Michael Love stories, Page 33
After celebrating WPIAL title, Kiski Area swimmers turn attention to PIAA meet
For Abby King, it was like mother, like daughter at the WPIAL Class 2A championships March 1 at Pitt’s Trees Pool. King’s mother, Daina (Cleveland) King, helped the 1991 Apollo-Ridge girls basketball team win the WPIAL Class 2A title and advance to states. Daina was on hand at Trees Pool...
Gateway swimmers find success at WPIAL meet, earn berths to state competition
Gateway sophomore Gunner Raymer briefly faced a measure of adversity right before his 200-yard freestyle swim at the WPIAL Class 3A championships Feb. 29 at Pitt’s Trees Pool. He had a minor equipment failure as his goggles broke. “That kind of gave me an adrenaline rush,” Raymer said. “You obviously...
Gateway bowlers celebrate regional title, look ahead to state competition
When the Gateway boys bowling team wrapped up the Western Regional championship title March 2 at AMF Noble Manor Lanes, coach Joe Bowman got a message from two members of the last Gators team to qualify for the state tournament. “They (Mark Kuehn and Dominic Beau) shared a picture of...
St. Joseph earns 1st state playoff win in seniors’ last game on home court
There was history being made by both St. Joseph teams coming into their PIAA Class A first-round game Saturday in Natrona Heights. The St. Joseph Spartans, the senior-laden WPIAL runner-up, had done so much that had never been done before in program history the past several years. But Saturday’s game...
Plum swimmers earn berth to PIAA championships
The Plum girls swim team fared well in a number of events at the WPIAL Class 3A championships Feb. 29 and March 1 at Pitt’s Trees Pool. The Mustangs clinched three PIAA appearances — the two freestyle relays and junior Giuliana Ricciuti in the 200-yard freestyle — and were close...
Plum hockey hopes to build off turnaround season
It was quite a turnaround this season for the Plum hockey team. The Mustangs were 3-16 a year ago. The organization’s board of directors felt a coaching change was needed, and Plum hockey alumnus Jon Gratton came on board. The returning team members hit the ice together in August and...
AK Valley campus clippings: Fox Chapel’s Borkovich earns award for SRU softball
Slippery Rock sophomore pitcher Mackenzie Borkovich, a Fox Chapel graduate, was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday for her work against Shippensburg and Shepherd in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference doubleheaders over the previous two days. She was in the circle as a...
A-K Valley high school basketball playoff preview capsules for March 9, 2024
PIAA basketball playoffs Boys Class 3A First round Bishop Guilfoyle (23-4) at Burrell (16-9) 1 p.m. Saturday District seeds: Bishop Guilfoyle 6-3; Burrell 7-2 Winner plays: Winner of 10-1 Girard (23-2)/7-6 Derry (15-7) Wednesday in second round (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Jude Haigh, Bishop Guilfoyle; Macky Bennis, Burrell...
A-K Valley girls basketball teams hit reset button heading into state tournament
Coming off WPIAL consolation wins over Section 1-4A rivals Greensburg Salem and Knoch, the Highlands girls basketball team is preparing for what lies ahead in PIAA tournament play. The win over the Golden Lions got them in, and the Golden Rams’ victory over Knoch on Feb. 29 solidified the fifth-place...
Deer Lakes tops division champ Carrick in PIHL D2 playoffs, sets up meeting with Burrell
Something had to give as the Carrick and Deer Lakes hockey teams came into Tuesday’s PIHL Varsity D2 quarterfinal at Ice Castle in Castle Shannon riding multi-game win streaks. The Cougars won five in a row to close the regular season, and the Lancers entered the playoffs having won four...
WPIAL swimmers to swap gold, silver medals after 100-yard backstroke review
A change has been made to the order of finish between Mt. Pleasant junior Kiersten O’Connor and Hampton sophomore Lainey Sheets after their Class 2A 100-yard backstroke race Friday at the WPIAL championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool. Initially, O’Connor was the winner as her time of 55.37 seconds flashed on...
Norwin comes alive in 3rd period to beat Fox Chapel, reach PIHL 2A semifinals
The Norwin and Fox Chapel hockey teams have gotten to know each other pretty well over the past three years, both in the regular season and in the Penguin Cup playoffs. On Monday at Palmer Imaging Arena in Delmont, the Knights and Foxes met for the third straight year in...
Gateway grads Sarah Corrie, Shelly Jones take top 2 spots in PSAC shot put competition
Sarah Corrie came close to securing a spot at the NCAA Division II indoor track and field championships. The Slippery Rock graduate student captured the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference shot put title Feb. 19 at Lehigh and helped her team win its seventh PSAC team title. Her season-best of 14.21...
Riverview girls turn attention to PIAA playoffs
“It almost was a Cinderella story.” Those were the descriptive words from Riverview coach Jill Catanzaro as her Riverview girls basketball team came close to upending No. 2 Aquinas Academy in a battle for the third-place spot in WPIAL Class A on Feb. 28. The game at Shaler High School ultimately...
Plum, Riverview athletes benefit from indoor track and field season
Owen Proskin finished as one of the top scorers for the Plum boys basketball team this season. The 6-foot-4 sophomore also made the most of his athletic double duty this winter through indoor track and field training and competition. His versatility showed with a third-place medal in the high jump...
Gateway boys earn berth to PIAA tournament
The Gateway boys basketball team faced a do-or-die scenario for a trip to the PIAA playoffs. After a loss to No. 2 Franklin Regional in the WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinals and then a close setback at home to Bethel Park in the fifth-place consolation semifinals, the Gators were still alive...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Freeport’s Kira Schrecongost, Deer Lakes’ Wayne Love
Kira Schrecongost School: Freeport Class: Junior Sport: Swimming Report card: Schrecongost won the WPIAL Class 2A girls 100-yard butterfly title for the second time Thursday. She edged rival Katie Jackovic, a senior from South Park, by 58 one-hundredths of a second, winning in 55.37 seconds at Pitt’s Trees Pool. She...
Franklin Regional’s Holden Thomas, Mt. Pleasant pair earn WPIAL swimming titles
Holden Thomas earned a bronze medal last year in the boys Class 3A 100-yard backstroke. He stood on the third step of the award podium looking up at WPIAL champ William Gao from North Allegheny and runner-up Patton Graziano from Penn-Trafford. This time around, Thomas wanted to be the one...
Kiski Area girls capture WPIAL team swimming title
Last year, the Kiski Area boys swim team captured the WPIAL Class 2A team title at Pitt’s Trees Pool. On Friday, it was the Lady Cavaliers’ turn to lift high the first-place trophy. Leading Quaker Valley by two points and two-time defending champion Mt. Pleasant by 10 heading into the...
Mt. Pleasant girls, boys shine on Day 1 of WPIAL Class 2A swimming championships
Mt. Pleasant’s attempt to claim a third straight WPIAL Class 2A team championship started with a bang Thursday afternoon at Pitt’s Trees Pool. The Vikings 200-yard free relay, anchored by a WPIAL record-holder in junior Lily King and also featuring juniors Kiersten O’Connor, Kaylie Korpiel and Maddie Barrick, rallied past...
Fox Chapel swimmers win in record times at WPIAL championships
Fox Chapel junior Sarah Pasquella settled into her Trees Pool surroundings Thursday morning at Pitt and prepped for her 200-yard freestyle race. As the No. 1 seed, the Pitt verbal commit was confident in her chances to take home WPIAL gold but understanding of the talent that would be hoping...
A-K Valley swimmers hope to turn high seeds into gold at WPIAL championships
Sarah Pasquella accomplished a lot in her two previous trips to the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool. Last year, the Fox Chapel junior ascended the medals stand four times. She was a part of the WPIAL champion 400-yard freestyle relay and runner-up 200 medley relay while...
A-K Valley high school basketball playoff preview capsules for Feb. 29, 2024
WPIAL basketball playoffs Girls Class 4A Fifth-place game 6-Knoch (15-10) at 4-Highlands (17-7) 7 p.m. Thursday Winner plays: District 8 or 9 champion in PIAA first round March 9 (site/time TBD) Loser plays: District 10 champion in PIAA first round March 9 (site/time TBD) Coaches: Shane McGraw, Knoch; Shawn Bennis,...
A-K Valley high school basketball playoff preview capsules for Feb. 28, 2024
WPIAL basketball playoffs Boys Class 5A Fifth-place game 11-Bethel Park (13-12) at 8-Fox Chapel (14-11) 8 p.m. Wednesday Winner plays: The winner of the District 8-9-10 subregional March 9, in PIAA first round (site/time TBD) Loser plays: District 3 runner-up March 9, in PIAA first round (site/time TBD) Coaches: Dante...
Top-seeded Union girls overpower Riverview, earn return trip to WPIAL Class A final
If you give the Union girls basketball team an inch, it usually takes a mile. That was the case Monday in a WPIAL Class A semifinal at North Allegheny. The No. 1 Scotties built a big lead in the first half and didn’t give No. 4 Riverview any momentum in...
