Chris Harlan stories, Page 55

Add another win to Aliquippa’s record. The PIAA board on Wednesday accepted Aliquippa’s appeal and agreed to leave the Quips in Class 4A football for the next two seasons, a victory that let the reigning state champions avoid a promotion to 5A under the PIAA’s competitive-balance rule. The board voted...

Moon’s Mia Cochran has defended yet another cross country title. The senior repeated as Pennsylvania Gatorade Girls Cross Country Player of the Year on Monday, recognition for winning the PIAA Class 3A title last fall for the third year in a row. The 5-foot-7 Arkansas recruit also won the WPIAL...

Mt. Lebanon’s Alex Tecza has played football with teammate Eli Heidenreich for as long as he can remember. As it turns out, high school graduation won’t break their bond. Tecza committed to play football for Navy on Friday, five months after Heidenreich also committed to the Midshipmen. However, their lifelong...

Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. North Hills, 13-0, 1 2. Fox Chapel, 13-1, 2 3. Central Catholic, 11-4, 3 4. Upper St. Clair, 10-4, NR 5. Pine-Richland, 8-7, 4 Out: Seneca Valley (6-8, 5) Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Laurel Highlands, 13-0, 1 2. New Castle,...

Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. North Allegheny, 14-0, 1 2. Mt. Lebanon, 14-0, 2 3. Upper St. Clair, 13-3, 3 4. Norwin, 10-4, 4 5. Seneca Valley, 7-5, 5 Out: none Class 5A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Chartiers Valley, 14-1, 1 2. Moon, 14-2, 2 3. Trinity,...

North Allegheny athletic director Bob Bozzuto has a forward-thinking mindset when it comes to football conference realignment. The ink barely has dried on WPIAL plans for the next two seasons, but he’s ready to start thinking about 2024 and ’25. “We need to think outside of the box,” Bozzuto said....

Quaker Valley’s Markus Frank has a knack for scoring around the rim from angles that seem almost impossible, yet he makes them with ease. And he makes them in a hurry. “At least once a practice, he’ll make a shot and we’ll all find ourselves looking at each other and...

Former Pine-Richland football coach Eric Kasperowicz is dropping his defamation lawsuit against the school district and its administrators in hopes of reclaiming his coaching job. Kasperowicz in August filed a federal lawsuit against the district and several top officials claiming they damaged his reputation by publicly accusing him of knowing...

The Laurel girls basketball team is trying to reach the WPIAL playoffs for the fifth year in a row, but the Spartans must do so without their head coach. Coach Matt Stebbins, who was in his sixth season, said Thursday he recently resigned under pressure, but declined to discuss specifics....

Football coach LaRoi Johnson is returning to his roots. The former Homewood resident was hired to coach at Imani Christian Academy, which is less than a mile from his old home. The private school in East Hills is a place Johnson already knows well, having coached there as Imani’s offensive...

To win a WPIAL golf title next season, players must make the cut and play two good rounds. The WPIAL board on Tuesday approved a new 36-hole format for the boys and girls individual championships next fall. All WPIAL qualifiers will play an 18-hole opening round, and then the top...

Bob Kalp won more than 400 games as Hempfield’s softball coach, and Chuck Tursky celebrated his 500th career win as Kiski Area’s wrestling coach. Those are remarkable numbers, and they set them apart from their peers, yet the wins only partially explain why they’re among the best coaches in WPIAL...

The WPIAL two years ago gave Butler permission to play football in District 10 as an “associate member,” but there now is a dispute about whether the Golden Tornado can qualify for that district’s playoffs. The WPIAL board says no, they can’t. “They are welcome to get an independent schedule,”...

The WPIAL took a multiple-choice approach when it drew up new conferences for the 2022 and ‘23 football seasons. Aliquippa’s classification remains undecided, so the WPIAL board on Tuesday approved two realignment options for Class 5A, 4A and 3A football — one with Aliquippa and one without — with only...

Tuesday should be a big day for WPIAL football players, coaches and fans. The WPIAL board is expected to approve realigned conferences for the 2022 and ’23 seasons, giving everyone a first look at the football landscape for the next two years. Arguably, the biggest question involves the WPIAL’s five...

Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. North Allegheny, 11-0, 1 2. Mt. Lebanon, 12-0, 2 3. Upper St. Clair, 11-2, 3 4. Norwin, 8-4, 4 5. Seneca Valley, 7-5, 5 Out: none Class 5A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Chartiers Valley, 13-1, 1 2. Moon, 12-1, 2 3. Trinity,...

Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. North Hills, 11-0, 1 2. Fox Chapel, 11-1, 2 3. Central Catholic, 10-2, 3 4. Pine-Richland, 7-5, NR 5. Seneca Valley, 6-6, NR Out: Upper St. Clair (8-3, 4), Butler (8-4, 5) Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Laurel Highlands, 10-0, 1...

Whenever the North Allegheny girls volleyball team wins a title, the Tigers have a knack for winning it again and again. That includes individual awards. NA junior Mia Tuman became the fourth Tigers volleyball player in eight seasons to earn the Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year honor and the...

Lincoln Park saw a 15-point lead vanish Friday night, but that was all forgotten once senior LA Pratt made a clutch runner with five seconds left to lift the Leopards to a 51-49 victory over Montour in a battle of ranked teams. The Duquesne recruit was having a quiet night...

Ellwood City hired former OLSH football coach Dan Bradley on Thursday to fix a distressed program that hasn’t won a game in three seasons. The Wolverines have a 25-game losing streak. The school hopes the solution is hiring Bradley, who went 49-19 in six seasons at Our Lady of the...

The PIAA on Thursday denied an initial appeal from Aliquippa, which wants to avoid a pending promotion to Class 5A football next season. But the appeal process isn’t over. Aliquippa superintendent Phillip Woods said the school district will appeal again, this time to the entire PIAA board of directors, which...

The MLK Day basketball showcase that recently called Woodland Hills home has shifted about 150 miles east, but this weekend’s event still has some WPIAL teams taking part. Former Woodland Hills athletic director Ron Coursey, now AD at Chambersburg, organized a three-day event at his new school and will welcome...

WPIAL football coaches Matt Humbert of Belle Vernon and T.J. Plack of Peters Township will serve as Team Pennsylvania assistants for the Big 33 Football Classic in May. The coaching staffs were announced Wednesday for the Memorial Day all-star game. Tyrone’s John Franco will serve as Pennsylvania’s head coach. Franco,...

As the final seconds ticked away, coach Chris Giles and the players on the Penn Hills bench all were shouting the exact same words. “Dunk it!” With no one between him and the hoop, sophomore Julian Dugger obliged and threw down a dunk as No. 5 Penn Hills celebrated a...