High School category, Page 1039
Charlie Swink leaving post as Southmoreland AD with pride
Charlie Swink was there to see the football team’s breakthrough season. He witnessed the championship run of the softball team, a state-championship wrestler and he looked on as the girls basketball team made history. But Swink’s days around the Southmoreland athletic department are over, at least for now. Swink recently...
Belle Vernon has pedigree to contend
Since Matt Humbert was hired as the football coach at Belle Vernon in 2014, the program has seen steady improvement. The Leopards have defeated perennial power Thomas Jefferson, won the conference title twice, reached the WPIAL semifinals and, finally, in 2019, reached the WPIAL finals for the first time since...
Underclassmen growing into contributors for Ringgold
It’s been a rough few seasons for the Ringgold football program — winless in 2018 and two wins, one by forfeit, in 2019. But second-year coach and Ringgold alumnus Darwin Manges is starting to see some light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. “It’s encouraging because now we have...
Playoff eligibility in doubt for talented West Mifflin team led by Pitt recruit Nahki Johnson
As camps finally begin across the state, every high school football team has questions, from competition for starting spots to trying to stay healthy during a pandemic. However, one district school has another massive question hanging over its heads as practices begin. Will West Mifflin be eligible for the 2020...
After successful Class 5A stint, McKeesport happy to return to 4A ranks
For 3½ decades, McKeesport called Class AAAA home in high school football. Four years after expansion to six classifications saw the Tigers competing in Class 5A, McKeesport returns to 4A football this fall. “Moving into 4A is exciting,” McKeesport coach Matt Miller said. “We get to play against a whole...
2-sport star Rodney Gallagher has talent to elevate Laurel Highlands
Sophomore Rodney Gallagher helped the Laurel Highlands basketball team win a WPIAL Class 4A title in 2020. Can the superstar athlete now help the football team become relevant? Since North Union and South Union merged to become Laurel Highlands in 1966, the basketball team has had most of the school’s...
With coach in their corner, Trinity seniors set to showcase their skills
Trinity football coach Jon Miller spent time during pandemic quarantine promoting his rising senior players on Twitter. He posted photos, links to Hudl highlights and a few strengths for each of his upperclassmen. Now, with actual football about to be played, he wants to see them back up his words...
WPIAL treasurer Michael Allison voted ‘no’ to starting fall sports. Here’s why.
Hopewell principal Michael Allison is a former high school athlete and coach, the treasurer of the WPIAL and president of the Pennsylvania Principals Association. He’s also one of five PIAA board members Friday who voted against starting fall sports next week. Allison understands his vote won’t be popular with many,...
Athletic directors, coaches express relief, optimism as fall sports get go-ahead
Most high school athletes across the state received good news Friday when the PIAA voted 25-5 to begin fall sports Monday. Now it’s up to each school district to decide if they will allow their students to participate, especially in contact sports such as football, soccer and field hockey. “I...
PIAA ignores Gov. Wolf’s recommendation, allows fall sports to start Monday
High school football season starts Monday, along with soccer, cross country, girls volleyball and all other PIAA fall sports. The PIAA board of directors ignored Gov. Tom Wolf’s strong recommendation and voted Friday to let fall sports start as scheduled, but the PIAA left the responsibility with individual school districts...
Allegheny County schools can play football under health department’s 50-person limit
The PIAA voted to allow high school sports to proceed on schedule. Allegheny County schools got a double dose of good news. Allegheny County schools will be able to play games at home, the WPIAL and Allegheny County Health Department announced Friday in a joint statement. The county’s 50-person limit...
Sto-Rox hires Aliquippa’s Dwight Hines, all-time scorer Kerry Connolly as basketball coaches
After decades in red and black, Dwight Hines is embracing green energy at Sto-Rox. The former coach and star athlete at Aliquippa was hired Thursday night as the Sto-Rox boys basketball coach. Hines didn’t choose to leave his alma mater this summer, but said his new job already reminds him...
PIAA set to make ‘biggest announcement’ regarding fall sports
The PIAA has been around for more than a century, and Friday’s decision surely ranks among its most debated. Should high school sports be played this fall? Gov. Tom Wolf repeatedly has said no and issued a “strong recommendation” that all youth sports be delayed until at least Jan. 1...
Whole country might be watching what Pennsylvania decides about fall sports
The PIAA will meet at 3 p.m. Friday, presumably to make its final decision on the fate of fall high school sports in Pennsylvania. To play or not to play? The association’s action finally will give member schools a concrete initiative with which to move forward. It is not hyperbole...
Westmoreland County H.S. notebook: Another school, Southmoreland, needs an AD
Another Westmoreland County school district is looking for an athletic director. The local AD carousel continues to turn as Southmoreland has a vacancy after the resignation of Charlie Swink. The head of Scotties athletics since 2010, Swink plans to stay as the district’s transportation director. This means six county schools...
Allegheny County Health Department offers to assist WPIAL with covid-19 restrictions
The WPIAL and Allegheny County Health Department will meet Friday to discuss plans for potentially playing high school sports this fall. Those talks will include the county’s 50-person limit on outdoor gatherings, a restriction that has school administrators concerned Allegheny County football teams won’t be able to host games. “We...
GOP bill that would leave sports decisions to school districts clears state House committee
Republican-sponsored legislation that would give Pennsylvania school districts the final say over whether to hold sports and other activities during the pandemic cleared a House committee Thursday, one day before the governing body for interscholastic sports was to decide the fate of the fall season. With dozens of parents, students...
U mad, bro? Fans rant about Bryan Rust, grouse about Gov. Wolf, get ticked off about Mike Tomlin vs. Mike Sullivan
This week’s “U mad, bro?” gets into some pretty choppy waters. Mike Sullivan versus Mike Tomlin. Bryan Rust versus trade talk. Governor Tom Wolf versus high school sports. And me versus copyright infringement. Read carefully. This could get dicey. Let’s start with James. He really enjoyed my recent column about...
Western PA Bruins players continue to gather basketball offers
An extended “dead” period in NCAA recruiting during the covid-19 shutdown did not stand in the way of the Western PA Bruins girls AAU basketball program. The Bruins continue to be a prime target for Division I college coaches who know where to take their scholarship offers. Those offers have...
Ligonier Valley’s football schedule down to 5 games
Ligonier Valley is set to makes its WPIAL debut for its second stint in the league this fall. The Rams have not played in the WPIAL in 50 years. But the football team is hurting for games. The Rams will open the season — should it be played — with...
Health department restrictions could force Allegheny County football teams elsewhere
If there’s a high school football season this fall, teams from Allegheny County might play home games at stadiums in neighboring counties. That’s a possibility if the Allegheny County Health Department maintains its strict 50-person limit on outdoor gatherings, North Allegheny athletic director Bob Bozzuto said Wednesday. Bozzuto, president of...
Fox Chapel’s Zoe Skirboll excited about decision to swim at Virginia
Zoe Skirboll was not cavalier when she made the announcement Tuesday of her verbal commitment to swim for the Virginia Cavaliers. The rising junior at Fox Chapel and one of the top swimmers in the state and the country expressed her excitement with photos and a message on Instagram. Skirboll...
New coach takes over successful Greensburg Central Catholic girls soccer program
Olivia Kruger is new to the Pittsburgh area, but she knows a lot about Greensburg Central Catholic girls soccer. Even from halfway across the state, in Chambersburg, Kruger followed the program’s dominance in the WPIAL and PIAA. It was hard not to notice the Centurions come postseason time. “I knew...
Yough hires Scott Morrison as athletic director
Scott Morrison plans to take sports at Yough in a different, fresh direction. That’s not to say his longtime predecessor, Tom Evans, did not have things running smoothly as athletic director in Herminie. It was quite the contrary. Evans is well-respected in WPIAL circles for his decades-long work as an...
Quaker Valley halts team workouts after off-campus exposure to covid-19
Quaker Valley suspended all workouts by its sports teams after learning several athletes were exposed to covid-19 at an off-campus gathering, the school announced Tuesday. “We are working swiftly to identify all student-athletes who were in attendance at this non-school event so that they can quarantine, and the remaining student-athletes...
