Bill Beckner stories, Page 88

A 3-5-2 formation is somewhat rare in high school girls soccer. It takes a strong midfield presence, versatile wing-backs and a blend of speed and patience to execute the shape in its intended sense. But Mt. Pleasant coach Rich Garland knew he had all of those riches in a young,...

Coming out of Jeannette, Marcus Barnes was known for his glue-like hands and football instincts. His father, Johnnie Barnes, played in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Diego Chargers. If the ball was thrown Marcus Barnes’ way, he was probably going to catch it, no matter if he...

Belle Vernon senior Olivia Kolowitz became more familiar with the recruiting game last fall when she joined the Ohio Outlaws travel softball team. As her pitching improved on an ascending plane, so did her stock as a prospect. Suddenly, college programs knew her name. Her mind was opened to a...

WPIAL golfers this week will be part of a significant format change to the individual postseason. For the first time, the championship tournaments will be 36 holes and played over a week at two courses. The scores from the two rounds will be cumulative. Essentially, the semifinal rounds were eliminated...

Dan Boring’s life is anything but, well, boring. The Southmoreland athletic director wears many hats in Scottie Land, and he added another one this fall, leaving people asking, “How does he do it all?” Boring, who has been the school’s wrestling coach for the last five years and teaches freshman...

With 5,000-plus sardined into Spartan Stadium, Hempfield pulled off one of its biggest football wins in at least four decades Friday night with a 28-17 victory over defending WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A champion Penn-Trafford, which had just moved into the No. 1 spot in the TribLive HSSN rankings. Hempfield...

Rylin Bugosh School: Mt. Pleasant Sport: Soccer Year: Sophomore Claim to fame: Bugosh had back-to-back hat tricks as the unbeaten Lady Vikings (7-0, 4-0) defeated rivals Yough, 5-0, and Mt. Pleasant, 6-1. The quick-footed forward added an assist in each game for the second-ranked team in WPIAL Class 2A. She...

Rodney Gallagher: 4-star prospect, West Virginia commit, clock manager extraordinaire. With Gallagher at the wheel guiding the offense and making plays with his arm and legs, Laurel Highlands held off Latrobe in a defensive struggle, 10-7, on Friday to spoil homecoming at Latrobe Memorial Stadium. Gallagher, who will play wide...

Maybe it was the energy from Senior Night or the realization this year is far from over, but Greensburg Salem decided to play its best soccer game of the season. In contrast, Jeannette may have played its worst. Seniors Daishaun Alexander, Owen Gall and Taylor Edwards scored two goals apiece...

The first 4-0 start in 51 years has made Hempfield football the talk of tailgates and round tables. Hempfield is back — and in full force. The idea of the Spartans being “for real” is becoming a real thing as they get set to host No. 1 Penn-Trafford (3-1) on...

First-year quarterbacks have embraced their role behind center and, as a result, some teams have not missed a beat offensively through a few weeks of the WPIAL season. Ten area teams have a new quarterback, including Franklin Regional (2-1) with senior Roman Sarnic, who rushed for 126 yards on 28...

Sisters Riley and Morgan Gesinski couldn’t wait to play varsity soccer together so they could make an impact for fast-rising Mt. Pleasant. They are both good players individually, but they showed what they can do as a pair Wednesday night in an important road victory that kept Mt. Pleasant undefeated....

Opponents sometimes get lost in the triangle. The Mt. Pleasant boys soccer triangle. Junior Luke Rivardo, senior Dylan Donitzen and junior Chase McCoy make up a midfield that can leave teams rearranging their defenders and altering their gameplan to combat the three-sided unit. The trio has helped the young Vikings...

Fast-rising Mt. Pleasant sophomore swimmer Lily King will train with other future Olympic hopefuls next month and learn more about how to manage her budding career. An elite junior competitor, King was one of just 51 girls in the 14/15-year-old age range nationally to get an invite to the USA...

Jeannette welcomed junior Austin Emery and senior Deyton Conrad back this week. Both were clearly glad to be back. A junior and key facilitator and scorer for the Jayhawks, Emery sustained a calf contusion against Knoch on Sept. 6 and had not played until Monday’s practice. Conrad missed time with...

Southmoreland senior standout Olivia Cernuto is done for the season with a right knee injury. Cernuto, a talented forward who will finish her career with exactly 100 goals, was injured last Monday during a home game against Yough. She had 18 goals this season for the Scotties (7-0, 4-0), the...

When Latrobe was tripped up by top-ranked Plum, 4-2, in its Section 3-3A girls soccer opener, the sky was falling, but only briefly. Was Plum that good? Was Latrobe better than it showed? Was Class 3A this tough? The Wildcats took a long look in the mirror. “It was a...

Pitt-Greensburg posted its third consecutive win in women’s tennis with a 9-0 victory over Mount Aloysius. Junior Abby Rosman now has 26 career doubles wins, tying Sydney Geary for the most in program history. Rosman and junior Amber Sterrett won their match 8-1 for the Bobcats (3-1, 3-0 AMCC). Women’s...

One-goal games are usually a good bet when Yough and Mt. Pleasant meet in girls soccer. Overtime is legitimate and often imminent. Not this time, though. Third-ranked Mt. Pleasant scored one goal in the teams’ latest matchup Monday night, then added a few more on the way to its fifth...

It wasn’t the prettiest football game Saint Vincent has played, but the Bearcats will take their first victory of 2022. Sophomore D.J Gray ran for a career-high 118 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries as SVC (1-2, 1-0) held back Thiel (0-3, 0-1), 24-16, in the teams’ Presidents’ Athletic...

Katie Miller Gee is taking a break from coaching the Hempfield girls golf team to play in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. After a solid showing across 36 holes of stroke play, Gee is headed to the match play part of the tournament at Fiddlesticks Country Club in Fort Myers, Fla....

Emily Eutsey was having an ordinary round of golf, during a routine high school match, when the extraordinary happened. The Mt. Pleasant junior pulled her 7-iron on the par-3 No. 4 hole at Luke’s Links at Norvelt Golf Club, aimed at the flag, took a swipe at the ball and...

Izzy Aigner School: Greensburg Central Catholic Sport: Golf Year: Junior Claim to fame: In nine rounds this season, Aigner is averaging 35 strokes for Greensburg Central Catholic. The recent champion of the Westmoreland County Coaches Association Championship with a 1-under-par 36 at Champion Lakes Golf Course, Aigner has finished under...

Lance Getsy channeled his inner Greg Botta on Friday night. Getsy, the Franklin Regional coach who replaced Botta, the longtime leader of the Panthers, drew up a Botta-like gameplan to pull off the upset of the night in the WPIAL, a 16-7 stunner over No. 1 Gateway in the Class...

Norwin girls volleyball returns most of its rotation from last season’s WPIAL Class 4A playoff team. But can all of that talent translate into another postseason bid? The 16th-year coach of the Knights girls volleyball team hopes so. “The players work hard and won’t give up on a play or...