High School category, Page 1149
PIAA Class A boys soccer finals primer: Winchester Thurston vs. Moravian Academy
Moravian Academy (23-1) vs Winchester Thurston (19-2) 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Hersheypark Stadium Coaches: Bob Hartman, Moravian Academy; Adam Brownold, Winchester Thurston Players to watch: Austin Recinos, Moravian Academy; Beck Buchanan, Winchester Thurston How they got here: WPIAL runner-up Winchester Thurston defeated District 6 champion Bishop Carroll, 7-0; District 3 third-place...
WPIAL football playoffs 3rd round: How to watch, listen and find scores
Championship berths are on the line Friday night in the WPIAL football playoffs. Teams in Class 5A and 2A will be vying for spots in the finals. Noteworthy, in Allegheny County’s 5A battle, Gateway will faceoff against McKeesport in a rematch from three weeks ago. Tonight’s winner will move on...
PIAA Class A girls soccer finals primer: Shady Side Academy vs. Camp Hill
Camp Hill (24-0) vs. Shady Side Academy (20-1) 11 a.m. Saturday, Hersheypark Stadium Coaches: Jared Latchford, Camp Hill; Mary Lynch, Shady Side Academy Players to watch: Ava Brackett, Camp Hill; Melissa Riggins, Shady Side Academy How they got here: District 3 champion Camp Hill defeated District 4 runner-up Bloomsburg, 4-1;...
WPIAL Class 4A football finals primer: Thomas Jefferson vs. Belle Vernon
WPIAL Class 4A championship No. 1 Thomas Jefferson (12-0) vs. No. 3 Belle Vernon (10-1) 5 p.m. Saturday, Heinz Field On the air: TribHSSN.triblive.com; 1020 AM, 107.1 FM, 95.3 FM Coaches: Bill Cherpak, Thomas Jefferson; Matt Humbert, Belle Vernon Winner plays: Winner of Cathedral Prep (10-2) and Bellefonte (9-2) in...
PIAA Class AA volleyball finals primer: North Catholic vs. North Penn-Liberty
North Penn-Liberty (22-0) vs. North Catholic (22-1) 1 p.m. Saturday, Cumberland Valley High School, Mechanicsburg Coaches: Jennifer Nawri, North Penn-Liberty; Amanda Fetter, North Catholic Players to watch: Maddison Minyo, senior, middle hitter/outside hitter, North Penn-Liberty; Dominique Felix, senior, outside hitter, North Catholic. How they got here: District 4 champion North...
PIAA Class AAAA volleyball finals primer: North Allegheny vs. Bishop Shanahan
Bishop Shanahan (23-0) vs. North Allegheny (22-1) 6 p.m. Saturday, Cumberland Valley High School, Mechanicsburg Coaches: Greg Ashman, Bishop Shanahan; Heidi Miller, North Allegheny Players to watch: Abby Miller, senior, setter/opposite, North Allegheny; Cara Shultz, senior, outside hitter, Bishop Shanahan. How they got here: District 1 champion Bishop Shanahan defeated...
Fox Chapel ends cross country season with pair of PIAA medals
The Fox Chapel cross country team brought home a pair of medals from the PIAA championships Nov. 2. Senior Grace Sisson came in eighth in the girls Class AAA race while Foxes senior Christian Finch finished 11th on the boys side. “Grace ran very well and I was pleased and...
South Hills soccer, volleyball coaches praise unsung heroes
There usually is at least one of these athletes on every team. These are the players who quietly and efficiently go about their business to help their team achieve its goals. They are unsung heroes. “Ours is (senior) Ray Thomas,” Baldwin boys soccer coach Dave Zinski said. “He’s a team...
South Hills notes: Brentwood’s Aiden Wardzinski has memorable playoff opener
Brentwood junior Aiden Wardzinski was a one-man wrecking crew in his first taste of the WPIAL playoffs. Wardzinski scored all four Brentwood touchdowns — two rushing, one receiving and another on an interception return — to lead the fifth-seeded Spartans to a 28-19 win Nov. 1 against No. 12 East...
Baldwin’s 1999 football team remembered for heart, toughness
The groundwork for the conference championship was laid at preseason camp at Slippery Rock. The Baldwin football team stormed out of the gate in 1999, rolling to a 5-0 record then finishing with an 8-2 regular-season mark. The Fighting Highlanders, a nickname established by then-football coach/athletic director Don Yannessa, captured...
Pine-Richland field hockey places 7 on WPIAL All-Star teams
Collectively, the Pine-Richland field hockey team earned a number of significant achievements this season. The Rams went undefeated in WPIAL play, won the program’s second WPIAL championship by defeating Peters Township, 2-0, in the Class AAA title game and qualified for the PIAA championship tournament. Now, a number of Rams...
Franklin Regional not satisfied with first-round playoff exit
There wasn’t another team in the WPIAL that played a schedule like Franklin Regional did this season. Panthers coach Greg Botta dubbed his team “the traveling football show,” because they were road warriors for most of the year. The Panthers played only three games at home due to losing a...
The Herald Spotlight Athlete: Shady Side Academy’s Callie Davis
Callie Davis, a senior and forward on the Shady Side Academy soccer team, was instrumental in helping SSA claim the WPIAL Class A championship. In the playoffs, she scored a pair of goals and had two assists against Riverside, two goals and an assist against OLSH and three goals and...
Quaker Valley boys soccer captures 2nd state title in 3 yearsVideo
HERSHEY — For the second time in three years, the Quaker Valley boys soccer team is heading home with the PIAA Class AA state championship trophy in hand. But it might not make it to their trophy case at the high school. “I hope I don’t have to let it...
WPIAL championship rematch with fearsome Central Catholic line awaits Pine-Richland
One lineman is the talented nephew of an NFL superstar. One is 6-foot-5 and committed to North Carolina. The two others are gigantic twin brothers with more than 20 scholarship offers. Combined, the Central Catholic defensive linemen have formed a fearsome front four. “This group is special because of their...
High school roundup for Nov. 14, 2019: Owen Tutich nets hat trick, OT winner for Greensburg Salem
Owen Tutich completed his hat trick in overtime to lead Greensburg Salem to a wild 8-7 victory over Wheeling Park in PIHL hockey Thursday night. Colin Kruth and Brendon Linderman had two goals apiece for Greensburg Salem (4-1-1). Gian DeGenova and Spencer Abraham scored twice for Wheeling Park (2-3-1). Pine-Richland...
High school scores, schedules for Nov. 14, 2019
High schools Football WPIAL playoffs Championship Saturday’s schedule Central Catholic (10-1) vs. Pine-Richland (10-1) at Heinz Field, 8 p.m. Class 5A Semifinals Friday’s schedule Penn-Trafford (11-1) vs. Peters Township (11-1) at West Mifflin, 7 p.m.; Gateway (10-2) vs. McKeesport (9-3) at Greensburg Salem, 7 p.m. Class 4A Championship Saturday’s schedule...
PIAA Class 2A boys soccer finals primer: Quaker Valley vs. New Hope-Solebury
PIAA Class 2A boys soccer championship New Hope-Solebury (17-6) vs. Quaker Valley (23-2) 1:30 p.m. Friday, Hersheypark Stadium Coaches: Dave Bachart, New Hope-Solebury; Andrew Marshall, Quaker Valley Players to watch: Justin Kruse, New Hope-Solebury; Dom Reiter, Quaker Valley How they got here: District 1 champion New Hope-Solebury defeated District 3...
Beard is unsung hero for Ligonier Valley football team
One player who sometimes gets overlooked on the Ligonier Valley football team is senior John Beard. While running back Kyrie Miller, quarterback Sam Sheeder and the offensive and defensive lines steal most of the headlines, Beard does his job and then some for the Rams. Why did Ligonier Valley defeat...
Fox Chapel’s Fitch, Sisson named A-K Valley cross country runners of year
Fox Chapel seniors Christian Fitch and Grace Sisson were selected as the Alle-Kiski cross country runners of the year as a part of the 2019 All-Star teams. The all-star recognition, which includes teams and coaches of the year, as well as first-team, second-team and honorable mention-selections, is a collaborative effort...
District 6 Class 2A football finals primer: Ligonier Valley vs. Richland
PIAA District 6 Class 2A championship No.1 Richland (11-0) vs. No. 2 Ligonier Valley (12-0) 7 p.m. Friday, Mansion Park, Altoona On the air: TribHSSN.TribLive.com; 106.3 FM Coaches: Roger Beitel, Ligonier Valley; Brandon Bailey, Richland Winner plays: The winner of the (12-1) Bishop McDevitt (6-6) vs. (2-1) Dunmore (8-4) on...
Sto-Rox embracing opportunity against No. 1 Clairton in WPIAL Class A final
When the first WPIAL championship football game at Heinz Field kicks off at 11 a.m. Saturday, the Class A title will be up for grabs between programs with very different stories. One side will house third-seeded Sto-Rox (11-1), a team that did not make the postseason last year and has...
Through the Years: After week-long snow delay, Richland wins 1st WPIAL title half-century ago
Each Friday throughout the high school football season, the Valley News Dispatch will take a look back at the games, players and events that are part of local scholastic history. In a game delayed a week because of rain and snow, Richland won its first WPIAL title, 30-0, over New...
Hampton’s Logan Nicklas relishes goal scorer’s role, commits to Gannon
Scoring in soccer is often at a premium, so a natural goal scorer is among the most valuable of finds. For the last four years, that’s what Logan Nicklas has been to Hampton soccer, and the program’s success is a reflection of her performance. Nicklas leaves the program as one...
Hampton’s Holmes runs ‘victory lap’ at PIAA cross country meet
Josh Holmes had been chasing a state cross country qualification for a long time. All it took was a little bit of patience. Holmes finished with a time of 17:15 at the WPIAL Championships at California University, easily qualifying for the state meet in Hershey to top off what has...
