Michael Love stories, Page 46
Plum youth football community mourns, honors Keegan ClontzVideo
Keegan Clontz’s No. 40 football jersey hung from one of the goalposts during the Plum Little Mustangs 12U scrimmage Wednesday evening against Franklin Regional at the Plum Midget Football Association fields along Ross Hollow Road. His initials also were painted on the field at the 40-yard line. They were two...
Deer Lakes aims to build off playoff berth in Allegheny 6
Deer Lakes finished fourth in the Allegheny 6 Conference last year and earned a berth to the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since 2015. The Lancers, as the No. 10 seed in the Class 3A bracket, traveled to No. 7 Beaver hoping to pull the first-round upset, but they...
Alle-Kiski high school football teams begin march toward playoffs
Rocco Cecere felt a ton of positive energy in the minutes and hours leading up to the Riverview football team’s first two-a-day practice Monday at Riverside Park in Oakmont. The Raiders senior quarterback and defensive back is part of sizeable group of returning starters who hope to lift Riverview to...
Seniors Cochran, Love lead Deer Lakes receiving corps
Ryan Cochran caught 31 passes last year in a Deer Lakes uniform. Wayne Love added 19 grabs in what turned out to be a balanced Lancers offense. The duo, both seniors coming into the 2023 season, combined for more than 850 yards and seven receiving touchdowns last year to help...
Big RB Beattie ready to carry load again for Burrell
Devin Beattie hopes to have another big season for the Burrell football team. Connected to that goal is the bruising 200-pound running back’s desire to help lead the Bucs to a third consecutive WPIAL playoff appearance. “Devin is a perfect fit for our type of run-heavy offense,” Burrell coach Shawn...
Young Kiski Area roster looks for bounce-back season
Kiski Area hoped to fare better last season in its Greater Allegheny Conference debut. The Cavaliers broke into the win column just once — a 50-13 nonconference rout of Fox Chapel — in Week 8 and went winless (0-6) in conference play. But veteran coach Sam Albert said the returning...
Apollo-Ridge lineman Spencer Sells making up for lost time
Spencer Sells didn’t come out for the Apollo-Ridge football team his freshman and sophomore seasons. He said he was 50/50 with football at the time, weighing wanting to play with other factors, including the covid pandemic his freshman year in 2020. “I do have regrets about that looking back, 100...
Participation, excitement growing within Gateway Midget Football and Cheerleading Association
Last fall was a banner season for the Gateway Midget Football and Cheerleading Association. All four of its football teams — flag (ages 5-6), Termites (7-8), Mites (9-10) and Midgets (11-12) made the Big East Youth Football League playoffs. The Termites, Mites and Midgets advanced to the semifinals. “We’re not...
Leechburg hires Angela Franke as new athletic director
Angela Franke said the past couple of days have been a whirlwind since the Leechburg School Board voted to officially hire her as athletic director Wednesday evening. “I am really excited to have this great opportunity at Leechburg,” said Franke, who served the past two academic years as the athletic...
Freeport softball standout Sydney Selker headed to Akron after recruiting plans change
St. Francis’ loss is Akron’s gain. Freeport senior Sydney Selker verbally committed to the Red Flash softball team in January, but a coaching change in June restarted the recruiting process for the Yellowjackets standout. After a whirlwind three-week process to find a new collegiate home, Selker settled in with the...
Former Valley player Carlisle will coach Vikings boys soccer team, which returns this fall
Ben Carlisle is no stranger to the experience of representing the Valley boys soccer team. He enjoyed a standout career with the Vikings before graduating in 2015. For the past several seasons as a coach with the Valley junior high co-ed program, he has shared the frustration of not having...
Monroeville Junior Legion team completes best season in program history at state tournament
After league and regional tournaments where it won six of nine games, the Monroeville Junior Legion team set its sights on making some noise at the Pennsylvania state tournament in Berwick. Things started well with a win in its first game, but a pair of losses in the double-elimination event...
Plum grad excited to take over alma mater’s hockey program
Jon Gratton’s first foray into ice hockey coaching came three seasons ago when the 2009 Plum graduate accepted a varsity assistant coaching position on college teammate Cam Raidna’s staff at Fox Chapel. “I can’t say right off the bat that coaching was a goal of mine,” said Gratton, a four-year...
Summer youth basketball program enlivens New Kensington
There have been shoot-arounds and pickup games on the new basketball courts at the Barnes Street Playground for a couple of months since they officially opened in the spring. Ian Benson said he believes the current Kings & Queens of the Court summer youth basketball program at the park is...
2023 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: Central Catholic’s Cole Sullivan
Cole Sullivan received several dozen Division I offers during the college recruiting process. In the end, Michigan won out as he verbally committed to the Wolverines in May. “I am really happy with my decision,” Sullivan said. “I did what’s best for me. Now, it’s great to see a bunch...
International field lined up for PONY League World Series in Washington
Eight teams have qualified with two more to be decided this week as anticipation grows for the 71st Dick’s Sporting Goods PONY League World Series on Aug. 11-16 in Washington, Pa. The world will be watching as four U.S. Zone winners, the host team from Washington County, the host area...
Weather can’t cloud success of Freeport International; 2024 plans already in works
The Freeport International Baseball Invitational wasn’t immune to Mother Nature’s adverse weather conditions as lightning Friday and rain Saturday dampened the momentum of a week’s worth of youth baseball at a half-dozen fields in the Alle-Kiski Valley. Chuck Sarver, president of the Freeport International, said despite the temporary rough weather,...
Gateway grad Jaquan Brisker gives back to community before beginning 2nd NFL season
Jaquan Brisker and his Chicago Bears teammates opened training camp July 26 with hopes of putting all the pieces together for a run at a return to the NFC playoffs in 2023. Brisker, a Gateway High School and Penn State graduate, begins season prep with his eyes on team goals...
Community rallies to help send New Kensington youth Adrionna Foster to national track meet
Adrionna Foster qualified for the USA Track and Field Junior Olympic National Championships in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes last summer. But the considerable cost associated with making the trip prevented her from attending and competing on the biggest stage in the country. This year, however, Foster is on...
Old-Timer’s game continues tradition at Freeport International Baseball Invitational
With three days of youth baseball games in the books at James E. Swartz Sr. Memorial Field in Freeport Boro and at five other fields throughout the Alle-Kiski Valley, an older generation again gathered at Swartz Field on Thursday for the annual Sonny Westerman Old Timers game. Winning the game...
2023 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: Fort Cherry’s Matt Sieg
To say Matt Sieg broke out in his first varsity football season would be an understatement. The Fort Cherry rising sophomore quarterback threw for more than 1,200 yards and 11 touchdowns and rushed for nearly 2,000 yards and 33 scores. He added 36 tackles on defense. “I was really happy...
It’s My Show the favorite for The Meadows’ 57th Delvin Miller Adios Pace for the Orchids
It’s My Show dazzled last Saturday in the eliminations for the 57th Delvin Miller Adios Pace for the Orchids at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows. The winning time of 1 minute, 47.4 seconds set a world record for a 3-year-old gelding on a five-eights-mile track and put It’s My Show...
Members of Oakmont Martial Arts earn awards in world competition in Phoenix
Clarissa Tinkey was on the doorstep of a medal at the American Taekwondo Association’s Songahm World Championships earlier this month in Phoenix, Ariz. The Verona resident and rising sophomore at Redeemer Lutheran High School in Verona competed for bronze in combat sparring for the Girls 13-14-year-old 2nd and 3rd Degree...
Monroeville Junior Legion set to compete at state tournament
Monroeville Junior Legion is headed to the state playoffs after a run in the Western Regional tournament which saw the team automatically qualify by making the championship game. The state tournament, an eight-team, double-elimination format, will begin Friday in Berwick and continue through to the title game next Wednesday (Aug....
French team making memories at Freeport International Baseball Invitational
Diane Simon turns 13 Saturday. She is celebrating in America — more specifically, in Freeport, as part of the Freeport International Baseball Invitational — while playing the sport she loves with teammates and friends by her side. For the second year in a row, a team known as the Hawks...
