High School category, Page 1057
Trib HSSN May Madness: Steve Breaston, Woodland Hills vs. Jonathan Baldwin, Aliquippa
Over the course of the next month and a half, May Madness will determine who fans believe is the WPIAL Athlete of the Century. HSSN has put together two 32-player brackets, one for the boys and one for the girls, of WPIAL alums. Outside of a few exceptions, the field...
Hempfield to interview athletic director candidates this weekVideo
Hempfield Area School District is moving forward in its search for a new athletic director after Greg Meisner resigned April 3. Meisner served as the district’s athletic director since 2005. Meisner, 60, is a Valley grad who went on to play defensive line at Pitt and in the NFL. He...
Decade’s best WPIAL finals: Softball No. 10
From classification expansion to field renovations forcing a change in the venue for the district championships, there was a lot going on with the WPIAL softball championships this past decade. From Lilly Field at Cal (Pa.) to Seton Hill to a mishmash of title games played here and there or...
In the midst of challenges, Don Holl settling in as Gateway’s athletic director
Don Holl’s first official day as Gateway’s new athletic director was March 13. It also was the day Gov. Tom Wolf announced all schools in the state would close temporarily and all school-related activities suspended as part of the early response to the coronavirus pandemic. The state made that ruling...
Dek hockey athleticism earns North Hills lineman 1st college football offerVideo
At 6-foot-5 and around 230 pounds, North Hills’ Matt Hummel is bigger than most dek hockey players. Off-the-shelf sticks are often too short. But the athleticism that lets him play multiple sports also has college football coaches interested in recruiting the offensive lineman. The junior added his first Division I...
Air Force Academy football makes recruiting push into Western Pa.Video
Two military service academies have successfully recruited Western Pennsylvania football players for years. Combined, Army and Navy had seven former WPIAL athletes on their rosters last fall. The Air Force Academy wants to join them. The Falcons have extended offers to a number of WPIAL juniors this spring including at...
Penn-Trafford seniors defined excellence during high school careers
Editor’s note: This is the 15th in an 18-part series profiling nominees for the Westmoreland County Scholar-Athlete Excellence Awards. During their high school careers at Penn-Trafford, Gabe Dunlap and Corina Paszek were the definition of excellence on the athletic field and in the classroom. Dunlap went down as one of...
Pine-Richland’s Luke Miller wastes no time making commitment to Kent StateVideo
Pine-Richland junior Luke Miller didn’t need long to decide. Two days after receiving a Kent State offer, Miller committed Saturday to the Golden Flashes. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound linebacker and receiver chose the Mid-American school over more than a dozen other Division I offers. Miller took an unofficial visit to the...
Norwin’s Crosby, Phipps finished high school athletic careers in style
Editor’s note: This is the 14th in an 18-part series profiling nominees for the Westmoreland County Scholar-Athlete Excellence Awards. When Juliana Crosby made her decision to attend Florida State last month, the move, she said, was not only closure for her high school career but also a bit of good...
Thomas Jefferson linebacker Preston Zandier commits to Youngstown StateVideo
Not often does a university president get involved in football recruiting, but these are unusual times. And of course Youngstown State’s president isn’t your usual school administrator. Thomas Jefferson junior Preston Zandier committed Saturday to YSU, two weeks after a video-conference call with new Penguins coach Doug Phillips, his assistants...
Trib HSSN May Madness results for Friday, May 15
The HSSN May Madness results are in from Friday, May 15 in the opening round of the brackets to determine the WPIAL athlete of the century. Both matchups were won comfortably by a three-star stud and a lightning fast runner, both from south of the city of Pittsburgh. In the...
Belle Vernon girls basketball coach Ronnie Drennen steps down after 2 successful seasons
After winning 30 games during the past two seasons, Ronnie Drennen resigned as girls basketball coach at Belle Vernon. Drennen, a physical education teacher at the high school, took over in 2018 after Lisa Fairman resigned and became coach at Thomas Jefferson. In his first varsity head coaching job, Drennen...
Mt. Pleasant athletes etched names in school’s record books
Editor’s note: This is the 13th in an 18-part series profiling nominees for the Westmoreland County Scholar-Athlete Excellence Awards. They will be remembered for big plays — splash plays, even — from their thrilling prep careers at Mt. Pleasant. Heather Gardner and Jake Johnson were headliners. But mention their names...
Trinity junior Courtney Dahlquist adds 2 college basketball offersVideo
Trinity junior Courtney Dahlquist, who saw her season cut short by the coronavirus outbreak, added two college offers this week. The 6-foot-3 forward received a Division I offer from UMass Lowell and a Division II offer from IUP, which finished last season ranked seventh nationally. Her AAU team announced the...
Senior Spotlight: Tennis success has led to teaching opportunities for City League singles champ
Editor’s note: Each day, Trib HSSN will spotlight WPIAL spring athletes whose senior years were cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. Sachin Thiagarahan represented both Obama Academy and the City League three times at the PIAA Class AAA boys tennis championships. He got his first taste of competition at Hershey...
Senior Spotlight: Greensburg Salem hurdler had sights set on school record
Editor’s note: Each day, Trib HSSN will spotlight WPIAL spring athletes whose senior years were cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. Greensburg Salem senior hurdler Brenden Lewis was looking forward to his final track season. He was coming off a successful indoor season where he placed fourth in the state...
Trib HSSN May Madness results for Thursday, May 14
The HSSN May Madness results are in from Thursday, May 14 in the opening round of the brackets to determine the WPIAL athlete of the century. Both matchups were one-sided as two athletes from northern district schools nearly garnered three-quarters of the vote and each of their first-round wins. In...
Trib HSSN May Madness: Luke Hagy, Mt. Lebanon vs. Ryan Mundy, Woodland Hills
Over the course of the next month and a half, May Madness will determine who fans believe is the WPIAL Athlete of the Century. HSSN has put together two 32-player brackets, one for the boys and one for the girls, of WPIAL alums. Outside of a few exceptions, the field...
Trib HSSN May Madness: Breehana Jacobs, Laurel Highlands vs. Makenna Marisa, Peters Township
Over the course of the next month and a half, May Madness will determine who fans believe is the WPIAL Athlete of the Century. HSSN has put together two 32-player brackets, one for the boys and one for the girls of WPIAL alums. Outside of a few exceptions, the field...
Veshio tabbed to lead perennially powerful Quaker Valley boys soccer program
As a member of the boys soccer team at Quaker Valley from 1999-2002, J.J. Veshio was a part of successful squads that won PIAA and WPIAL championships and added a state runner-up finish under the direction of revered coach Gene Klein. Veshio returned to the Quakers as an assistant coach...
Monessen seniors stay busy during successful high school careers
Editor’s note: This is the 12th in an 18-part series profiling nominees for the Westmoreland County Scholar-Athlete Excellence Awards. Milana Sacco and Cameron Frolo have spent their entire high school careers representing Monessen in the best way they could. From athletic endeavors on the track, soccer pitch and baseball field,...
Coronavirus pandemic speeds up recruiting for Western Pa. Bruins girls basketball players
If this were any other spring, Corinne Washington would be traveling to Detroit this weekend with her Western Pa. Bruins teammates for an AAU basketball tournament in the Motor City. Instead, the Quaker Valley junior is limited to one-on-one games with her brother and father on an outdoor neighborhood court....
Senior Spotlight: Mt. Pleasant center fielder a ‘difference-maker’
Editor’s note: Each day, Trib HSSN will spotlight WPIAL spring athletes whose senior years were cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. When she was about 8 years old, Sydney Kanuch was playing catch with her grandma. Grandma had never done this before but saw no harm in a simple backyard...
Senior Spotlight: Indiana runner has eye on nationals, career at Pitt
Editor’s note: Each day, Trib HSSN will spotlight WPIAL spring athletes whose senior years were cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. The WPIAL track and field championships would have been held Thursday at Slippery Rock University. Indiana senior Kendall Branan doesn’t need a reminder; he knows the date of when...
Trib HSSN May Madness results for Wednesday, May 13
The HSSN May Madness results are in from Wednesday, May 13 in the opening round of the brackets to determine the WPIAL athlete of the century. Both matchups were again fairly competitive and were won by neighboring athletes west of the city of Pittsburgh near the Allegheny/Beaver county border. In...
