Chris Harlan stories, Page 33

The WPIAL might be known best for its football hall of famers, but don’t overlook the league’s track and field pedigree. Consider, in the past week, Knoch graduate Jordan Geist won his fourth Pac-12 shot put title at Arizona, and North Allegheny grad Ayden Owens-Delerme at Arkansas won an SEC...

Anyone who saw Daemar Kelly finish an alley-oop this winter knows the Penn Hills senior can almost fly. In a gym, on a wood floor, with a basketball in his hands, few around the WPIAL jump higher than him. Yet lately he’s raised the bar — literally. Kelly joined the...

The pressure of shooting a one-and-one is likely to vanish from high school basketball. The national organization that writes the rulebook used by the PIAA has changed the way fouls are counted and the number of bonus shots a player receives. Most notably, the National Federation of State High School...

Former Our Lady of the Sacred Heart basketball star Jake DiMichele, who graduated a year ago as one of WPIAL’s all-time leading scorers, committed Friday to Duquesne. He announced his decision on Twitter. OLSH was a record-setting program when the 6-foot-3 guard was on the court. DiMichele averaged 31.9 points...

Central Catholic linebacker Cole Sullivan committed Friday to Michigan, choosing the Wolverines over finalists Duke, Notre Dame, Stanford and Wisconsin. He announced his decision on Twitter. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound junior from North Huntingdon received more than two dozen Division I offers. Rivals.com rated him as a three-star prospect and 17th...

Class 6A Favorite: Pine-Richland tied North Allegheny and Seneca Valley atop the Section 1 standings (all with 8-4 records), but the Rams got the No. 1 seed by winning two out of three games over both rivals. Senior Jacob McGuire leads the Rams as a two-way player with a team-best...

Who’s No. 1? Pine-Richland, Shaler, Montour, Riverside, Serra Catholic and Union will start the WPIAL baseball playoffs as favorites after receiving No. 1 seeds Friday when the brackets were revealed on TribLive HSSN. The next couple of weeks will decide if those six teams finish on top. The WPIAL playoffs...

Last year’s winners are back for more. Five of the six softball teams crowned WPIAL champions a season ago will start this year’s playoffs as favorites to repeat. Defending champions Seneca Valley (Class 6A), Armstrong (5A), Avonworth (3A), Neshannock (2A) and Union (A) all received No. 1 seeds Thursday when...

The WPIAL baseball and softball finals will include racing pierogies, T-shirt tosses and a famous green parrot now that the Pittsburgh Pirates have become a presenting sponsor of the high school championship games. The WPIAL announced a two-year partnership with the Pirates on Thursday. The games are not moving to...

Defending WPIAL and state champion Mars will begin its title defense as a No. 1 seed in the WPIAL boys lacrosse playoffs. Mars in Class 2A and Peters Township in 3A received the top seeds Thursday when the WPIAL revealed brackets for the upcoming playoffs. The WPIAL tournaments begin with...

Bob Palko, who won a record nine WPIAL football titles at West Allegheny and Mt. Lebanon, will be inducted this month into the Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Palko was one of five coaches chosen for the 2023 class, joining Gary Gouse (Portage), Rick Keely (Berks Catholic),...

Pine-Richland and Mars received the top seeds when the WPIAL announced brackets for the girls lacrosse playoffs Thursday. The two tournaments start with first-round games Monday and Tuesday, and finish May 24 or 25 with championships at Robert Morris. Pine-Richland (15-3), which won the Section 2 title, drew the top...

North Allegheny track coach John Neff said he had trouble deciding which three girls should run the 3,200 meters Tuesday, mainly because the Tigers had too many good options. Minutes before the race, he had to pick. “The nice thing is, I’m choosing between ‘Great Runner A’ and ‘Great Runner...

Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Pine-Richland, 14-5, 2 2. North Allegheny, 11-5, 1 3. Seneca Valley, 14-4, 4 4. Butler, 9-7, 3 5. Canon-McMillan, 12-5, 5 Out: none Class 5A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Shaler, 14-4, 1 2. Bethel Park, 12-4, 2 3. South Fayette, 13-3, 3...

Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Seneca Valley, 13-1, 1 2. Hempfield, 14-2, 3 3. Norwin, 13-4, 2 4. North Allegheny, 12-4, 4 5. Mt. Lebanon, 6-9, 5 Out: none Class 5A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Shaler, 16-0, 1 2. Armstrong, 14-1, 2 3. Trinity, 14-1, 3 4....

Once Jacob Puhalla wins a track title, the Moon runner likes to win it again. The senior emerged Friday from a crowded field in the McKinney Mile to win the marquee event at the Baldwin Invitational for a second year in a row. The race included five runners already committed...

Liz Tapper is one of the state’s top throwers, but the Hempfield senior faced a challenge Friday that was new to her and many others at the Baldwin Invitational. They had big meets on back-to-back days. Less than 24 hours after throwing in a WPIAL team track semifinal, Tapper shrugged...

Aquinas Academy’s Vinnie Cugini and Steel Valley’s Makhai Valentine earned all-state player of the year honors Wednesday as two of the most prolific scorers in WPIAL boys basketball. Cugini, who averaged 43.7 points and broke the WPIAL record for career points, was chosen as the player of the year in...

Tuesday’s cold, wet weather led the WPIAL to postpone tennis and team track and field events until later in the week. The first round of the boys and girls team track championships was delayed to Thursday. The meets will remain at the same locations. Most first-round matches in the Class...

Central Catholic already has one junior linebacker committed to a Power 5 school but soon will have another. Cole Sullivan, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound outside linebacker, narrowed his college options when he announced a Top 5 list Saturday with Duke, Michigan, Notre Dame, Stanford and Wisconsin as finalists. He’d received more...

Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Seneca Valley, 11-1, 1 2. Norwin, 13-3, 2 3. Hempfield, 12-2, 3 4. North Allegheny, 12-4, 4 5. Mt. Lebanon, 5-8, NR Out: Canon-McMillan (5-9, 5) Class 5A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Shaler, 14-0, 1 2. Armstrong, 13-1, 2 3. Trinity, 12-1,...

Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. North Allegheny, 11-3, 1 2. Pine-Richland, 12-5, 2 3. Butler, 9-5, 5 4. Seneca Valley, 12-4, 3 5. Canon-McMillan, 11-4, NR Out: Hempfield (9-7, 4) Class 5A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Shaler, 12-4, 1 2. Bethel Park, 10-4, 2 3. South Fayette,...

There are dozens of small-college football coaches who recruit Western Pennsylvania, but sometimes a talented WPIAL player can go overlooked in the process. That’s why North Allegheny football coach Art Walker hosts a couple of Western Pa. Football Recruiting Days each year. The event lets high school coaches meet and...

North Hills junior Royce Parham, one of the WPIAL’s top college basketball recruits, committed Wednesday to Marquette. The 6-foot-8 forward announced his commitment on Twitter. His other finalists were Pitt, Penn State and Xavier. Rivals.com has rated him as a four-star prospect and ranked him 82nd overall nationally among 2024...

Dan DeRose wants to coach high school basketball again, but the former WPIAL champion said school districts have shied away because of criminal charges he faced two years ago involving Fox Chapel school police. Senior Judge W. Terrence O’Brien of Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas ultimately dismissed those charges...