High School category, Page 18

Defensive back Dontae Pollard wants to be a part of the group of Penn Hills alumni that found success at a higher level in college football. Corey Thomas Jr. found success at the University of Virginia after starting in Akron. Raion Strader landed with Auburn after excelling at Miami (Ohio)...

The Penn Hills softball team has many new faces looking to fill key roles. The Indians know that, with such a significant personnel transition, some growing pains should be expected. First-year Penn Hills coach Michelle Stiller would like to see their long-term plan pay dividends by the end of the...

Riverview boys and girls track coach Dave Ilnicki has seen quite a bit of running, throwing and jumping over the decades. Ilnicki, a teacher in the district, is in his 33rd year of guiding kids in the track program. It’s his 29th season in charge. “I was hired in 1992...

Norwin has taken the upper hand in many section track and field matches in recent years and has the winning streaks to prove it. The program has the talent to add to those streaks — and maybe the trophy case, too. The girls have won 33 straight section meets and...

North Allegheny track star Izzy Costa was likely to break the school’s 400-meter record at some point this spring. But no one saw this coming. At a season-opening tri-meet in mid-March, with nobody to push her and little at stake, Costa recorded a fully automated time of 55.86 seconds to...

North Allegheny senior Jack Bertram spent the past two seasons chasing two of the best distance runners in WPIAL history. But now he’s the one to catch. After settling for third in the 3,200-meter run at the past two WPIAL Class 3A championships behind Butler’s Drew Griffith and Ringgold’s Ryan...

Franklin Regional’s boys tennis team has put itself in good position to qualify for the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs. The Panthers (4-1, 4-4) are in second place in Section 1-3A behind Gateway. They still have matches against Norwin, Penn-Trafford and Plum. They have defeated Connellsville, Hempfield, Latrobe and Kiski Area....

Toryn Fulton School: Franklin Regional Class: Senior Sport: Softball Claim to fame: Fulton led the Panthers (5-2) to a pair of wins in a variety of ways. She had a double, home run and three RBIs in a 6-4 win over McKeesport. Then, she stole a career-high six bases, doubled,...

High schools Baseball Friday’s results Class 3A Section 1 Riverside 9, Ellwood City 5 Class 2A Section 1 Burgettstown at California, ppd. Section 2 New Brighton at Freedom, ppd. Section 3 Apollo-Ridge at Springdale, ppd. Class A Section 2 Rochester 15, Summit Academy 0 Rochester 16, Summit Academy 0 Nonsection...

Kennedy Brown threw a six-inning no-hitter with 15 strikeouts to lead North Catholic to an 11-0 win over Western Beaver (1-5, 0-1) in Section 3-4A softball Friday. Natalia Rushak went 3 for 4 with a double, home run and four RBIs and Samantha Foley hit two doubles for North Catholic...

Adrianna Martz isn’t going to play softball past high school because of a back issue, so the Franklin Regional junior is making the most of her prep career, one clutch hit at a time. “I have two discs in my back,” Martz said. “I did 12 weeks of physical therapy,...

Knoch boys basketball coach Alan Bauman has resigned after leading the Knights to the state playoffs this winter. “It’s a decision we thought was the best thing for both our family and Knoch basketball,” said Bauman, who coached the team for five seasons. “I enjoyed my time there greatly. The...

Aliquippa will host a charity basketball event Saturday featuring high school players from around Western Pennsylvania. The CJ2K vs. World “Bigger than Basketball” Charity Classic includes a girls game at 3 p.m. and a boys game at 4:30 p.m. The rosters contain both high school seniors and underclassmen. Tickets are...

Peters Township’s Natalie Wetzel averaged nearly a double-double this winter for a WPIAL champion, showing off basketball skills that filled stat sheets. What might’ve gone less noticed was her senior leadership on the championship team that started two freshmen. But she said this was an easy group for the team...

South Hills Classic meet organizer Rich Wright said the 21st annual track and field invitational will go as scheduled despite expected inclement weather Saturday at Baldwin High School. There are more than 30 schools entered in the early-season meet. Wright said action begins at 10 a.m., and the pole vault...

Knoch ended last football season with fewer than 30 players, an issue new coach T.J. Wiley wants to tackle right away. He‘ll start when he meets the team next week. “The very first thing I’m going say is, ‘I want you to look around and think about people that should...

With the baseball and softball schedule in jeopardy with wet weather expected Friday, the spotlight shines on district lacrosse. Last year, Mars won the boys lacrosse Section 2-2A regular season crown by one game over Hampton after defeating the Talbots in their only regular season meeting. The two then clashed...

Derry track and field coach Mark Curcio was excited for his girls squad coming into the season. But that joy turned to disappointment after the PIAA released the 2025-26 enrollment perimeters, which moved Derry from Class 2A to Class 3A. “Four girls and 10 boys moved us up,” Curcio said....

It wasn’t until the seventh inning when Zane Pacek started to hear whispers in the dugout. “I was like, ‘Come on guys, now you’ve jinxed it,’ ” Pacek said. Despite his teammates committing the cardinal sin of mentioning the opposing team having no hits, the 7-foot-1 junior pitcher threw a...

Terrific 10 Aubree Hupp Blackhawk 5-10, junior, forward Hupp averaged a double-double with 21.5 points and 11.4 rebounds for WPIAL Class 4A runner-up Blackhawk (25-4). Her 332 rebounds broke a school record. She also averaged 3.1 steals, 2.3 assists and 2.1 blocks per game. Hupp scored a game-high 20 points...

There was little movement in the weekly Trib HSSN state softball rankings as we transition from March softball to April softball. Each classification saw one change of teams among the Top 5 with the exception of Class 3A, which despite one slide, all five teams remain ranked. The five teams...

Going from March to April in high school baseball across the state provided a little bit of change in two classifications but status quo for the most part in the other four classes. Both Class 3A and 2A saw a fresh coat of paint as both Top 5s saw the...

On Tuesday, Norwin used an aggressive approach on offense to defeat Hempfield in Game 2 of their three-game WPIAL Section 2-6A baseball series. On Wednesday, it was Hempfield that was the more aggressive team. The Spartans defeated the Knights, 5-2, to take two of three in the series. Hempfield won...

Carson Heinle and his Kiski Area senior teammates, Colin Keller and Jacob Musselman, went up against Armstrong’s Jacob Szep and Plum’s Will Beckner twice in Section 2-5A battles during the 2024-25 regular season. The Cavaliers got the better of the River Hawks and the Mustangs twice en route to winning...

Greensburg Central Catholic is playing only section games this season as it deals with low roster numbers. Second-year coach Chelsey Frock has had trouble maintaining a dozen girls on the roster. The Centurions had not played a game through the weekend, having to cancel nonsection matchups with Chartiers-Houston, Seton LaSalle...