Chris Harlan stories, Page 70

Moon’s Mia Cochran was named as the state’s Gatorade Cross Country Player of the Year on Thursday, making her only the second WPIAL runner to win the award. The junior won WPIAL and PIAA Class AAA individual titles last fall, following regular-season victories at the PIAA Foundation Invitational and the...

The PIAA track and field championships are being condensed to one-day meets this spring, but they’ll include the same number of qualifiers as usual. The PIAA board voted Wednesday to have Class AA boys and girls compete May 28 at Shippensburg with the Class AAA meet May 29. Traditionally, the...

Jake DiMichele and Dante Spadafora were the perfect combination this winter, but the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart basketball teammates weren’t always fast friends. “I was in fifth grade; he was in sixth grade,” said DiMichele, remembering back to their days on rival Catholic grade school teams. “Everyone in...

This year’s ballot for electing new WPIAL board members has the largest and most diverse list of candidates in recent memory, executive director Amy Scheuneman said. In all, 16 school administrators were on the ballot this spring for one of the 10 at-large seats on the 19-person board. Online voting...

The Big 33 Football Classic is down to 13 WPIAL athletes for this year’s game after a sixth player withdrew. WPIAL leading rusher and Beaver Falls senior Josh Hough was replaced on the all-star game roster this week. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound running back is a Syracuse recruit and withdrew from...

This year’s Trib 10 boys basketball all-star team could look a lot like next year’s team. Of the 10 players selected, six are juniors or sophomores. That list includes Laurel Highlands sophomore Rodney Gallagher and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart junior Jake DiMichele, who earned Trib 10 honors for...

This year’s Trib 10 girls basketball all-star team has an impressive collection of medals. This winter alone, counting both gold and silver medals, these players combined collected eight from the WPIAL and added four more from the PIAA. But for many, this year’s medal wasn’t their first. Chartiers Valley teammates...

Seton LaSalle football coach Mauro Monz and assistant Jason Pinkston are suspended from coaching any PIAA-affiliated team for one year, the WPIAL announced Wednesday. Neither had yet to coach a game at Seton. The discipline comes a day after four school districts raised recruiting allegations against Seton LaSalle’s first-year coaching...

Administrators from four school districts raised recruiting allegations Tuesday against Seton LaSalle’s football coaches during a lengthy closed-door hearing with the WPIAL, a situation unprecedented in recent memory, WPIAL executive director Amy Scheuneman said. The WPIAL intends to notify Seton LaSalle on Wednesday of its decision and any possible discipline....

PIAA Class 5A girls basketball championship Chartiers Valley vs. Cardinal O’Hara 5 p.m. Saturday at Giant Center, Hershey On the air: PCN-TV; WJPA-FM 95.3/HSSN How they got here: WPIAL champion Chartiers Valley defeated District 10 champion Warren, 61-38, in the quarterfinals and District 3 champion Spring Grove, 50-33, in the...

HERSHEY — For Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, this was the perfect ending. OLSH junior Jake DiMichele had 21 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks, and senior Dante Spadafora added 15 points as the Chargers defeated Philadelphia’s Constitution, 62-49, in the PIAA Class 2A final Friday at Giant Center....

HERSHEY — The PIAA eliminated its on-court medal ceremonies this winter, so Mohawk basketball coach Mike O’Lare awarded them in the team’s makeshift locker room. The two-time WPIAL champions lost to Philadelphia’s West Catholic, 67-56, in the PIAA Class 3A final Thursday night, but O’Lare made certain his players left...

HERSHEY — Neshannock’s first visit to the state finals ended with silver medals and a runner-up trophy, but before the Lancers left Giant Center, they were already making plans for a return trip. They have no seniors, so why not? “We decided in the little room over there that we’ll...

HERSHEY — The Our Lady of the Sacred Heart boys basketball team will have an opponent for the state championships. The game was in question over covid-19 concerns, but the Class 2A final against Constitution will be played as schedule at 2:30 p.m. Friday, PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said....

If the PIAA gets its wish, spring sports will have full state playoff brackets this season rather than the smaller champions-only format used in the fall and winter. “That’s our intention,” PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said Wednesday, two days before spring teams can start regular-season competition. But the bigger...

The WPIAL has scheduled a hearing to address recruiting allegations raised by other schools against Seton LaSalle’s football coaching staff. The hearing is scheduled for March 30. The WPIAL board has discussed the specifics of the allegations only in executive session. Seton LaSalle hired Mauro Monz as football coach in...

Twenty-eight times Lincoln Park was whistled for a foul Monday night, yet it wasn’t so much how they fouled but rather who. Hickory senior Peyton Mele went 12 for 13 from the line in the second half and scored a game-high 38 points as the District 10 champion defeated host...

For New Castle, the fourth quarter ticked away too slowly and overtime went by too fast. The Red Hurricanes lost a seven-point lead late in regulation, and in overtime saw their potential tying basket waved off after the buzzer Friday night as Erie’s Cathedral Prep won 52-50 in the PIAA...

Comparisons to older brother Nelly are harder to shake than any lockdown defender, and Lincoln Park freshman Brandin Cummings just added another item in common. “Different personality. Different length. Different kind of player,” coach Mike Bariski said. “But here’s the similarity: Both were really good as freshmen.” And both won...

Calling it “a very tough decision,” Dan DeRose resigned Wednesday night after one season as boys basketball coach at North Allegheny. “I really need to step back and evaluate some things,” he said, “because I’m going through some personal and some family issues that I need to deal with.” DeRose...

Upper St. Clair’s boys basketball team has at least six healthy players, so the Panthers will compete Saturday in the PIAA playoffs as scheduled. The school was awaiting results from team-wide covid-19 tests after a case was discovered Sunday, two days after Upper St. Clair won the WPIAL Class 6A...