Bill Beckner stories, Page 8
Westmoreland Campus Clippings: Norwin’s Scalise stands out as Penn State Behrend goalkeeper
Anthony Scalise helped lead the Norwin boys soccer team to a WPIAL championship two years ago, making one highlight save after another in front of the net while catching the eye of college coaches. Penn State Behrend landed the goalkeeper, and in a short time he has become one of...
Westmoreland H.S. notebook: Norwin grad Ryan Schiller to run track at Duquesne
Sprinter Ryan Schiller last spring had the best finish at the PIAA 3A championships by a Norwin athlete, taking second in the 100-meter hurdles in 14.36 seconds. The achievement sure looked good on his college application. Schiller announced he will continue his track career at Duquesne. He is a late...
Westmoreland high school football notebook: Smithnosky shines in hometown … for visitors
Bobby Smithnosky had a homecoming game on the road but still earned his flowers. The sophomore quarterback from Greensburg Central Catholic had a career game at Mt. Pleasant, showing out in front of friends and family in his hometown. Class A GCC rolled to a 40-7 victory over the Class...
Westmoreland H.S. athletes of the week: Mt. Pleasant’s Morgan Gesinski, Franklin Regional’s Thomas Bridges
Morgan Gesinski School: Mt. Pleasant Class: Senior Sport: Soccer Claim to fame: Gesinski, a dynamic forward, became just the second girl in program history to score 100 career goals, registering a hat trick to reach the milestone in a 5-0 win over Hopewell. A Robert Morris commit, Gesinski is second...
Former Southmoreland QB Anthony Smith enrolls at high school in West Virginia
Maligned sophomore quarterback Anthony Smith, who transferred from Southmoreland to Seton LaSalle where he was ruled ineligible for the season, has enrolled at Fairmont Senior High School in Fairmont, W.Va. Smith (6-foot-2, 190 pounds), a Division I prospect with three scholarship offers, was added to the Polar Bears’ roster Tuesday...
Norwin girls volleyball rebuilding with young, motivated group
Norwin won only four of 16 matches last girls volleyball season and finished 4-6 in Section 3-4A. As veteran coach Mary Ellen Ferragonio begins her 19th season guiding the Knights, the team faces an overhaul. The Knights play in the gym, so they don’t have to worry about mold-abatement projects...
Norwin notebook: Swankler again named Robert Morris women’s soccer captain
For the second year in a row, senior forward Paloma Swankler, a Norwin grad, was selected as a team captain for the Robert Morris women’s soccer team. Swankler had six goals and five assists last fall and earned All-Horizon League second-team honors. She has started 24 of 56 career games...
Hempfield buckles down in 2nd half, closes out Franklin Regional
With bookend highs overshadowing mid-game lows, Hempfield went from nearly self-destructing to 2-0 with a commanding second half. Big lineman Brock Heisler loved every gritty second of it. “We knew we could out-physical them and size-wise,” said Heisler, the 6-foot-3, 260-pounder who is going to Harvard. “We started slow, but...
Franklin Regional boys soccer beats Latrobe, stays perfect
Players worked together to put up a canopy on the Franklin Regional boys soccer sideline Thursday so the team could stay dry on a rainy night. Then the Panthers wrung out Latrobe. Showing similar teamwork on the pitch, the Panthers blanked the defending Section 3-3A champions 3-0 on Thursday night...
Westmoreland County high school football notebook: Quarterbacks gaining ground
Some Westmoreland quarterbacks did more damage with their legs than their arms in the opening week of the football season. Consider: Four county teams had their quarterback lead them in rushing in Week Zero. It could be an indicator that this year’s crop of signal callers has sneaky dual-threat depth....
Norwin girls keep faith in win over Mt. Lebanon
Seeing was believing for the Norwin girls soccer team. When senior Cameryn Reed scored off a corner kick from sophomore Tatum Casper just three minutes in — for the team’s first goal of the season — the Lady Knights’ confidence began to rise in their matchup against No. 5-ranked Mt....
Westmoreland County high school football matchups for 2025 Week 1
Here’s a look at the don’t-miss matchups for Week 1 in Westmoreland County: Nonconference Aliquippa (0-0) at Belle Vernon (0-0) 7 p.m. Friday, James Weir Stadium, Rostraver Last year’s meeting: Aliquippa 12, Belle Vernon 0 This is the season opener for both teams. Belle Vernon has a new coach in...
Westmoreland County boys soccer notebook: Belle Vernon set to host Paul Sasko Kickoff Classic
A Belle Vernon soccer tradition continues this weekend with the Paul Sasko Kickoff Classic. The event will be Saturday and Sunday at James Weir Stadium. Sasko, a former BVA soccer coach, died in 2016. Proceeds go toward scholarships in his name. The Belle Vernon boys will play twice Saturday. The...
Franklin Regional holds off Penn-Trafford in section opener
Franklin Regional was as opportunistic as it was technical in its first Section 3-3A boys soccer game of the season. It also had no choice but to be composed with Penn-Trafford hot on its bumper. The visiting Panthers had to overcome hard-charging Penn-Trafford’s late surge to hold on for a...
Westmoreland County girls soccer notebook: Freshman comes out firing for Franklin Regional
The Franklin Regional girls soccer program appears to have a bright future. Need proof? The Panthers (1-1) started three freshmen in their first two games, and one of them scored all of the goals so far. Freshman Reese Regelski fired in her first career goal from 20 yards as Franklin...
Plum girls soccer picks up where it left off, beats Franklin Regional
Plum opened the season doing what it does best: It won another section game. Led by a productive defense that did more than prevent goals, the Mustangs girls soccer team ran their section winning streak to 28 with a 3-1 victory over rival Franklin Regional in a Section 4-3A game...
Westmoreland Campus Clippings: Saint Vincent welcomes latest hall of fame class
The 2025 Saint Vincent Athletics Hall of Fame class covers six sports and stretches from the 1970s deep into the 2000s. The inductees will be recognized Sept. 27 at halftime of the Hiram-Saint Vincent football game at Chuck Noll Field. They include: • Joey Butler (2009), basketball — Helped SVC...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Andrisko takes over as Belle Vernon baseball coach
Taylor Andrisko is the new baseball coach at Belle Vernon. The district approved his hiring at last week’s board meeting. Andrisko replaces Tony Watson, who was not retained despite guiding the Leopards to the WPIAL semifinals last season. Andrisko was the coach at California High School for the past three...
Mt. Pleasant’s Lily King helps set swim record in Romania
Mt. Pleasant alum Lily King was part of a world record-breaking relay team in Romania. King and the 400-yard freestyle relay set a world juniors mark at the World Aquatic Junior Swimming Championships in Otopeni, Romania. The team of Rylee Erisman, Liberty Clark, Julie Michler and King finished in 3...
Westmoreland high school football notebook: Hempfield QB Detruf gets win for late father
With each completion and big gain, Dom Detruf could picture his dad smiling. He could feel it. Hempfield’s senior quarterback played with poise and purpose in Friday night’s season opener at Spartan Stadium, a 28-23 win over North Hills. Detruf completed 14 of 17 passes for 206 yards and three...
After playoff season, Norwin girls hope to keep momentum rolling
Norwin returned to the WPIAL girls soccer playoffs last season and nearly advanced out of the first round, falling to No. 12 seed Mt. Lebanon, 1-0, on penalty kicks (4-3). The fifth-seeded Knights finished 10-8-1, winning seven of their final 10 games to return to the Class 4A postseason after...
Norwin boys leaning on young talent to overcome losses
A stunning, last-second goal by North Hills sent Norwin reeling – and packing – last season, bringing an end to a potential WPIAL title repeat. Norwin players still can’t bear to watch the film. But the Knights have moved on from a 3-2 first-round loss, just like they moved on...
Next wave of starters finding their places in Franklin Regional girls lineup
Graduation is a wonderful accomplishment, but it can cause problems for soccer teams. For the Franklin Regional girls, it is creating competition. “Last season, we had a large and successful senior class,” coach Scott Arnold said. “Great leaders, fantastic players and wonderful people. A lot of them were starters and...
Franklin Regional boys counting on hard work to lessen sting of graduation losses
If Franklin Regional doesn’t outscore opponents, the next best thing will be to outwork them. That could be the Panthers’ M.O. this boys soccer season. “We’ve had very productive summer workouts, which have been very well attended,” coach Nick White said. “The boys are hungry and desire to repeat the...
Penn-Trafford escapes with win over Norwin after controversial late fumble
Norwin was that close to another second-half comeback, but Penn-Trafford held on this time — barely. Tristyn Tavares pushed forward on first-and-goal from th 2-yard line with 1 minute, 22 seconds left and appeared to cross the goal line. But the ball came out, and Lucah Butler recovered for the...
