Michael Love stories, Page 104
Presidents’ Athletic Conference announces plans for spring semester competition
The Presidents’ Athletic Conference on Friday announced tentative plans for seasons affected by the coronavirus pandemic to return to competition during the spring 2021 semester. “We are planning for winter and spring intercollegiate athletic competition, including resumption of postponed fall sports. Across the conference, our teams have been training and...
North Allegheny girls volleyball hopes PIAA finals experience pays off against Unionville
North Allegheny is going after its fourth consecutive PIAA Class 4A girls volleyball championship and seventh overall in program history. District 1 champion Unionville is in the state finals for the first time. Tigers coach Heidi Miller said while her team has the advantage in experience for Saturday’s 6 p.m....
PSAC will permit swimming, cross country to stage league championships
The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference on Thursday announced it will permit league championships to take place in women’s and men’s swimming and cross country. The decision comes after the recent conference board of directors votes to cancel mandated regular-season schedules and championships for all fall and winter sports. The board...
Carnegie Mellon athletics cancels winter sports seasons
Carnegie Mellon athletics announced Thursday it has canceled intercollegiate competition for the winter season because of ongoing concerns with the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement from the athletic department, Tartans athletic teams also will not resume play any sooner than March 1, 2021. The decision affects the schedules for both...
Promising season ends with one-point loss for Gateway football
Gateway’s bid for a second straight WPIAL Class 5A championship and third title in four seasons came to an end by the slimmest of margins in the semifinals Nov. 6. The Gators and Peters Township now have played two one-point games the past two years. Last year, Gateway won 21-20...
Gateway’s Emma Kennedy commits to Slippery Rock for softball
Emma Kennedy is a rock behind the plate for her high school and club softball teams. Now, the Gateway senior hopes to be rock solid for The Rock at the next level. Kennedy will soon realize a dream of playing college softball. She finalized a commitment last Wednesday to join...
Plum athletes ready to take next step in athletic careers
Each year, when the NCAA’s National Letter of Intent early-signing period for Division I and II athletes begins, Plum finds itself at the forefront with several signees. This year is no exception as numerous athletes finalized their decisions last week. Included in that were three who signed with Division I...
Plum celebrates successful fall sports season with 4 section, conference titles
Only two WPIAL schools had their football, girls volleyball, boys soccer and girls soccer teams capture section or conference titles during the fall 2020 season. Plum was one of those two, as the Mustangs squads joined North Catholic in accomplishing that feat. “I am just so happy for all the...
Alle-Kiski Valley players make next-level commitmentsVideo
A little over a year ago, Makayla Jackson verbally committed to join the women’s volleyball team at Pitt. The Plum senior made that decision final Wednesday as she signed with the Panthers. “It felt like forever,” said Jackson, who help lead the Mustangs this fall to their first section championship...
‘Little school in Saxonburg’ joins state tennis elite during Knoch’s memorable season
Of all the Class AA girls tennis teams in the state of Pennsylvania, only three played in this year’s PIAA team tournament and also had representatives in the state singles and doubles brackets. Two of them were District 10 champion Villa Maria Academy and District 9 champion St. Marys. The...
South Fayette lineman Ryan O’Hair chooses Miami (Ohio)
Ryan O’Hair received his 13th Division I offer last Wednesday from Miami (Ohio). On Monday evening, the 6-foot-8, 293-pound senior lineman from South Fayette made the Red Hawks his choice. O’Hair announced his verbal commitment on Twitter just a few minutes after informing a small gathering of family and friends...
As emotion of final loss fades, Plum girls soccer team revels in special season
The emotion was etched on the faces of the Plum girls soccer players and coaches in the moments after the final buzzer sounded Saturday afternoon at North Allegheny’s Newman Stadium and Mars laid claim to its second consecutive WPIAL Class 3A championship. Tears could not be hidden as they realized...
Luke Whisel paces Gateway runners at soggy WPIAL championship race
An unprecedented season for the Gateway cross country teams, altered at every turn because of the coronavirus pandemic, concluded Oct. 30 at the WPIAL championships at White Oak Park. Considering changes to the race format in the weeks leading up to the meet, as well as weather challenges, coach Tom...
Defensive effort guides Gateway in opening-round win
Survive and advance. That is statement often uttered when it comes to WPIAL playoff football. Gateway followed that mantra against Penn Hills in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs Oct. 30 at Antimarino Stadium. While the offense was held below its four-game regular-season average of 40 points, the...
Penn-Trafford beats Fox Chapel for WPIAL field hockey title
The Penn-Trafford field hockey team is champion again. The Warriors remained perfect on the season and claimed their fifth straight WPIAL Class 2A field hockey title with a 2-1 victory over Fox Chapel on Nov. 2 at a chilly Burk Stadium at Fox Chapel High School. “It’s really exciting,” Penn-Trafford...
A-K Valley high school football notebook: Semifinal loss ends historic season for Plum
Plum wrapped up its 2020 season Friday with a 20-17 loss to Thomas Jefferson in the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals, but the one defeat, Mustangs coach Matt Morgan said, takes nothing away from the record-setting performance of his team the entire season. Plum (8-1) won eight games in a season...
Mars captures 7th WPIAL girls soccer title
The Mars girls soccer team is golden again. The Fightin’ Planets won the seventh WPIAL title in program history and their second in as many seasons with a 1-0 victory over Plum in the Class 3A final Saturday at North Allegheny. “I think if anyone tells you it gets old,...
Success on home field propels Plum girls soccer into WPIAL finals
As the No. 2 seed for the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs, the Plum girls soccer team enjoyed the comforts of home as it made its run to a second consecutive championship game appearance. Plum outscored its three playoff opponents — No. 15 Gateway, No. 7 Thomas Jefferson and No. 6...
Season of statements for Plum football
Preston Sunday said Plum football’s WPIAL Class 4A first-round victory over former conference rival McKeesport was big in the ongoing process of what has turned out to be one of the most successful seasons in program history. But the Mustangs senior running back and linebacker didn’t characterize the victory as...
Thomas Jefferson rallies past Plum to return to Class 4A championship gameVideo
Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak breathed a sigh of relief in the minutes after Friday’s 20-17 home victory over Plum in a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal. The Jaguars rallied from a 10-point first-half deficit and held the Mustangs off the scoreboard in the second half. “This time of the year,...
WPIAL Class 3A girls soccer championship preview: No. 1 Mars vs. No. 2 Plum
Class 3A Championship 2-Plum (16-0) vs. 1-Mars (15-0) Noon, Saturday, Newman Stadium, North Allegheny HS, McCandless Township Coaches: Jamie Stewart, Plum; Blair Gerlach, Mars How they got here: Plum defeated Gateway, 6-0; Thomas Jefferson, 4-0; and West Allegheny, 1-0. Mars defeated Laurel Highlands, 13-0; Oakland Catholic, 6-0; and Montour, 6-0....
Knoch’s Mike Formica has high expectations for PIAA championship meet
Mike Formica stood on the top of the mountain Oct. 28 at White Oak Park as the newly crowned WPIAL Class 2A boys cross country champion. Now, the Knoch senior hopes to cap his high school career with one final solid run Saturday at the PIAA championships in Hershey. “I...
Plum girls soccer faces toughest task yet: A WPIAL finals rematch with unbeaten Mars
Before the Plum girls soccer team began the season Sept. 14, it assembled a collection of goals. It contained a series of steps, including returning to the top of the Section 3-3A standings and finishing the regular-season undefeated. Both of those boxes were checked. Then, the focus turned to a...
Deer Lakes edges Shady Side Academy in penalty kick thriller, wins first WPIAL title
The Deer Lakes and Shady Side Academy boys soccer teams were all knotted up in head-to-head matches over the past four years as they met Thursday to decide the WPIAL Class 2A boys championship. The teams split their season series with Shady Side winning the first and Deer Lakes the...
A-K Valley football players to watch for Week 9
Zach Fields Plum, sr., WR/DB The Mustangs defense turned McKeesport over five times in last week’s WPIAL Class 4A first-round win. Fields produced two of those turnovers with a pair of interceptions, giving him three picks on the season. He added seven tackles, increasing his total to 30. Max Matolcsy...
