John Grupp stories, Page 13

The Hampton girls volleyball team found a silver lining in its WPIAL Class 3A runner-up season. “It was amazing,” senior outside hitter Taylor Fiscus said. “I never expected this, but we worked really hard as a team. My freshman year, I didn’t even make the team. These girls are amazing,...

Hampton’s journey to the 2021 WPIAL boys soccer championship began when many of the players were still in elementary school. As 8- and 9-year-olds, they competed on the same Hampton youth soccer teams. They became close friends and grew as teammates. They went undefeated as eighth-graders and reached the 2019...

Hampton boys cross country coach Dean Longwell dyed his hair bleach blonde on Oct. 31, but it had nothing to do with Halloween. Longwell was keeping his word. The longtime coach made a bet with his young team over the summer. If they earned a top-three finish at the WPIAL...

A girls soccer season that began with the program’s most lopsided loss in a decade ended with the players’ heads held high. Hampton rebounded from a shaky start to place second in Section 1-3A and reach the WPIAL playoffs for the sixth consecutive year. The No. 7-seeded Talbots defeated No....

The No. 4-seeded Hampton Talbots remained perfect, but they used an imperfect performance to stay that way. The Talbots (11-0) overcame turnovers and penalties to edge a spirited Plum team 14-13 on Friday night on a late touchdown in the first round of the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs. Trailing for...

Each Saturday morning, the Hampton football team gathers for its weekly film study to break down the previous night’s game. After a quick workout, the players settle in, munching on bagels and other food, to watch the replay. So far it’s been two thumbs up. “It’s a different mood this...

Hampton graduate Elaina Balouris Tabb competed in the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Trials and represented her country on five continents as a professional distance runner. But nothing compared to a Monday morning in Boston earlier this month. Balouris Tabb, running in her first marathon, finished second among all U.S. females...

Sophia Kelly had a tough decision to make this past summer. A week-and-a-half at the beach, or basketball and soccer practices? She made the unusual choice. “I didn’t go on vacation this year,” said Kelly, a senior at Hampton. “I opted out.” Kelly is a rare three-sport female varsity athlete...

Michael Berarducci’s first collegiate punt traveled 59 yards, and the memory will carry on much further. The Duquesne freshman from Hampton made his unforgettable debut at TCU’s Amon G. Carter Stadium in front of nearly 36,000 fans, including his mom and dad. “Punting in TCU’s stadium, a packed stadium, first...

Hampton’s Kevyn Fish proudly held out her left hand and showed her dad the “6:22” written on her palm. Fish had just completed a mile run as part of the school’s sixth-grade Greek Olympics and wanted to remember her time. So she jotted it down. “I was like, ‘I think...

Hampton’s Jacque DeMatteo has sought two traits in his middle linebacker during 22 seasons as a WPIAL football coach. “You have to be physical and intelligent,” DeMatteo said, “and that’s both adjectives and qualities that describe Jayden right now.” Senior middle linebacker Jayden Resch is the anchor of an improving...

Nearly 60,000 golfers participated this year in the PGA Jr. League and only 96 of them qualified for the 13-and-under national championship this month. One of them is an eighth-grader from Hampton. Rin Suyama will compete with the Westwood Golf Club team in its bid for a national title beginning...

The Hampton girls soccer team is getting healthy at the right time. After dropping their first two games this season, including the program’s most lopsided loss in a decade, the defending Section 1-3A champion Talbots went 6-0-1 during a seven-game surge heading into their Sept. 30 game against visiting Indiana....

Hampton senior Thomas Bradfield is one of the top goalkeepers in WPIAL Class 3A soccer. But he rarely gets to prove it. The Talbots are playing smothering defense this season, and Bradfield, a third-year starter, often goes long stretches without ever being tested by an opponent’s shot. “We want to...

One of the winningest coaches in the history of Hampton boys lacrosse is being replaced by one of the program’s top players of all time. Jim Vollberg, who led the Talbots to the 2015 WPIAL Class AA title and a steady run of championship-game appearances, will not return next spring...

Former girls soccer star Amy Lindsey Shane waited more than two decades to get into the Hampton Athletic Hall of Fame, so one extra year wasn’t going to matter. “It was very nice,” she said. “For me, even though I played through college, the times that I remember the most...

On the first day of Hampton girls tennis practice last month, coach Grant McKinney could hardly believe his eyes. Senior Megan Kang, one of the school’s top singles players who sat out last season because of covid concerns, was walking onto the court at Hampton Community Park, racquet in hand....

On the bus ride home from their 51-13 victory at Fox Chapel on Sept. 3, the Hampton football players couldn’t play any music during their joyful postgame celebration. “I think the speaker we brought died,” senior tackle John Morris said. But the Talbots are still making plenty of noise. Hampton...

A youthful Hampton girls cross country team is about to get even younger. And probably a lot better. The Talbots return five of their top seven runners from the WPIAL championships and welcome talented freshman Kevyn Fish into the fold. “I’m really excited,” said sophomore Lydia Bailey, who as a...

Since going undefeated as eighth graders, the seniors on the Hampton boys soccer team have held lofty expectations. They own a sparkling 35-15-3 overall record in three seasons but have zero section titles and no WPIAL championship game appearances. This is their final chance, and they plan on making the...

Junior Abi Green is hoping to put a new spin on her 2021 season with the Hampton girls tennis team. The program’s top returning singles player worked this spring and summer to tweak her forehand and backhand strokes as the Talbots look to rebound from a winless season. “I worked...

Mars senior left tackle Matt Detisch spent this offseason doing bear crawls on a big hill at his home. “I would take a 100-pound sandbag and I’d walk it up and down a bunch of times until I’m tired,” he said, “almost puking.” The 6-foot-7, 290-pound Detisch and the Mars...

Hampton all-conference wide receiver Benny Haselrig played last season with the letters “IWNBD CH” written on his wrist tape. The cryptic message stood for “I Will Not Be Denied — Carlton Haselrig,” a tribute to Benny’s cousin, the former NCAA wrestling champion and Pittsburgh Steeler who died in July 2020...

North Hills is talented and experienced on defense this season, and a little bit Green at quarterback. But that’s just fine. Speedy junior John Green will take over under center, giving the Indians a dynamic dual-threat quarterback as they try to return to the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs following a...

Distance runner Elaina Balouris Tabb was about four steps into the biggest race of her life when everything went wrong. Balouris’ heel was clipped by another runner just after the opening gun in the 10,000-meter race at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Trials on June 26 in Eugene, Ore., and...