Karen Kadilak stories, Page 8

Moon junior Sofia Mancini underwent a positive transformation during her first tour with the USA Rugby Girls High School All-American Sevens U18 team. Mancini, 17, was one of 12 players from the East Coast who assembled for NextGen Sevens competition May 16-19 in Ontario, Canada. West Coast U18s gathered earlier....

Sewickley Academy graduate and Notre Dame junior track performer Summer Thorpe is competing on the biggest stage of her college career at the NCAA Division I outdoor championship meet this week at Texas. Thorpe (13.30 seconds) was seeded 23rd in the preliminaries of the 100-meter hurdles. She qualified at the...

The Quaker Valley boys tennis team had a stellar season, although it did not end the way it hoped. The Quakers saw their tandems of juniors Zach Albert and John Watters and senior Potter Oliver and freshman Will Sirianni lose in the preliminaries of the PIAA Class AA doubles tournament...

Quaker Valley graduates Annika Christensen and Jane Merriman shined at steering boats for nationally ranked NCAA Division I women’s rowing teams. Christensen, a freshman coxswain, was part of the Southern Cal first varsity eight that placed fourth at the Pac-12 championship regatta May 19. Earlier on the same boat, she...

Quaker Valley junior Daniel Ford had a spring in his step after the WPIAL Class AA track and field championship May 16 at Slippery Rock. Ford won the boys 1,600-meter run in a personal-best 4 minutes, 26.83 seconds. As a top-five finisher, he advanced to the PIAA championship May 24-25...

Sewickley Academy graduate and Carnegie Mellon men’s golfer Jason Li proved the Rookie of the Year award he received from the University Athletic Association last season was no fluke. Li, a sophomore, recently earned all-UAA first team honors and was named the conference’s co-player of the year. Li won both...

Cincinnati women’s tennis coach Eric Toth knew he had a gem in Norwin graduate Maria Santilli, but she exceeded his expectations. “Maria had an outstanding freshman season,” Toth said. “Winning 14 singles matches in the dual-match season was probably a little better than I thought she would do for a...

Quaker Valley junior Annie Wicker is among favorites in the girls 3,200-meter run at the WPIAL Class AA track and field championship meet Thursday at Slippery Rock. But wanting to save herself for the 1,600, she decided to compete in the 800 instead. Wicker ranked second in the 3,200 (11...

In her first season of track and field, Franklin Regional junior Jo-Michelle “JoJo” Huczko is a favorite at the WPIAL Class AAA championship meet Thursday at Slippery Rock. Huczko ranked first in the girls pole vault (11 feet, 2 inches) on the WPIAL performance list as of May 5. Huczko...

Quaker Valley senior Dom Lagnese set a school record in the discus and, in the process, established himself as a favorite at the WPIAL Class AA track and field championship meet May 16. Lagnese recorded a throw of 160 feet, 3 inches April 11 against New Brighton. He bettered the...

Quaker Valley juniors and longtime tennis partners Zach Albert and John Watters look forward to their first appearance in the PIAA Class AA boys doubles tournament May 24-25 in Hershey. Albert and Watters downed teammates Potter Oliver and Will Sirianni in two sets for the WPIAL title April 30. Oliver,...

After coming close last season, the Sewickley Academy girls lacrosse team (6-1, 4-0 in Section 2-AAA) looks forward to its first WPIAL title. “Our biggest goal is to win WPIALs,” senior Sydney Larsen said. “We made it to the finals last year. “Even though we had the talent to get...

Franklin Regional sophomore Anup Nadesan breezed through the section but will have his work cut out for him at the WPIAL Class AAA boys tennis singles championship tournament starting Monday at the Oxford Athletic Club in Pine. “He sees four or five athletes (who) he would have the toughest challenge...

Penn-Trafford graduate Turner Price is turning heads as a freshman on the Pitt-Greensburg men’s tennis team. Price was 6-0 in singles and 5-1 in doubles in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference heading into the final regular-season match April 13. He was named the conference’s Player of the Week on April...

Quaker Valley sixth-graders Ruby Olliffe and Ruby Krotine have been gems for a youth diving program run out of Sewickley Valley YMCA. Olliffe and Krotine, members of Sewickley Diving Academy, qualified for the AAU Red-White-Blue National Championships on May 24-27 in Coral Springs, Fla. Olliffe (173.55 points) and Krotine (139.50)...

After dominating WPIAL Class AA for years, the Sewickley Academy boys tennis team (4-1, 4-0 in Section 2-AAA) is playing up in Class AAA. If that is not daunting enough, the Panthers are rebuilding. They saw four players depart from a squad that earned its 14th consecutive WPIAL Class AA...

The Penn-Trafford boys tennis team (4-1 in Section 1-AAA) lost its top player but has an able replacement. Sophomore Brian Lee ranked 24th among college prospects in his class in Pennsylvania by the Tennis Recruiting Network as of April 2. “Brian did not play his freshman year,” Penn-Trafford coach Jane...

Plum senior Justin Decheck keeps every one of the commemorative patches he has earned at the Pennsylvania YMCA State Swimming Championship meet. There’s something else to add to his collection: a gold medal. Decheck, 18, a member of the Sampson Family YMCA team, won the boys 15-and-over 100-yard backstroke (52.05...

The Norwin boys tennis team (2-4 in Section 1-AAA) faces a massive rebuilding job. Norwin coach Ryan Hornick said the Knights have a completely new roster after losing 14 players from last season. Among the losses were four players who represented the Knights in the Section 1-AAA singles and doubles...

Hempfield graduate and Saint Vincent swimmer Danny Whirlow was pleasantly surprised by an honor he earned recently. Whirlow, a sophomore, made the All-Presidents’ Athletic Conference men’s first team following his performance at the conference championship meet. “I did not know it was an honor I could receive,” said Whirlow, 19....

Trios of veterans lead the Quaker Valley track teams. Quaker Valley coach Jerry Veshio expects strong performances from three boys and three girls who competed at the WPIAL Class AA championship meet last season. The girls squad features one of the top distance runners in the state. Junior Annie Wicker...

Great opportunities in and out of the pool persuaded North Allegheny senior Jerry Chen to continue his swimming career with Pitt next season. “The Pitt team is up and coming,” said Chen, 18, of Franklin Park. “When I went on my recruiting trip, I saw firsthand that every single swimmer...

The Franklin Regional boys tennis team (4-0) is counting on a rare mixture to take it on a long playoff run. “The team is unique in that we have only four seniors, and the rest are underclassmen,” coach Howard Fisher said. “We look forward to being a strong contender in...

Greensburg YMCA swimmers Kaden Faychak and Patton Graziano struck gold again at the Pennsylvania YMCA state swimming championship. Faychak won the 50-yard breaststroke (30.45 seconds) and 100 breaststroke (1 minute, 6.82 seconds) and Graziano the 100 backstroke (59.15) in the boys 11-12 age group at the meet March 22-24 at...

Greensburg Central Catholic graduate and Johns Hopkins swimmer Mikayla Bisignani earned two prestigious honors. Bisignani, a sophomore, was the recipient of the Elite 90 award and made first-team All-America in a relay at the NCAA Division III championship meet March 20-24 in Greensboro, N.C. The Elite 90 award is given...