High School category, Page 1223
Reunion to gather Penn Hills football players from ’70s
Mike Fralic, who resides in Colorado, traveled to the Pittsburgh area in April to attend the Penn Hills Sports Hall of Fame ceremony at the Green Oaks Country Club. As he took in the ceremony, Fralic came up with an idea to have a reunion for Penn Hills’ 1970s football...
Shaler boys golf team returns top 4 from last season
Shaler Area boys golf coach John Brough isn’t sure where some of his players heard the team was predicted to finish last in Section 3-AAA. But the perceived slight lit a fire under the Titans, who didn’t have any golfers qualify for WPIALs last season. “They’ve been motivated, and I’ve...
Kiski Area’s Blumer and Delp sit among top 100 recruits in 2020 class
The Kiski Area Cavaliers had one of the best wrestling teams in the state last season. They won their third consecutive WPIAL Class AAA team title and took fourth at the PIAA tournament in Hershey. While that team was highlighted by seniors Cam Connor and Darren Miller, this season’s squad...
Healthy Hartman ‘keeps everything solidified’ for Belle Vernon offense
It’s third-and-long. Belle Vernon breaks the offensive huddle and heads to the line of scrimmage. In years past, the run-heavy Leopards might be tempted to call a run play, or with strong-legged punter Cameron Guess, kicking to the opposition and letting a stout defense go to work a little early...
District 6 denies eligibility for Ligonier Valley senior Silk
Kyle Silk won’t be playing for the Ligonier Valley football team just yet. The senior who transferred from United in June was ruled ineligible to participate in athletics by the PIAA District 6 committee at a meeting Wednesday at Ebensburg Country Club. The motion to make him eligible was denied...
WPIAL rules Isiah Warfield eligible for senior season, ineligible for playoffs
The WPIAL approved Isiah Warfield to play basketball in the regular season, but the Central Valley transfer remains ineligible for the playoffs. The 6-foot-5 rising senior and Liberty recruit was a 25-point scorer at Sewickley Academy. The WPIAL board decided his eligibility Monday based on transfer paperwork submitted by the...
George Guido: Not even war could dim Friday Night Lights
A number of past columns have been written about the effects of World War II on daily life and high school sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley. One example of that is what happened 75 years ago this week regarding Kittanning football. The U.S. Dept. of War, now known as the...
Former West Mifflin coach Lance Maha returns to WPIAL basketball
Lance Maha, who coached boys basketball at West Mifflin for two decades, is returning to the WPIAL after one season away. Maha was announced Tuesday as coach at Propel Braddock Hills, a charter school team that made its WPIAL debut last season. Maha’s teams reached the playoffs 17 times in...
New athletic director Ryan Hayden brings youthful enthusiasm to Jeannette
Ryan Hayden peered out from the press box at McKee Stadium as workers smoothed over gravel and continued to prepare the historic field for artificial turf. The Jeannette faithful are awaiting the big reveal. Count Hayden among them. “It’s a good time to be around here,” Hayden said. “Everyone is...
Aliquippa’s Zuriah Fisher postpones commitment hours before decision day
On the eve of commitment day, Aliquippa linebacker Zuriah Fisher decided to postpone his decision. “Due to the process being a bit overwhelming for me I’ll be pushing my commitment date back,” Fisher wrote Sunday night on Twitter. The three-star recruit had initially said he’d commit Aug. 5. He lists...
James Franklin wants Penn State to host PIAA championships
Penn State’s Beaver Stadium has hosted one PIAA football championship game. Coach James Franklin thinks it’s time for another. At Penn State’s football media day Saturday, Franklin said he would “love” for the nation’s second-largest stadium to host Pennsylvania’s high school football championships. “I think there are a lot of...
Junior Miller leads strong returning core for Shaler girls golf
Emilee Miller needed to shore up the mental aspect of her golf game. The Shaler Area junior knew the perfect antagonist was within the same house. After a season when Miller qualified for the Class AAA WPIAL championships, she played a lot of rounds with her younger brother, Joey. “My...
Fox Chapel’s Fitch hits senior year at full speed
Fox Chapel rising senior Christian Fitch has been a mainstay on the cross country and track teams since his freshman year. He was MVP of the track team as a freshman. For his senior year, Fitch has set high goals for himself and his teammates, but his sights are first...
Gateway goalie Neundorfer survives rigorous tryout for showcase
Maddy Neundorfer traveled to Germany in April as part of a U.S. Olympic Development Program team. The trip, she said, was an on-field and off-field success. The team went 3-0 in game action and gave up no goals in the trio of contests. “It was great to not only experience...
New turf, refurbished track part of renovations at Baldwin Stadium
It was time for a summer facelift. Baldwin Stadium has a new and refreshed look to it, accented with a deep, rich purple color. By the end of July, new stadium turf — with new logos from the district — and a new surrounding asphalt sidewalk had been installed. The...
Stewart cruised past opponents on the tennis court for Quaker Valley
When Cate Stewart moved with her family to the Quaker Valley School District after her freshman year of high school, she wasn’t sure how she would fit into a new community. She had nothing to worry about as she clicked immediately with her tennis teammates and schoolmates. She went on...
New Pine-Richland boys soccer coach Wiegand prepares for season
Jordan Wiegand spent his high school years playing soccer for North Hills, and now he will lead one of his alma mater’s biggest rivals as he is preparing to enter his first season at the helm of the Pine-Richland boys soccer team. Wiegand replaces longtime Rams coach Jon Connor, who...
Herald spotlight athlete: Shady Side Academy’s Adam Lauer
Adam Lauer, a junior on the Shady Side Academy golf team, is hoping to help lead the Indians to their third straight section title. They have also made it to the WPIAL finals two years in a row. Lauer led the team in low stroke average as a freshman and...
Signal Item boys soccer preview: After playoff seasons, teams look to take next step
The boys soccer teams at Chartiers Valley, Carlynton and Bishop Canevin started the 2018 season with the goal of making the playoffs. Mission accomplished. But the other thing they had in common was a first-round exit. The teams open 2019 hoping to better that performance. A brief look at each:...
Hampton’s Schepner: Hines Ward Positive Athlete Award ‘pretty special’
Hampton junior Hannah Schepner found out she won the Hines Ward Positive Athlete Award this spring, but her journey started at age 13 during one of her career’s lowest moments. At a gymnastics competition in Philadelphia, she fell awkwardly during a dismount, breaking her ankle in several places. At first,...
Hampton’s Fridley Field renovations near completion
Anyone near Fridley Field in Hampton lately may have noticed construction. By the time fall sports roll around in a month, it will have the look and feel of a new outdoor facility. The field turf will be new, as well as the track. Additionally, the scoreboard will be changing...
Derry chooses Brisbane as girls basketball coach
Derry athletic director Brett Miller was looking for a difference-maker to coach the girls basketball team. He feels he found that person in former Hempfield coach Gene Brisbane. The Derry school board voted 6-0 to hire Brisbane on Thursday. “I can honestly say that Gene is my best hire,” Miller...
WPIAL football recruits share their written scholarship offers as August arrives
The first day of August is the date each year that college football coaches can send written scholarship offers to high school seniors. The official offers began arriving just after midnight Thursday and WPIAL recruits quickly took to social media. Here’s a look at some of the announcements shared online....
Bill Fralic Award to recognize WPIAL’s top lineman
The late Bill Fralic was never one for attention. But the mountain of a football player, who blocked and tackled better than most at Penn Hills and Pitt before a pro career he spent mostly with the Atlanta Falcons, enjoyed being able to make a difference in the lives of...
Book about West Allegheny soccer, ‘Unbeatable’ gains popularity in first month of release
The 2018 West Allegheny boys soccer season was a storybook-type campaign. It was so good in fact that Brent Dragisich, the father of Nathan and Johnny Dragisic, two West A players, decided to author a book about their extraordinary season. “My wife first brought it up to me to do...
