High School category, Page 1040
Burrell stadium renovation project moves ahead
The renovation of Buccaneers Stadium at Burrell High School continues forward, and the project now is expected to be completed in about a month, athletic director Drake D’Angelo said Tuesday. The Burrell School Board voted unanimously in March to move ahead with the renovations, which include the installment of artificial...
Hot turf leads to burn injuries for Greater Latrobe basketball players, AD says
Three members of the boys Greater Latrobe High School basketball team have resumed workouts after district officials said they severely burned their hands last month on hot football field turf during a training session. Athletic Director Mark Mears said team members were doing off-season lifting and conditioning on July 20...
PIAA wants to move forward with fall sports, executive director tells legislators
The PIAA wants to move forward with fall sports, executive director Bob Lombardi told state legislators Tuesday, citing favorable data collected by UPMC athletic trainers. His words were an early indication the governor’s wishes will be ignored. “It is worth at least attempting to pursue a fall sports program,” said...
State’s health secretary says Gov. Wolf won’t mandate cancellation of high school sports
If the PIAA ignores Gov. Tom Wolf’s advice and allows fall sports to continue, his administration won’t turn his strong recommendation into a mandate. “The governor has been very clear about that: There are no plans to do that,” state Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said Tuesday. Wolf’s administration wants...
Norwin hires new athletic director in 5-4 vote
Norwin hired an athletic director Monday who was Greensburg Salem’s athletic director the past 20 months and previously was an assistant athletic director at Norwin. Mike Burrell Jr. was hired by the school board on a 5-4 vote at a pro-rated school year salary of $84,000. Burrell’s first day on...
State lawmakers question data used to recommend PIAA sports shutdown
Republican state lawmakers are questioning the specific data — or lack thereof — that Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration used to recommend shutting down youth sports this fall. Wolf issued a “strong recommendation” interscholastic and recreational youth sports be postponed until Jan. 1, but members of the Republican House Caucus criticized...
Freedom cancels football workouts over covid-19 concerns
Freedom administrators canceled football workouts for this week over concerns a player was possibly exposed to the coronavirus. Superintendent Jeffrey Fuller informed parents in a letter posted on the school district’s website. Fuller said the move was taken out of an abundance of caution after an athlete was potentially exposed,...
Slow-pitch softball league planning ‘full bore’ for upcoming season
The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League’s 15th fall season is scheduled to begin Labor Day weekend. League officials are planning to start on time, but they also are monitoring upcoming announcements from the PIAA and other possible rulings from school districts and local and state government officials that might throw...
Kiski School will adopt bubble strategy to play sports
The NBA and NHL successfully used an isolation “bubble” to restart their sports, and now Kiski School will take that idea to the high school level. Athletes at the private, all-boys boarding school in Saltsburg will compete this fall under a plan that involves team-specific dorms and on-campus covid-19 testing,...
Oakmont to host WPIAL girls Class AAA golf championships for the first time
Oakmont Country Club has hosted nine U.S. Open championships, three PGA championships, two U.S. Women’s Opens, five U.S. Amateur Opens and several WPIAL boys championships, including the 2016 and ‘18 Class AAA individual finals. History will be made Oct. 8 when the storied golf course hosts the WPIAL Class AAA...
PIAA ‘disappointed’ with answers in meeting with Gov. Wolf’s staff
In a word, Friday’s meeting with Gov. Tom Wolf’s staff was “uneventful.” PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi offered that analysis after an unproductive conversation regarding Wolf’s recommended shutdown of fall sports. The governor isn’t budging from his recommendation, and his staff wasn’t receptive to concerns raised by the PIAA. “There...
Bethel Park’s Emily Carter commits to run at Oklahoma State
Emily Carter is heading west to continue her cross country and track and field pursuits. The Bethel Park senior distance running standout has verbally committed to Oklahoma State in the Big 12. Carter said she informed the Oklahoma State coaches Wednesday and posted announcements of her decision on social media...
Allderdice girls soccer workouts suspended amid positive covid-19 test
The Allderdice girls soccer team will not hold conditioning workouts for two weeks after one of its players tested positive for covid-19. Pittsburgh Public Schools announced the move in a release, stating that the asymptomatic athlete notified the district Thursday of the positive test result. It said the student trained...
PIHL in a holding pattern, hoping to start season on time
The PIHL hopes to begin its 2020-21 season in early October, but league officials and teams are waiting for clarity on certain issues before going full speed ahead. While many of the programs have been working out on and off the ice in anticipation of a season, PIHL commissioner John...
Tim Benz: Gov. Wolf’s latest high school sports quotes are even more absurd and dismissive than last week’s
Last week, Gov. Tom Wolf made an out-of-nowhere recommendation that scholastic sports be postponed until at least Jan. 1. The PIAA didn’t know that statement was coming. Wolf provided no context for how his office came to that decision. And he put forth no explanation for the logic behind the...
Walkers, runners take to refurbished track at Jeannette’s McKee StadiumVideo
A social media post about the completion and opening of the new track at Jeannette’s McKee Stadium Monday was viewed over 11,000 times. People in the community have been walking and jogging on the oval all week. “All of the feedback we have received from the community has been positive,”...
Gov. Wolf stands behind fall sports shutdown but says ‘I’m just one person’Video
Gov. Tom Wolf said he’s unlikely to change his recommendation to delay youth sports, no matter what the PIAA says, but described his role as “one person that has an opinion.” Wolf, speaking Thursday at a news conference, said he hadn’t read the letter PIAA administrators sent him earlier in...
Norwin expected to name Michael Burrell new director of athletics, activities
The Norwin school board could hire Michael Burrell Jr. as the district’s next director of athletics and activities at its meeting Monday. Burrell was the recommended candidate on a list of new hires on the agenda for the board’s planning meeting this week. He would replace Brandon Rapp, who was...
Memorial bench honors late Penn-Trafford pitcher
Maclean Maund will forever be memorialized on the Penn-Trafford campus. The late Warriors baseball star, who was killed in an auto accident in January not far from the high school, has his own memorial bench overlooking the baseball field near the school’s entrance. The marble bench, perched on top of...
Even with many meets canceled, GCC’s Corinn Brewer finds a way to win this summer
Corinn Brewer went into her first — and last — track competition of the summer with an all-or-nothing approach. Why would she not? She had been training for the AAU Junior Olympics during the first five months of the covid-19 pandemic, and the rising junior at Greensburg Central Catholic wanted...
WPIAL suspends Seton LaSalle assistant baseball coach for recruiting
A Seton LaSalle assistant baseball coach is facing a yearlong suspension for violating PIAA recruiting rules. The WPIAL held a hearing Tuesday for assistant coach David Lee and levied a one-year suspension for sharing social media posts enticing students to attend Seton LaSalle for athletic purposes, WPIAL executive director Amy...
Summit Academy is 2nd WPIAL school to forgo fall sports
Summit Academy won’t play sports this fall, becoming the second WPIAL school to cancel athletics over covid-19 concerns. “This has to do with the health and safety of our students and staff members,” said athletic director Ryan Parrish, noting the school for at-risk boys faces challenges different than others. “Our...
State Rep. Mike Reese, Republican lawmakers take on governor on high school sportsVideo
A recommendation from Gov. Tom Wolf can easily turn into a mandate, said state Rep. Mike Reese, who wants the Legislature to act before that happens with youth sports. The Westmoreland County Republican announced legislation Tuesday that would leave decisions about high school sports in the hands of local school...
Mudcats edge Snappers in Game 3 to win 2020 Daily News League championshipVideo
Eric Fairman may have been at the top of the Mudcats batting order, but on Monday night in the third and deciding game of the 2020 Daily News League championship series, the Thomas Jefferson grad was in the middle of his team’s two rallies. Fairman doubled to set up two...
As high school sports debate continues, Levine stands firm, Republicans plan legislation
State Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine stood firm Monday on delaying youth sports until next year, and two state legislators announced plans to join the debate over high school athletics. Speaking on a conference call with reporters, Levine defended the recommendation issued last week by Gov. Tom Wolf to delay...
