plum. Thrift was...
Fired football coach Eric Kasperowicz reaches out to Pine-Richland to ‘come to a resolution’
With students, parents and community members demanding Pine-Richland rehire Eric Kasperowicz, the ousted football coach has asked school administrators to meet with him and “come to a resolution quickly.” The Pine-Richland football coach and his assistants were fired last Wednesday. Kasperowicz re-applied for the school’s head coach position Friday and...
Urged not to apply at Pine-Richland, coaches statewide pledge support for ousted coach Eric Kasperowicz
Dozens of high school football coaches statewide have used social media to announce their support for coach Eric Kasperowicz and his assistants, who were fired at Pine-Richland on Wednesday. Many of the tweets were in response to an email sent by Gateway athletic director/football coach Don Holl, who urged his...
Trib HSSN Softball Rankings: April 17, 2021
Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Bethel Park, 7-0, 1 2. Norwin, 6-1, NR 3. North Allegheny, 3-4, 4 4. Mt. Lebanon, 6-3, NR 5. Pine-Richland, 4-3, NR Out: Canon-McMillan (2-4, 2), Hempfield (5-3, 3), Seneca Valley (5-3, 5) Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Penn-Trafford, 5-3, 2...
Trib HSSN Baseball Rankings: April 17, 2021
Class 6A Rk, Team, W-L, Last 1. Norwin, 6-1, 1 2. North Allegheny, 7-1, 2 3. Seneca Valley, 6-2, 5 4. Hempfield, 5-4, NR 5. Upper St. Clair, 5-3, 3 Out: Pine-Richland (3-5, 4) Class 5A Rk, Team, W-L, Last 1. Franklin Regional, 6-0, 2 2. West Allegheny, 5-2, 1...
Ousted coach Eric Kasperowicz reapplies to lead Pine-Richland football team
Pine-Richland already has at least one applicant to coach the football team next fall, and it’s someone who knows the program very well. It’s Eric Kasperowicz. Two days after losing his job, Kasperowicz confirmed Friday that he has reapplied. The Pine-Richland administration stirred controversy Wednesday when it declined to renew...
Cowboys QB Ben DiNucci supports Eric Kasperowicz after coach’s surprise firing at Pine-Richland
Ben DiNucci lives 1,200 miles from Pine-Richland but was stunned when word reached him in Texas that his high school football coach had been fired. “At first, like anybody else, I was wondering what the heck was the reasoning or logic behind it?” he said. Now an NFL quarterback with...
Football coach Eric Kasperowicz: ‘No bullying or hazing took place’ at Pine-Richland
A day after being fired, former Pine-Richland football coach Eric Kasperowicz pushed back against any allegation of hazing or bullying in his program, while his assistants described a toxic relationship with the school’s administration. The school district informed Kasperowicz on Wednesday his contract wouldn’t be renewed for a ninth season...
WPIAL awards $1,000 scholarships to 20 scholar-athletes, cancels luncheon
The WPIAL/James Collins Scholar-Athlete Program luncheon was canceled again this spring because of the pandemic, but the $1,000 scholarships will be awarded as planned. The WPIAL announced 10 boys and 10 girls scholarship recipients Wednesday during the league’s annual meeting with school administrators. This is the second year in a...
Pine-Richland fires football coach Eric Kasperowicz 5 months after winning state title
In the span of eight years, Pine-Richland football coach Eric Kasperowicz built the Rams into one of the WPIAL’s best programs with four WPIAL championships and two state titles. Stunningly, that run ended Wednesday. Only five months removed from their latest state championship celebration, the team’s coaches received an email...
WPIAL approves spring championship sites, adopts split schedule for individual track meet
The WPIAL individual track and field championships will be run midweek this spring and have a split schedule, with Class 2A starting first and 3A later in the day. Those were among the changes approved Wednesday when the WPIAL board finalized championship sites for spring sports, a list that features...
WPIAL rules Birch brothers ineligible after transfer from Jeannette to Gateway
Two high-profile transfers now are in limbo. The WPIAL board voted Wednesday to deny athletic eligibility to brothers Brett and Brad Birch, football standouts who transferred last month from Jeannette to Gateway. The WPIAL’s decision was based solely on paperwork, executive director Amy Scheuneman said, after Jeannette administrators flagged the...
Butler’s Devin Carney adds scholarship offer from Duquesne basketball
If Butler’s Devin Carney wants to stay home for college, he now has another Division I option. The 6-foot-1 junior announced an offer Monday from the Duquesne men’s basketball team. The Dukes are the fourth offer he has shared on Twitter. Carney announced an offer from Robert Morris coach Andy...
Pitt, Penn State offer Chartiers Valley’s Lamont Payne after pressure-packed sophomore year
On one side of the field, Chartiers Valley had a senior three-year starter at cornerback. On the other side was sophomore Lamont Payne. So, Payne knew he’d be tested. “Starting as a sophomore is kind of a big deal,” he said. “There’s a lot of pressure on you.” In that...
WPIAL to finalize spring championship sites, plans return to familiar venues
The WPIAL will finalize its championship sites for spring sports when the board meets Wednesday. High school venues were used for fall and winter championships as the pandemic forced tight limits on gathering sizes, but spring sports are expected to return to many familiar sites including Wild Things Park in...
PIAA basketball committee wants state semifinals on weekend, not weekday
The state basketball tournament might begin a few days earlier next winter, if the PIAA basketball committee gets its wish. The committee met March 31 and unanimously recommended starting the 2022 tournament on a Tuesday and Wednesday rather than a Friday and Saturday. The intended benefit was to have the...
North Allegheny’s talented lineup, rotation aims to ‘prove something’
In a way, pitcher Kyle Demi personifies North Allegheny’s mindset this season. He’s a big right-hander with a fastball that can reach 90 mph, but most folks around the WPIAL haven’t seen him throw it. On paper, he’s an ace. Yet, before this season, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound senior never had...
Trib HSSN Softball Rankings: April 11, 2021
Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Bethel Park, 5-0, 2 2. Canon-McMillan, 2-2, 3 3. Hempfield, 3-2, 1 4. North Allegheny, 3-4, 5 5. Seneca Valley, 4-1, 4 Out: none Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Connellsville, 4-1, 5 2. Penn-Trafford, 2-3, 1 3. South Fayette, 5-0, NR...
Trib HSSN baseball rankings for April 10, 2021
Class 6A Rk, Team, W-L, Last 1. Norwin, 4-1, 1 2. North Allegheny, 4-1, 3 3. Upper St. Clair, 4-1, NR 4. Pine-Richland, 3-2, 2 5. Seneca Valley, 3-2, 5 Out: Central Catholic (5-2, 4) Class 5A Rk, Team, W-L, Last 1. West Allegheny, 3-1, 1 2. Franklin Regional, 4-0,...
PIAA won’t offer opinion on transgender legislation before reading proposal
The PIAA won’t offer an opinion on proposed legislation barring transgender athletes from girls sports before reading the bill, executive director Bob Lombardi said. Under current PIAA bylaws, the association will accept any gender indicated by a student’s principal. The proposed legislation, unveiled Monday by five Republican state lawmakers, was...
Moon’s Mia Cochran named state’s top girls cross country runner by Gatorade
Moon’s Mia Cochran was named as the state’s Gatorade Cross Country Player of the Year on Thursday, making her only the second WPIAL runner to win the award. The junior won WPIAL and PIAA Class AAA individual titles last fall, following regular-season victories at the PIAA Foundation Invitational and the...
PIAA cuts state track championships to 1-day meets but won’t reduce qualifiers
The PIAA track and field championships are being condensed to one-day meets this spring, but they’ll include the same number of qualifiers as usual. The PIAA board voted Wednesday to have Class AA boys and girls compete May 28 at Shippensburg with the Class AAA meet May 29. Traditionally, the...
OLSH’s DiMichele, Spadafora named Trib HSSN Boys Basketball Players of the Year
Jake DiMichele and Dante Spadafora were the perfect combination this winter, but the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart basketball teammates weren’t always fast friends. “I was in fifth grade; he was in sixth grade,” said DiMichele, remembering back to their days on rival Catholic grade school teams. “Everyone in...
Large, diverse list of candidates seeks WPIAL board of directors seat
This year’s ballot for electing new WPIAL board members has the largest and most diverse list of candidates in recent memory, executive director Amy Scheuneman said. In all, 16 school administrators were on the ballot this spring for one of the 10 at-large seats on the 19-person board. Online voting...
Big 33 Football Classic down to 13 WPIAL players for May all-star game
The Big 33 Football Classic is down to 13 WPIAL athletes for this year’s game after a sixth player withdrew. WPIAL leading rusher and Beaver Falls senior Josh Hough was replaced on the all-star game roster this week. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound running back is a Syracuse recruit and withdrew from...
