Chris Harlan stories, Page 59

Forcing the Aliquippa football team to play schools two, three or four times its size isn’t safe or fair, regardless of whether the Quips are winning those games, says the school district’s top administrator. Superintendent Phillip Woods wants the PIAA competitive-balance rule to be rewritten. Aliquippa will compete next weekend...

Central Catholic had about six weeks to devise a new strategy for stopping Alex Tecza, Eli Heidenreich and Joey Daniels, yet the three seniors and their Mt. Lebanon teammates proved undeniable. So, too, was the Blue Devils’ desire for a WPIAL title. Tecza alone rolled up more than 200 yards...

WPIAL Class 6A football championship No. 1 Mt. Lebanon vs. No. 2 Central Catholic 7 p.m. Saturday, Norwin On the air: TV: WPCW; Audio: TribHSSN.TribLive.com, 95.3 FM, 1020 AM Winner plays: McDowell in the PIAA quarterfinals Nov. 26 or 27 WPIAL titles: Mt. Lebanon 7 (1966, ’70, ’80, ’81, ’83,...

There was a time when Maura Mlecko was the freshman on North Allegheny’s cross country team, running at the state championship meet in Hershey for the first time. But like runners on that course, four years can go by fast. As a senior surrounded by freshmen, Mlecko was back in...

On one sideline will be Mt. Lebanon, the undefeated No. 1 seed in the WPIAL playoffs that is making its first championship appearance since 2000. On the other side is Central Catholic, a two-time defending WPIAL champion that reached the finals more often than not in the past decade. Which...

Heinz Field hadn’t been built the last time Moon made the WPIAL football finals, but the Tigers are headed there now. No. 1 seed Moon used a familiar combination of gritty defense, a physical running game and one long touchdown run to defeat No. 5 Penn Hills, 14-9, in a...

Carnegie Mellon’s journey in the NCAA football playoffs is over before it started. The university announced Friday that several football players tested positive for covid-19, so the team will withdraw from the NCAA Division III playoffs. The Tartans (8-2) were scheduled to play a first-round game Saturday against North Central...

A sign hanging inside Moon’s football stadium chronicles the milestone years in team history. One look at that board reminds the current Tigers that their team hasn’t reached the WPIAL finals in more than two decades. Yet this year’s roster, with a strong senior class, wants desperately to write 2021...

Citing personal reasons, title-winning North Allegheny swimming coach Patrick Wenzel resigned this fall after leading the WPIAL’s top program for eight years. The Tigers swept the WPIAL boys and girls titles in each of Wenzel’s eight seasons as coach, and the girls enter this winter as reigning state champions. To...

Athletes from dozens of Western Pennsylvania high schools will gather Wednesday morning at the Heinz History Center for the annual WPIAL Sportsmanship Summit, which will be streamed live on TribLive HSSN. This is the 12th year for the event, scheduled from 9:30 a.m. until noon. Former Steelers defensive lineman Brett...

North Allegheny will try for No. 5. Already a four-time defending state champion, the NA girls earned a trip to the volleyball state finals for the fifth year in a row after defeating rival Shaler, 3-1, in a PIAA Class 4A semifinal Tuesday night at Fox Chapel. The Tigers rallied...

Two sets away from a trip to the state volleyball finals, perhaps the Freeport girls showed their age for the first time all season. Hampton showed its poise. With two freshman starters on the court, Freeport won Game 1 in Tuesday’s PIAA Class 3A semifinal, but the WPIAL champion Yellow...

The WPIAL is investigating accusations of “racial bigotry and unsportsmanlike play” levied against the South Side football team. The allegations involve actions and derogatory comments made during last week’s WPIAL playoff loss to Steel Valley, which brought the concerns to the WPIAL’s attention. “Steel Valley and South Side played a...

Slippery Rock received an at-large bid from the NCAA on Sunday, joining Carnegie Mellon as the only Western Pennsylvania college football teams qualified for the Division II or III playoffs. Carnegie Mellon already was assured a spot in the 32-team Division III playoffs as an automatic qualifier from the PAC,...

Fox Chapel will host a semifinal doubleheader Tuesday night in the girls volleyball state tournament. The PIAA on Saturday announced sites and times. Freeport and Hampton will play at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, with Shaler and North Allegheny following at 7:30 p.m. North Catholic and Bishop Canevin also have games Tuesday....

The WPIAL will have at least seven soccer teams in the state finals, and the league could have a finalist in all eight championship games. The PIAA on Sunday announced sites and times for the state semifinals with seven all-WPIAL matchups among them. All games are Tuesday. Boys semifinals Class...

The WPIAL’s smallest classification was also its most unpredictable this fall, but Our Lady of the Sacred Heart coach Dan Bradley says he isn’t surprised by who is still standing. The final four in Class A has three teams from the Big Seven, including his ninth-seeded Chargers, who upset No....

Kiski Area’s Brandon Lawhorn Moore, one of the WPIAL’s top offensive line recruits, committed Saturday to Miami (Ohio). The 6-foot-5, 290-pound senior tackle announced on Twitter his commitment to the RedHawks. He also had listed Division I offers from Duquesne, Bowling Green, Bucknell, Buffalo, Fordham, Kent State, Maine, New Hampshire,...

The WPIAL on Saturday revealed host sites for next weekend’s 10 football semifinals. Among them, West Mifflin will host conference rivals Belle Vernon and Thomas Jefferson next Friday in Class 4A. The game is a rematch from Week 4, when Belle Vernon won, 28-21, at home. All semifinal games are...

No player on Mt. Lebanon’s football roster was yet born the last time the Blue Devils reached the WPIAL finals. That was 21 years ago. But top-seeded Mt. Lebanon, along with the three other Class 6A semifinalists, is only one win away from a trip to the WPIAL championship game....

The sound of a train horn punctuates Hampton home games, thanks to an ardent Talbots fan at a nearby home. It’s one of the WPIAL’s loudest touchdown traditions. “I didn’t know about it my first year and it scared the hell out of me,” said coach Jacque DeMatteo, who’s in...

Days after winning WPIAL titles, the Pine-Richland, Penn-Trafford and Shady Side Academy field hockey teams had another reason to celebrate Wednesday. Combined, the three WPIAL champions had 15 players honored as WPIAL all-stars. The all-stars were chosen by a vote of coaches, who also identified an All-WPIAL team. Class 3A...

No Western Pennsylvania field hockey team has reached the PIAA finals in the sport’s 47-year history, but three WPIAL squads will try as they start their state tournament quest Tuesday. The PIAA on Sunday announced sites and times for first-round games in the three classifications. All first-round games are Tuesday....

The North Allegheny girls volleyball team will begin its quest for a fifth consecutive state title at home Tuesday. The PIAA on Sunday revealed brackets for the upcoming state tournament, which includes a dozen WPIAL teams in the four classifications. All first-round games are Tuesday. North Allegheny, a four-time defending...