Chris Harlan stories, Page 87

Gov. Tom Wolf released covid-19 guidelines for restarting PIAA sports Wednesday, clearing the way for high school sports teams statewide to begin offseason workouts. But before those workouts can take place, the guidelines require every school district to create a detailed health and safety plan that’s approved by the school...

Hot dogs with Skyline Chili and evenings at Great American Ball Park could be in Austin Hendrick’s future, if draft experts are correct. The West Allegheny outfielder is projected as a first-round selection in the MLB Draft on Wednesday night, and the majority opinion has him headed to the Cincinnati...

At Western Beaver, Ryan Matsook’s work duties already include assistant principal and athletic director. Now, add football coach to his busy schedule. Four years after winning WPIAL and PIAA football titles at Beaver Falls, Matsook is making a coaching comeback. Western Beaver needed a football coach after Derek Moye resigned...

The wait is almost over. Covid-19 guidelines for restarting PIAA sports are expected to be released Tuesday or Wednesday, Gov. Tom Wolf said. The PIAA has banned teams from organizing offseason workouts until those guidelines from the state departments of health and education are put into place. “We’re dealing with...

The PIAA wants schools to use this downtime wisely. It’s unclear when Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration will release covid-19 guidelines to restart interscholastic sports, but in the meantime, the PIAA is asking school administrators to start making plans for their own districts, PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said Friday. That...

Athletes, coaches and high school administrators are growing impatient as more counties turn green, but they won’t see return-to-play guidelines for covid-19 until at least next week, according to a spokesman for the Pa. Department of Education. The PIAA has said it won’t clear teams to resume offseason workouts without...

The most dominant high school football team in the state last decade wasn’t from Western Pennsylvania, but six WPIAL programs did make the list. MaxPreps created a formula to rank the teams of the decade and crowned St. Joseph’s Prep as the winner Wednesday. Among WPIAL teams, North Allegheny was...

Where’s the rest of your team? It’s a lighthearted question that makes Quigley Catholic boys soccer coach Dave Baker laugh years later, thinking back to a time when his players shared the field with powerhouse Sewickley Academy. “They had two squads of 30,” Baker said. “They have a varsity team...

Kiski Area’s superintendent announced plans to start next school year online, an approach other districts may adopt, but that doesn’t mean sports are canceled. “If every other PIAA school in the WPIAL is ramping up for fall sports, we will be doing the same thing,” Kiski Area athletic director John...

Here are a few unanswered questions regarding PIAA sports and covid-19: When can Pennsylvania high school teams resume workouts? For now, PIAA teams must wait until July 1 to start working out together because Gov. Tom Wolf has school buildings closed for the rest of this school year in response...

Peters Township junior Donovan McMillon eliminated Pitt and West Virginia a month ago, and now Penn State also disappeared from his list of college football destinations. The 6-foot-2, 193-pound safety announced a top five list of finalists Monday that included Florida, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas Tech and Virginia Tech. He’d eliminated...

June can be a busy month for college football commitments, but will this year be different? A year ago, 14 of the state’s Top 25 recruits made their decision in June, according to Rivals.com rankings. That 2019 list of June commitments included WPIAL stars Michael Carmody of Mars, A.J. Beatty...

Lawrence County has an abundance of grassy fields, without hash marks or end zones, and there’s probably kids throwing a football around on one. “There’s acreage and farms everywhere,” Laurel superintendent Leonard Rich said. “Could I see the quarterbacks and the receivers getting together and running routes? I’m not condoning...

School districts in Lawrence and more than a dozen other Pennsylvania counties will soon enter the green phase, but the PIAA remains in a “holding pattern” waiting to hear what that means for high school sports. Teams can’t resume workouts until cleared by the PIAA. Gov. Tom Wolf announced last...

Trey Ashby never set foot inside Wash High’s basketball gym, but the Nebraska resident can describe the banners on the wall, the paint colors on the floor and the wooden seats that give the place its character. In fact, Ashby built himself a replica. “In Nebraska, all of our gyms...

If a section opponent had a star pitcher, West Allegheny baseball coach Bryan Cornell always assumed his team would face him twice. Next spring, that will change. The WPIAL released revamped baseball schedules Tuesday that have section teams playing a two-game series on consecutive days in 2021. Now, a team...

Competitive spirit, which became a PIAA sport eight years ago, will see some changes next season. The PIAA board approved a new formula for grouping teams that measures both school enrollment and squad size. As a result, there will be five state champions crowned next winter rather than four. The...

Lawrence County is about to turn green, but the battery icon on Joe Cowart’s cell phone was trending toward red. The New Castle football coach’s phone started buzzing Friday after Gov. Tom Wolf named Lawrence among 17 counties moving into the green phase of his color-coded reopening system May 29,...

In WPIAL boys basketball, Butler vs. Pine-Richland has become one of the hottest section rivalries, with overtime finishes and single-digit margins driving up the drama. Next season, it’ll be 50% bigger. There are only five teams in Section 1-6A boys for the 2020-21 season, so the WPIAL will allow those...

The use of foul and vulgar language or physical contact with a PIAA game official, coach or opponent could become a two-game suspension for high school athletes and coaches. The PIAA board discussed a new disqualification rule at Wednesday’s online meeting meant to curb a rising tide of ejections statewide....