Michael Love stories, Page 47
Annual Freeport International Baseball Invitational gets underway in FreeportVideo
Under clear skies with a game-time temperature of 80 degrees, the Hawks 13-14 age team from France took to James E. Swartz Sr. Memorial Field in Freeport Borough on Monday evening for a game against the Backyard Bucs, a similar-age travel team with players from communities including Fox Chapel, Natrona...
Gateway, Cal (Pa.) grad Jae’Len Means joins elite runners at national championships
Jae’Len Means’ list of collegiate sprint accomplishments during his time at Cal (Pa.) is long and illustrious. The Gateway graduate was a multi-time All-American who won eight individual Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference titles while with the Vulcans through the spring of 2019. Means said while he was proud of all...
Park Sharks capture 2023 Monroeville Invitational swimming championship
The Haymaker Hammerheads had ruled the roost in recent Monroeville Invitational swim events at Garden City Pool. Haymaker won five in a row through last year and six of the previous seven. But the Park Sharks didn’t allow Haymaker to extend its streak to six straight and captured the 53rd...
Final preparations underway for opening of annual Freeport International Baseball Invitational
When last year’s Freeport International Baseball Invitational wrapped up, plans already were in the works for this year’s event, the 29th installment of the Alle-Kiski Valley summer tradition. Meetings, phone calls, emails and other planning sessions over the past 12 months have come down to just a few days left...
2023 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: Penn Hills’ Julian Dugger
As a sophomore, Julian Dugger helped Penn Hills win the Northeast Conference Class 5A title and make it to the WPIAL semifinals. The dual-threat quarterback threw for more than 1,300 yards that season. But 2022 was a tough year for the entire Penn Hills program as the team missed the...
Faith Remich hits ground running as Burrell’s new cross country coach
Faith Remich has come full circle. The running standout got her start as a freshman at Burrell and was member of the Bucs cross country team when the program was started in the fall of 2015. Remich, who enjoyed a stellar career in both cross country and track and field...
3rd annual ‘Pack the Park’ game to open volleyball season with celebration of the sport
Dakoda Fickes knows all about the feel of playing an outdoor volleyball match on a grass court. The new head coach of the Kiski Area girls volleyball team also is involved with a sports recreation business that puts together and runs outdoor grass tournaments. So there is no doubt he...
2023 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: Gateway’s Brad Birch
The Gateway football team’s 2022 season ended sooner than expected with a close WPIAL Class 5A first-round home loss to Upper St. Clair at Antimarino Stadium. While the returning Gators players, including senior quarterback Brad Birch, said they learned a lot from that game and from the season overall, they...
Kiski Area’s Fickes eager to open his 1st season as varsity volleyball coach
Dakoda Fickes is in his first season as the girls volleyball coach at Kiski Area, but not that long ago, he ran some memorable practices at the school’s gym. After the 2022 season, Fickes helped make the inaugural We Serve First All-Star Classic a success. Along with Kiski Area assistant...
No rest for Pitt-bound Lola Abraham as she preps for senior year at Riverview
When Riverview’s Lola Abraham committed to play soccer at Pitt last November, she said the decision was only the beginning and she couldn’t rest on past accomplishments. This summer has been crucial, Abraham said, as she not only works to stay sharp for her future with the Panthers but also...
Transition to Plum volleyball head coach going smoothly for Rachel Satira
The day before Rachel Satira graduated from Seton Hill in May 2019, she got a call from then-Plum girls volleyball coach Kelsey Bonk about coming on board as an assistant and also working with the middle school team. “I was more than happy to join,” said Satira, a standout four-year...
Steelers LS Christian Kuntz brings pickleball to youth
Tre Tipton had not picked up a pickleball paddle before Tuesday. In fact, the former Apollo-Ridge football standout who went on to play at Pitt said he didn’t even know pickleball existed before teaming up with Pittsburgh Steelers long snapper and Chartiers Valley grad Christian Kuntz and former Steeler Charlie...
Liberty Mile sets participation record; Edinboro runner is top pro woman
Another Friday night with nearly perfect weather conditions greeted runners of all ages for the annual Fleet Feet Liberty Mile in Downtown Pittsburgh. “It was beautiful with a little breeze,” said Troy Schooley, the CEO of P3R, the local running organization charged with coordinating all aspects of the event. “It...
9 athletes to join Kiski Area Sports Hall of Fame in Class of 2023
Sean Arnold graduated from Kiski Area in 1998 after a decorated varsity career with the Cavaliers that included nine varsity letters in soccer, football, basketball and track and field. The All-WPIAL performer continued to play in college, enjoying a four-year soccer career at Robert Morris. Arnold gave back to his...
Gateway grad Dayonne Nunley uses football experience to train aspiring athletes
Dayonne Nunley majored in sports studies at Miami (Ohio) while performing as a standout cornerback for four seasons with the RedHawks football team. A decade later, the Gateway graduate is incorporating much of what he learned in his collegiate course of study and also during his training to become a...
Riverview track champion Amberson Bauer selected Valley News Dispatch Boys Athlete of the Year
Amberson Bauer’s high school distance running career wasn’t entirely complete once he left Seth Grove Stadium at Shippensburg University as the PIAA Class 2A boys 800-meter champion May 27. The recent Riverview graduate’s season-best time in the 800-meter run — 1 minute, 53.22 seconds — qualified him to run the...
Multi-sport standout Eliza Miller repeats as Valley News Dispatch Girls Athlete of the Year
Eliza Miller will combine her love of distance running and swimming along with a newer venture in cycle racing on the newly formed women’s triathlon team at Duquesne University. She gave a verbal commitment to the school and to the program earlier this year and already is preparing for her...
After All-American campaign, Plum grad Reed Martin prepares for junior season at Edinboro
One might see Reed Martin in and around Plum this summer working for a landscaping business. One also might see him on any one of several biking trails at Boyce Park. Still, he occasionally can be spotted on the football field at Plum High School booming kicks and punts. Directly...
Pittsburgh area rowers shine at USRowing Youth National Championships
Reese McGeary immersed herself in the sport of rowing six years ago, and the Point Breeze resident and rising junior at the Ellis School hasn’t left the water since. It is a comfort to her. It is, in a way, a home away from home. “My dad noticed that more...
Burrell softball ready to turn page after another successful season
It’s been three weeks since the Burrell softball team bowed out in the first round of the PIAA Class 3A playoffs with a 1-0 loss to eventual state runner-up Juniata. But the players and coaches, sophomore Braelyn Jones said, have been able to take a step back and appreciate their...
Gateway football players put focus on individual improvement during offseason workouts
Eight months removed from a close loss to Upper St. Clair in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs and with just six weeks remaining until the start of heat acclimation workouts that usher in the start of the 2023 season, Gateway football team members are leaving no...
Burrell’s Katie Armstrong repeats as Valley News Dispatch Softball Player of Year
2023 Valley News Dispatch Softball All-Stars Player of the Year Katie Armstrong Burrell, Sr., P Katie Armstrong capped her high school career June 5 in the rolling hills of Central Pennsylvania. She and her Burrell softball teammates battled District 6 champion Juniata in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs....
New Plum athletic director Drew Karpen aims to bring stability to position
Drew Karpen is in the final days of transition from his time as athletic director at Highlands to his new appointment as the athletic director and coordinator of student activities at Plum. He said it’s been a whirlwind of thoughts, planning and action since he was hired by the Plum...
Monroeville baseball team lets Gateway grads stay in game
Donovan Baxter is feeling a wave of redemption this summer as a manager and player for the Monroeville Red Pandas in the Pittsburgh North American Baseball Association. He and a number of his Gateway classmates were denied their senior seasons in 2020 when the covid pandemic shut down all spring...
Gateway shows championship mettle during 2022-23 school year
The 2022-23 school year featured a number of standout moments for Gateway athletic programs. Individuals and teams produced top results and raised the level of pride for those who support the Gators in black and gold. Here is a look at a few of the notable moments that made this...
