Michael Love stories, Page 104

The National Athletic Trainers Association has recognized Shady Side Academy with its Safe Sports School 2nd Team Award for its athletic training program under the direction of head trainer Chris Rose and assistant Brynn Mahoney. The award honors secondary schools that have met the recommended standards to improve safety in...

Chuck Sarver’s voice rang out with optimism and hope. The president of the Freeport International Baseball Invitational said Monday that plans are going forward to host games this year, provided national or state regulations in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic give them the green light. “The bottom line and...

Editor’s note: This is the second in an 18-part series profiling nominees for the Westmoreland County Scholar-Athlete Excellence Awards. As a three-sport athlete, with a challenging class schedule and several other school activities, Ricky Feroce didn’t have much down time throughout the academic year. The Burrell senior, a standout in...

Editor’s note: Each day, Trib HSSN will spotlight WPIAL spring athletes whose senior years were cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. After dominating WPIAL Class AA for years, the Sewickley Academy boys tennis team tested its mettle in Class AAA in 2019. Leading last year’s charge was Arjan Bedi, who...

Rachel Tanilli and Maria Taliani’s first experience as softball teammates came more than a decade ago in the Deer Lakes youth program. Combining their talents led to many memories made on and off the field and brought them to one final season together on the Gannon softball team. While this...

Editor’s note: Each day, Trib HSSN will spotlight WPIAL spring athletes whose senior years were cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. Tony Boff had an expanded role in mind for his final season with the Bethel Park boys volleyball team. Before the PIAA shut down the spring sports season in...

James Johnston was ready. The Knoch senior, a cornerstone of the Knights boys lacrosse team, did all he could to be 100% prepared for spring practices and games with several months of recovery from a severe lower left leg and ankle injury suffered during the football season. He was pleased...

The All-American Amateur Baseball Association will not hold its annual August tournament in Johnstown and at other locations in the region because of the ongoing uncertainty with the coronavirus pandemic. “As everybody is aware, the AAABA Tournament is a Johnstown and national tradition. So after 47 years with AAABA, it...

Dante Lombardi, an Indiana native and 2015 Kiski School graduate, has earned inclusion on Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s men’s basketball 2010s All-Decade Team, the university announced Thursday. He is a member of the five-player second team. The 2019 Crimson Hawks graduate earned National Association of Basketball Coaches All-Atlantic District honors...

During her four years with the Indiana University of Pennsylvania women’s basketball team through last season, Carolyn Appleby proved her worth as she helped the Crimson Hawks maximize their abilities in and out of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference play. The Greensburg Central Catholic graduate, second in program history with 1,723...

Gabrielle Krieger wrapped up her senior academic year at the University of Alabama on Tuesday morning with her online final in advanced exercise physiology. For the 2016 Pine-Richland graduate, a veteran member of the Crimson Tide women’s rowing team, it was a positive development in what has been a challenging...

Pittsburgh area native Roberta Groner worked as a nurse for more than a decade at UPMC Presbyterian, and the mission of those in emergency care facilities throughout the county in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic is a cause close to her heart. The 42-year-old Groner, a Seneca Valley graduate...

Editor’s note: Each day, Trib HSSN will spotlight WPIAL spring athletes whose senior years were cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. Zach Palko wasn’t satisfied. The Indiana senior had the 2019 WPIAL Class AA boys singles title and a trip to the PIAA semifinals in his growing portfolio, but he...

When the NCAA Division I swimming championships were canceled March 12 because of the coronavirus, Plum resident Peyton Kondis began to turn her attention and preparation to wrapping up her competition career in late June at the U.S. Olympic swim trials in Omaha, Neb. But for the Oakland Catholic graduate...

Editor’s note: Each day, Trib HSSN will spotlight WPIAL spring athletes whose senior years were cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. Liam Buck fashioned himself an on-court artist for the Ambridge boys volleyball team as the outside hitter turned his talents into a trio of Class AA all-section and All-WPIAL...

Gabrielle Krieger made her mark the past four years with the women’s rowing team at the University of Alabama. USRowing took notice of the Pine-Richland graduate’s talents and accomplishments, and the sport’s governing body recognized the multi-time conference medalist this week with an invitation to a national camp with international...

Burrell graduate Nicole Kristof is making her mark on the water as a member of the Robert Morris University rowing team. But her athletic influence and passion extends beyond the sphere of competition, and that dedication has been recognized and honored with selection to the International University Sports Federation Forum...

Ahmad Matour hopes to compete in the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition in September. The 26-year-old Monroeville resident and native of Jordan punched his ticket to the prestigious annual competition in Las Vegas with a strong showing last month at the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio. But as the coronavirus pandemic...

The Big 26 Baseball Classic, the annual summer all-star competition between rising high school juniors and seniors from Pennsylvania and Maryland, will not take place this year in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Hershey Harrisburg Sports & Events Authority made the announcement Thursday morning. The event, which includes...

The Golf Coaches Association of America on Wednesday announced its NCAA Division III PING All-American teams, and Carnegie Mellon junior Jason Li, a Sewickley Academy graduate, picked up first-team honors for the second year in a row. Last season, Li became the first CMU golfer to be tabbed first-team All-American....

Editor’s note: Each day, Trib HSSN will spotlight WPIAL spring athletes whose senior years were cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. Michael Odrey enjoyed getting out in the sun and fresh air a couple of days ago as he hit a few tennis balls with his father. “It was the...

AJ Collins is seeing with double vision as he will join both the men’s soccer and baseball teams at Penn State New Kensington. Baseball always has been the first love for the Penn Hills senior as he started to play the sport at a young age. Soccer came later —...

The St. Joseph baseball team is coming off a breakout season as it qualified for the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since 2000 and scored an upset victory in the opening round. The Spartans advanced to the Class A quarterfinals with a 10-1 win over No. 6 Monessen and...

The St. Joseph softball program enjoyed a two-year run to the WPIAL playoffs in 2017 and ‘18, the first two such seasons in its history. The Spartans played a pair of postseason games both times, winning in the first round each time and finishing the two years with a combined...