Michael Love stories, Page 142
Belle Vernon’s Shahan, Spekis claim PIAA swimming gold
LEWISBURG — Ian Shahan enjoyed the feeling of winning his first PIAA Class AA championship so much he went out and picked up another. On Wednesday, the Belle Vernon sophomore secured the state title in the 100-yard butterfly. He returned Thursday in the 100 freestyle, set the pace in the...
North Catholic’s Maziarz wins 2nd straight Class AA state diving title
LEWISBURG — North Catholic junior Kyle Maziarz has repeated as PIAA Class AA boys diving champion. He edged club teammate and WPIAL champion Andrew Cestra from Beaver by less than three points (447.55 to 444.85). Maziarz, the WPIAL champion last year as a sophomore and the runner-up to Cestra at...
PIAA Class AA Day 2: WPIAL swimmers set for championship finals
A group of WPIAL swimmers punched tickets to the PIAA Class AA Day 2 championship finals set for Thursday evening at Bucknell University. Karen Siddoway, a senior from Northgate-Avonworth, will attempt to win her second individual state title as she is the top seed for the finals in the 100-yard...
Trio of WPIAL standouts claim gold on Day 1 of PIAA Class AA swimming and diving championships
LEWISBURG — Northgate-Avonworth’s Karen Siddoway trailed Northern York senior Kate Luft for most of the girls Class AA 200-yard freestyle final Wednesday evening at Bucknell University. But Siddoway, a senior, made her move over the final 50 and passed Luft right before the wall to secure her first state championship....
Deer Lakes’ Morrison medals at PIAA Class AA swimming championships
LEWISBURG — Adam Morrison swam in the consolation finals of the 200-yard freestyle at last year’s PIAA Class AA championships and finished 15th. The Deer Lakes junior wanted more, and results during the season, including his runner-up finish in 1 minute, 42.52 seconds in the event at WPIALs, indicated he...
Belle Vernon swimmer Shahan takes PIAA title in 100 butterfly
LEWISBURG — Ian Shahan started Wednesday’s evening session of the PIAA Class AA swimming championships with his Belle Vernon teammates in the boys 200-yard medley relay. The quartet finished fifth, and Shahan found himself on the medals podium. But the sophomore wasn’t done. Shahan returned in the 100 butterfly and...
Fox Chapel’s Skirboll aiming high at PIAA swimming championships
There will be a new state champion in the girls Class AAA 100-yard breaststroke. Last year’s champion, Olivia Paoletti from Avon Grove in District 1, graduated. Fox Chapel freshman Zoe Skirboll plans on having a lot to say about who will ascend to the top of the podium Saturday at...
Ringgold’s Anna Vogt wins PIAA Class AA diving title
Ringgold senior Anna Vogt, the two-time WPIAL champion in Class AA girls diving, added a state championship to her high school portfolio Wednesday afternoon at Bucknell. The top seed led from beginning to end to topple the 24-diver field. Vogt, third at states last year, is the third WPIAL diver...
Several WPIAL individuals, relays qualify for PIAA Class AA championship finals
The championship heats are set for Wednesday’s boys and girls events at the PIAA Class AA swimming meet at Bucknell University, and several from the WPIAL are in contention for state gold. Northgate senior Karen Siddoway is the top seed in the girls 200-yard freestyle. She swam a 1:52.66 in...
A-K Valley swimmers get shot at PIAA gold this week
Rachel Halapchuk is a four-time WPIAL medalist with two each in the 100-yard butterfly and 100 backstroke. The Springdale senior posted a pair of eighth-place individual finishes at WPIALs earlier this month. But she didn’t want her high school career to conclude without an opportunity to swim at the PIAA...
Deer Lakes softball hopes to get back on track this season
The Deer Lakes softball team was denied a seventh straight section title last spring and suffered a WPIAL first-round exit, an uncharacteristically early exit for the Lancers after advancing to the WPIAL title game five times in the previous six seasons. But veteran coach Craig Taliani said his team improved...
Southern trip gives Deer Lakes baseball time to build into winner
Graduation hit the Deer Lakes baseball team hard the past two seasons. A combined 19 players moved on, including nine from last year’s squad that posted an 11-9 record and qualified for the WPIAL playoffs for the third year in a row and eighth time in nine seasons. But with...
Riverhounds announce first inductees to hall of fame
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds on Saturday revealed the five individuals who constitute its inaugural hall of fame class. Enshrined are former players Justin Evans and David Flavius, founder and former owner Paul Heasley, the organization’s first-ever vice president and general manager Dave Kasper and first-ever head coach John Kowalski. Evans, a...
IUP men’s basketball team tops Mercyhurst for PSAC title
The Indiana University of Pennsylvania men’s basketball team held Mercyhurst under 50 points and claimed the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship with a 56-49 victory Sunday afternoon. The Crimson Hawks (29-2) finished off the Lakers (23-7) about an hour after the IUP women won their PSAC title with a 72-57...
Pittsburgh Riverhounds turn focus to season opener
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds have completed the preseason and are gearing up for the United Soccer League Championship regular-season opener against the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, Fla. The match, set for 7:30 p.m., will be televised on Pittsburgh’s CW. The Riverhounds suffered a...
IUP captures PSAC women’s basketball championship
For the second time in three years, the Indiana University of Pennsylvania women’s basketball team is the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference champion. The Crimson Hawks topped Kutztown 72-57 in the tournament title game Sunday afternoon at Kutztown University. Kutztown, the top seed from the PSAC East, led 22-9 after the...
Undefeated Huntingdon pulls away from Highlands boys in state playoffsVideo
Hollidaysburg — Highlands boys basketball coach Tyler Stoczynski said he was proud of the way his team battled after early adversity in Friday’s PIAA Class 4A first-round game against Huntingdon. Senior Seth Cohen was lost to an early ejection, and the Golden Rams fell behind by double digits early in...
Gateway’s Livingston ready to chase state record in 100 freestyle
Time is of the essence for Gateway junior Olivia Livingston. In this case, it’s the goal of a best time in the 100-yard freestyle Saturday at the PIAA Class AAA championships at Bucknell. Livingston is the No. 1 seed after she captured her third WPIAL title (49.97) in the event...
Plum swimmers prepare for PIAA championships
Devan Taylor hopes for a repeat performance and more in the girls 100-yard breaststroke Saturday at the PIAA Class AAA championships at Bucknell. The Plum senior was seeded ninth and positioned in the second-to-last heat of the preliminaries last year and swam a school-record 1 minute, 4.13 seconds to move...
Passion releases 2019 schedule
The season opener for the Pittsburgh Passion women’s semi-pro football team is less than a month away. The team kicks off its 17th campaign April 6 against the Cleveland Fusion at West Allegheny’s Joe P. DeMichela Stadium. A road game against longstanding rival D.C. Divas follows on April 13. The...
A-K Valley basketball teams use time off to prepare for PIAA tournament
Five Alle-Kiski Valley basketball teams have played the waiting game for the PIAA tournament since their elimination from the WPIAL playoffs more than a week ago. While the Highlands boys clinched a spot by making the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals, the Deer Lakes, Fox Chapel and Leechburg boys and Fox...
A-K Valley bowlers vie for spots in state tournament at regionals
The Burrell girls bowling team hopes for a performance at Saturday’s Western Regional that matches its WPIBL team title captured three weeks ago. “Winning that was a real confidence booster for us,” said Bucs junior Ashley Smith, who will join teammates Carlee Hummel, a senior, and Lydia Flanagan, a freshman,...
QV’s Huang seeded third in 200 IM at states
Members of the Quaker Valley-Sewickley Academy combined boys and girls swimming and diving teams are seeded for the PIAA Class AA championships March 13-14 at Bucknell University. Freshman Isabel Huang, the WPIAL champion in the girls 200-yard individual medley, is the third seed in the event at states. She also...
Reigning PIAA champions prepare to defend titles; WPIAL swimmers earn top seeds
The WPIAL, as expected, will be well-represented at the PIAA Class AAA and AA swimming and diving championships March 13-16 at Bucknell. Several new WPIAL records were established last Thursday and Friday at Pitt’s Trees Pool, and the fast WPIAL meet produced up to a dozen state qualifiers in certain...
PIAA releases qualifying lists for swimming championships
The PIAA on Monday released the preliminary psych sheets for the swimming and diving state championships set for March 13-16 at Bucknell University. The lists are expected to be finalized Tuesday when scratches are determined. Three alternates for each event are included. The district champions for each individual and relay...
