Ray Fisher stories, Page 20

Quaker Valley football coach Jason Cappa doubles his duties as coach of the Quakers softball team. “Coaching a softball team compared to coaching a football team is not any different in the way of preparation and coaching,” Cappa said. “We will always work on fundamentals, athletic growth in terms of...

A last-second buzzer beater. That’s how the Quaker Valley girls basketball team’s 2022-23 season came to a crashing end. Quaker Valley lost a 40-37 decision to Harbor Creek in the first round of the PIAA Class 4A tournament as Georgia Weber hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the Huskies,...

The Swarthmore College women’s lacrosse team was on spring break recently in Clearwater, Fla. The Garnet took anything but a break, however, from their hot start to the 2023 season. And one of the team leaders for Swarthmore is Sewickley Academy graduate Elizabeth Zack, a 5-foot-7 sophomore attacker. In the...

Addison Arndt literally dives headfirst into her winter athletic schedule at Thomas Jefferson. Arndt, a junior, competes as a diver on the TJ girls swim team and as an advanced gymnast as a member of the gymnastics team. She qualified for the PIAA finals in both sports, placing fourth in...

Many of the skaters in the PIHL maintain their time on the ice as members of local club teams. Five Quaker Valley hockey players — four freshmen and one middle schooler — are on club squads that have advanced to the USA Hockey national championships to be held March 30...

The PIHL regular season is a long grind, beginning in October and running into February. Quaker Valley, competing in the Varsity A Gold division, finished fourth behind North Hills, McDowell and North Catholic with a 14-5-0-1 record. The Quakers started out 2-2 then skated to wins in nine of their...

Quaker Valley’s baseball team suffered massive graduation losses last year. Eight of the nine starters in 2022 were seniors, leaving only shortstop Hunter Doherty as the lone returning starter in 2023. Doherty started at second base last season. “We will be competitive,” said Rich Garbee, QV’s first-year coach. “We will...

One of the leading returning competitors in the Gateway track and field program this season is junior hurdler Kierra Pitts. A two-time WPIAL qualifier, Pitts, who is known as Kiki, placed eighth in 17:18 in the girls 100-meter hurdles at last year’s WPIAL Class 3A finals. She also competed in...

The Gateway girls 400-yard freestyle relay team was handed the fifth seed at the PIAA Class 2A swim championships at Bucknell. As it turned out, the Gators finished fifth with a time of 3:38.79, beating their prelim time (3:41.65) by more than three seconds. The medal-winning relay team consisted of...

West Jefferson Hills announced it was starting the Hall of Fame program during the 2019-20 school year, but the first class never was recognized due to the covid-19 pandemic. The district relaunched its program last fall and re-opened the nomination process. On March 4, WJHSD inducted the members into the...

Baldwin’s Abby Rexrode has made an indelible imprint on WPIAL gymnastics. Rexrode won her second consecutive all-around title in the advanced division at the WPIAL championships Feb. 11 at Moon. By doing so, the 16-year-old sophomore held firm as the WPIAL’s top gymnast. “Abby had a strong all-around performance. She...

Laura Grimm is a relatively new face in the Bethel Park athletic department. She was hired as assistant athletic director in September 2021 and is serving in that capacity this school year as well. Grimm, however, is a well-known figure on the Serra Catholic campus as well as around the...

He’s only a sophomore, but he stood out as a team leader for Bethel Park. Trent Powell was a medalist in two relays and two individual events at the WPIAL Class 3A boys swim championships March 2-3 at North Allegheny. “Trent had a breakthrough year,” said Kathy Strock, who coaches...

Gavin Moul’s high school football career is not over just yet. The Bethel Park senior was chosen to play on the Pennsylvania squad in this year’s Big 33 Football Classic. The prestigious all-star game will take place at 7 p.m. May 28, at Bishop McDevitt’s Rocco Ortenzio Stadium in Harrisburg....

It’s not the way the Gateway boys basketball team wanted to end the season. After winning their first two WPIAL Class 5A playoff games against Woodland Hills and McKeesport, the Gators ended the year with three consecutive playoff losses. Gateway dropped a 62-55 decision to Peters Township in the WPIAL...

It doesn’t often happen that a high school wrestling team has two 100-win grapplers in one season. Quaker Valley is not your average wrestling program. Two QV grapplers racked up their 100th career wins this season, giving the Quakers six wrestlers to reach the century mark in the seven seasons...

Quaker Valley’s boys basketball team has a chance to make a little history in 2023-24. QV has won 10 section championships in school history, but the Quakers have never won three in a row. Next year’s team will have the opportunity to do just that. “We really do not look...

It was termed as an up-and-down season for the Mustangs. Plum’s softball team advanced to the WPIAL playoffs for the third consecutive year in 2022, but the Mustangs could muster no better than a 7-12 record by season’s end. “I don’t know if I ever thought of it as a...

The stars of the show for the Quaker Valley swim program were the girls relay teams. All three relay units were medalists at the WPIAL Class 2A championships March 3-4 at Pitt’s Trees Pool. The 200-yard freestyle relay team, consisting of senior Ella Fuener, sophomores Kwilai Karto and Paige Juliano...

Maria Helkowski had a memorable run in the WPIAL playoffs for the Quaker Valley girls basketball team. The gritty 5-foot-6 senior guard was the Quakers’ leading scorer in all three games, a 52-39 win at home over Knoch in the Class 4A quarterfinals, a 51-40 loss to Blackhawk at North...

Quaker Valley’s Ruby Olliffe repeated as the WPIAL Class 2A runner-up in girls diving. The sophomore diving specialist placed second to North Catholic’s Maggie Foley with a 477.65-point total at the WPIAL finals Feb. 24 at North Allegheny. “It was an incredibly competitive meet. Every girl there came prepared with...

The section champion Quaker Valley boys basketball team had a tough draw in the first round of the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs. Really tough. The Quakers, who shared the Section 4-4A championship with South Allegheny and received the No. 7 seed for the playoffs, lost to visiting Belle Vernon, 81-55,...

Diligence and dedication help define the Hempfield competitive spirit cheer program. Hard work, determination and desire also prove valuable. The WPIAL and PIAA champion Hempfield cheerleaders won a game day varsity national title for the first time in school history, taking first place in the Super Varsity Division I game...

Nine seniors were recognized Feb. 16 for their contributions and dedication to the Quaker Valley swim program. Five girls were lauded: Ella Fuener, Zoey Murawski, Emma Smith, Tia Pethel and Hope Linge. On the boys team, Alex Wagner, Spencer Wiehe, Ashton Ragoowansi and John Shillingsburg were the honorees. “The goal...

There’s no knocking Quaker Valley’s quarterfinal-round playoff opponent. QV’s girls basketball team, which received the No. 4 seed and a first-round bye, will clash with No. 5 Knoch at home Feb. 24 in the WPIAL Class 4A tournament. The Knights (15-8) scooted past No. 12 Hopewell, 53-21, Feb. 21 in...