Michael Love stories, Page 31
Returning athletes bolster Riverview track and field teams
The Riverview boys and girls track and field teams are fueled by a nucleus of returning, experienced talent, some of whom powered their way to last year’s WPIAL Class 2A championships at Slippery Rock. Veteran coach Dave Illnicki said a mix of those athletes, along with newcomers who are setting...
Plum players learning, improving during inaugural flag football season
Anna Zanchi didn’t know much about American football before coming to Plum as an exchange student from Italy. But she has immersed herself in the game and now is a key member of Plum’s first girls flag football team. “This was all new to me,” said Zanchi, who began her...
A-K Valley campus clippings: Duquesne standout Myers enters transfer portal
Tess Myers is on the move for her final year of NCAA women’s basketball eligibility. A Lower Burrell resident and Duquesne standout the past four seasons, Myers announced Wednesday evening on X (formerly Twitter) that she will enter the transfer portal. Myers started 32 games in her final season with...
Preparations nearly complete for Saturday’s Pittsburgh Karate Championships
Frank Caliguri made a trip Thursday to the Quality Inn in New Kensington to check on the status of a number of things in advance of Saturday’s Pittsburgh Karate Championships. “We also had a time keepers and score keepers meeting the other night to make sure they’re all ready to...
Young Burrell softball team gets off to good start; tough tests await
The Burrell softball team won a section championship two years ago and finished runner-up last year. Both times, the Bucs made a run in the WPIAL tournament and qualified for the PIAA playoffs. While a couple of major contributors from both teams have graduated, a strong nucleus remains that hopes...
North Allegheny freshman bursts onto scene, Sewickley Academy junior reaches goal in WPIAL tennis finals
Advaita Sircar made his WPIAL tournament debut Tuesday and continued his run Wednesday in the Class 3A singles championship match at Glen Creek Tennis Club in South Park Township. The North Allegheny freshman, the No. 2 seed, made the most of his inaugural championship opportunity as he took down No....
Valley junior’s quick rise up WPIAL tennis ranks fueled by love of sport
When Landon Harclerode picked up a tennis racket competitively for the first time two years ago, it was the start of a journey of discovery, of learning and of improving. “My first year, it was all right,” Harclerode said of his freshman season at No. 2 doubles with the Valley...
Upper St. Clair’s Sierra Dupre called up to U.S. national team for international soccer tournament
Sierra Dupre, a sophomore at Upper St. Clair High School and a Riverhounds Development Academy player, will get the opportunity to represent the United States on the U16 Women’s National Team for their UEFA Friendship Tournament this week in Riva, Turkey. She and her American teammates will play four matches...
Close battles, big wins reflected in movement within WPIAL boys volleyball coaches polls
It was a busy week in WPIAL boys volleyball as teams in both Class 3A and Class 2A had strong showings and made their move in the rankings as the Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association released its latest top-10 polls Monday morning. Shaler stayed on top in Class 3A with...
Gateway grad Emma Kennedy hits strong stretch for Slippery Rock softball
Gateway graduate Emma Kennedy hopes a recent hitting streak for the Slippery Rock softball team is the genesis of good things for the junior starting catcher. She collected at least one hit in each of four games — five total out of 11 at-bats — as The Rock went 3-1...
Gateway track and field athletes gear up for competition
The first couple of weeks of preseason practices for WPIAL sports teams contained several sunny days with temperatures reaching into the 60s with a couple getting near 70. But over the past week or so, Mother Nature hasn’t been kind, with temperatures dropping into the 40s for highs with rain...
Led by sprinter Gabrielle Layne, Plum athletes embark on 2024 track and field season
Gabrielle Layne capped her 2023 outdoor track season with some major accomplishments. She found herself on the medals podium twice at the WPIAL Class 3A championships at Slippery Rock with a fifth-place finish in the 100-meter dash and an eighth-pace finish in the 200 dash. She also punched her ticket...
A-K Valley shooters on target at Cager Classic skills competition
The top senior talent in the Alle-Kiski Valley and surrounding communities gathered Friday at Highlands to match shooting skills in a competition to kick off the two-day Cager Classic all-star celebration. For Kalleigh Nerone, a Bloomsburg commit and a member of the West girls representing Highlands with teammates Shelby Wojcik,...
Basketball foes become teammates at Cager Classic
The Highlands and Hampton boys basketball teams played nine times over the past four seasons, including a third time last year in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs. Bradyn Foster, the Golden Rams’ 6-foot-8 senior center, knows all about what it was like in those bruising battles with...
Young Plum softball team showing signs of potential with impressive wins
The Plum softball team rallied from the first inning on during last Friday’s nonsection home game against Highlands at Plum High School The Golden Rams led 2-0 after one inning, 4-1 in the third and 6-2 in the fourth. Despite some adversity, which included an uncharacteristic six errors, the Mustangs...
A-K Valley campus clippings: Highlands grad Haidze on tear for IUP softball
Highlands graduate Jaycee Haidze is having a strong early season for the IUP softball team. The sophomore right-handed pitcher and infielder earned PSAC Western Division Athlete of the Week for softball after hitting .524 (11 of 21) in seven games last week. She totaled four doubles, two home runs and...
Delmont, New Kensington rinks to host national youth hockey tournaments
Last year, the Allegheny Badgers Tier II 16U boys ice hockey team won the Mid-Am District title, advanced to nationals in Amherst, N.Y., and brought home third place in the 3A bracket. Seventeen of the 20 players from that team remained together and moved up to the 18U level. The...
Mars, Shaler maintain top spots in latest WPIAL boys volleyball coaches rankings
A couple of teams in Class 3A changed positions as the Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association released its Week 3 Top-10 polls and Players of the Week on Monday morning. Shaler remained in the top spot, followed by North Allegheny, Seneca Valley, Norwin and Penn-Trafford rounding out the top five....
Gateway boys tennis sets course on WPIAL title defense
Six of seven starters returned from last year’s Gateway boys tennis team which captured the program’s first WPIAL title since 1988 and made it all the way to the PIAA Class 3A semifinals. Team members also fared well at the WPIAL and state singles tournaments. Despite all of the laurels...
Gateway swimmers pleased with performance at state championships
The final Gateway swim in the final event of the final day of the PIAA swimming championships at Bucknell University resulted in a podium finish and a state medal. The Gator girls 400-yard freestyle relay of freshman Aliya Rassiane, senior Mallory Brown, sophomore Gianna Laurenti and senior McKenna Brown swam...
St. Joseph’s Julie Spinelli headlines Valley News Dispatch girls basketball all-stars
Player of the Year Julie Spinelli 5-11, Sr., G, St. Joseph The St. Joseph girls basketball team took several steps forward in the 2023-24 season and met or surpassed goals and expectations set for themselves at the start in late November. Two of the goals were met on a single...
Riverview baseball leans on experienced lineup, starts 3-0
Riverview senior pitcher and infielder Jack Loughren is an island unto himself in that he’s the only senior on a youthful Raiders baseball team. The team’s senior day ceremony will be brief. But Loughren is not alone in terms of players in the lineup who have varsity experience. Eight seniors...
After impressive postseason, Plum bowlers head to national championships
Plum was the only WPIBL program to have both its boys and girls bowling teams qualify for the Pennsylvania state championships. The Mustangs’ representation at Leisure Lanes in Lancaster on March 16 was the destination of a journey that took the squads through the WPIBL and Western Regional tournaments. But...
Again searching for new boys basketball coach, Plum seeks stability, return to prominence
For the second time in less than two years, Plum is looking for a new boys basketball coach. Justin Walther tendered his resignation last month, and it was accepted by the district. Athletic director Drew Karpen said Wednesday that in a short time after the position was advertised, there were...
Freeport pitcher Sydney Selker healthy, aims to make final season memorable
Sydney Selker wasn’t accustomed to sitting out a softball game, no matter at what level. But that is where the Akron commit found herself for the last eight games of Freeport’s 2023 season. A concussion suffered against Knoch in a defensive collision with a teammate in the 10th game last...
