Michael Love stories, Page 14

Senior Ryan Lydon said he and his Apollo-Ridge teammates have a chip on their shoulder to get back on track this season and challenge for a spot in the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs. The Vikings were 3-7 overall last year and 2-5 in the rugged Allegheny Conference. “We’re ready to...

The Plum boys soccer team enjoyed another strong regular season last fall in what has become a string of such successes the past half decade. The Mustangs went 14-0 in their Class 3A section, lost just once in nonsection play and earned the top seed for the WPIAL playoff tournament....

Deer Lakes made program history last year with its first playoff victory. And what a dominant win it was in the WPIAL Class 3A first round. The Lancers rolled past Southmoreland by 30 points in what was their second postseason game at home. Deer Lakes fell to eventual WPIAL and...

Zier Williams was the workhorse of the Deer Lakes running game last year and helped the Lancers make playoff history. He collected 1,147 yards and 13 touchdowns on 188 carries as Deer Lakes secured its first WPIAL playoff home game and also made a statement with a 30-point rout of...

A small but enthusiastic group of 21 Springdale football players greeted first-year Dynamos coach Chad Walsh on Monday afternoon for the first day of official preseason camp in the shadow of Springdale High School. “We had a core of about 16 showing up throughout the summer,” Walsh said. “We had...

The first time new Gateway girls volleyball coach Erica Bosh expected see her players on the court was Aug. 12 at the first preseason practice at Gateway’s Furrie Sports Complex. The Keystone Oaks and Pitt-Greensburg graduate and volleyball product officially came on board at the beginning of August as the...

Corey Mackintosh was a stalwart at inside linebacker last year for Apollo-Ridge. The 5-foot-11, 210-pounder also worked in at defensive end. But a switch in position to outside linebacker in the offseason has the Vikings senior excited to see how he can contribute to what he and his teammates hope...

Hailey Marchlewski remembers how she and her Springdale girls soccer teammates felt after a pair of tough postseason setbacks, first by one goal to Freedom in the WPIAL Class A semifinals and then to rival Riverview, 3-1, in the PIAA quarterfinals. “We’re excited to get back out there because we...

The Kiski Area football team made a move up to Class 5A in the offseason, but what Cavaliers veteran head coach Sam Albert hopes doesn’t change is his team’s ability to make the WPIAL playoffs. He said the battles in its revamped conference with Armstrong, Franklin Regional, Gateway, Latrobe, Penn-Trafford,...

When Pack the Park, an early-­season matchup between the Kiski Area and Norwin girls volleyball teams on the outdoor courts at Kennedy Park in Vandergrift, began in 2021, Tim Toy had a vision that it would be an annual event to celebrate the start of each fall season. Now in...

A high school classmate of Michele (Michanowicz) Thompson stood near the 18th green early Sunday afternoon, her eyes extended down the fairway to catch the first sight of Thompson as she was about to put the finishing touches on her fourth round at the U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Fox...

North Allegheny graduate Ayden Owens-Delerme is in contention for an Olympic medal after the first five events of the men’s decathlon contested Friday at Stade de France Track in Paris. Representing Puerto Rico, the 24-year-old Owens-Delerme earned a combined 4,608 points for the five events, putting him second overall. Germany’s...

Jaiden Brown-Demery is taking nothing for granted as he enters his senior season at West Mifflin. The 6-foot-4, 315-pound lineman missed his entire sophomore season after suffering an ACL injury. He didn’t return until the fourth game of last season against Ringgold, but the feeling of getting back on the...

For the second summer in a row, the Monroeville Gators Junior Legion baseball team concluded its season in the state playoffs. It wasn’t the finish the players or coaches had hoped for — Monroeville lost both games in the tournament the weekend of July 28 in Homer City — but...

Chuck Sarver woke up Sunday morning, the day after this year’s Freeport International Baseball Invitational had concluded with the annual all-star game and fireworks celebration, and couldn’t help but smile. The FIBI president was grateful the 30th anniversary week of activities, which included more than 50 youth baseball games at...

Josh Matheny’s goal of winning an Olympic medal will have to wait. The former Upper St. Clair swimming standout and member of men’s team at Indiana University placed seventh overall in the men’s 200-meter breaststroke final Wednesday afternoon with a time of 2 minutes, 9.52 seconds at Paris’ La Défense...

Boyce Boxing in Plum is gearing up for a big night as its fighters will feature prominently in a 12-bout card Saturday at Gloria’s Gym in the Monroeville Mall. “I have some guys with no fights and it will be their debut, and others who are open class with 10...

Her friends and family in Plum know her as Madison Knisley. The wrestling world that watches World Wrestling Entertainment brand NXT live every Tuesday evening on the USA Network knows her as Thea Hail, one of the company’s fastest-rising stars. This Tuesday, the 2021 Plum graduate will challenge for the...

The late Sonny Westerman, founder of the Freeport International Baseball Invitational, must have been looking down at James E. Swartz Memorial Field in Freeport Borough on Thursday evening with a smile as pleasant weather and tradition brought out a large crowd for the annual Old Timers game that bears his...

Kye Hodges loves baseball and loves to be on the field with his teammates. It’s that simple formula that has the 15-year-old Central Coast, Australia, resident — nicknamed Big Sexy by his hometown friends — excited to be in Freeport this week with a group of baseball players from Down...

West Mifflin senior Delron White was having a strong first part of the 2023 season as he carried the rushing load for the Titans. But when he went down with a leg injury in the second half of a 38-14 loss to conference rival Avonworth in Week 5, West Mifflin...

When Dre Corbin came on board in early May as the as the Riverview boys basketball coach, he saw an enthusiastic athletic environment in which to offer his coaching abilities and put forth his goals to raise the program to a level of success. “This job called to me for...

Andre Carter knows a lot about the athletes at Riverview. As athletic director and girls basketball coach at Leechburg, he witnessed numerous matchups between the Alle-Kiski Valley rivals. Carter’s mission now is to give the Raiders athletes the best advantage to succeed, both as individuals and in team competition. He...

Last year, the Backyard Bucs youth travel team helped usher in the week of games at the Freeport International Baseball Invitational at James E. Swartz Memorial Field in Freeport Borough with a Monday evening game against the France Hawks. The Bucs, a 12U squad with players from Oakmont, Lower Burrell,...