Michael Love stories, Page 73
A-K Valley campus clippings: Kiski Area grad Jalen Cloud among nation’s best in triple jump
Jalen Cloud produced a highly successful indoor season with the Cal (Pa.) men’s track and field team, and those positive outcomes have carried over to the outdoors. The Vulcans senior and Kiski Area graduate improved on his NCAA provisional mark in the triple jump Saturday at IUP’s Ed Fry Invitational....
North Allegheny, OLSH maintain top spots in WPIAL Volleyball Coaches Association rankings
North Allegheny (Class 3A) and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (Class 2A) held on to their respective No. 1 spots in the Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association’s Week 3 WPIAL boys top 10 polls released Monday morning. The Tigers capped this past week with a semifinal finish at the...
Gateway boys volleyball ready to make its mark in Class 2A
The Gateway boys volleyball team got a chance to show its potential at the early-season Seneca Valley tournament on April 2. Fourth-year coach Phil Randolph said he saw a lot of good things from his players as they came together to advance to the tournament semifinals before falling to Norwin...
Gateway baseball team off to strong start after extra-inning victory
With five seniors and several other returning underclassmen to fuel the machine, the Gateway baseball team’s optimism for the 2022 season grew in the weeks leading up to the season opener at Pine-Richland on March 29. The Gators won that game in close fashion, 7-6, and it sparked the team...
A-K Valley HOF inductee Haney was coach of year in 2006
When Dianne Haney stepped down as Kiski Area softball coach in 2014, she had completed 22 years at the helm of the Cavaliers and helped the program to 248 victories, 12 section championships, 15 playoff appearances, four undefeated regular seasons and a 1995 WPIAL runner-up finish. She also garnered Valley...
Plum boys volleyball hunting for Section 2 championship
The Plum boys volleyball team has goals and aspirations of claiming the Section 2-2A championship. Six starters are back from last year’s team which outlasted Trinity, 3-2, in the first round of the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs before falling to eventual WPIAL champion Seton LaSalle in the quarterfinals. Second-year coach...
Promising performances highlight start of season for Plum track and field
Plum boys and girls track and field coach Stephanie Kennedy witnessed a plethora of promising performances from the more than two dozen athletes who competed at the early-season Altoona Igloo Invitational on April 2 at Altoona’s Mansion Park. “It was awesome,” said Kennedy, who saw three individuals and four relays...
Armstrong’s Olsen winner of 2nd Willie Thrower Award as top QB in Southwestern Pennsylvania
Cadin Olsen stood tall, literally and figuratively, among a wide-ranging crop of talented quarterbacks in the WPIAL and City League. The 6-foot-5 junior was a running and passing threat for Armstrong during the 2021 season, and the standout helped the River Hawks to an 8-4 overall record, a 5-2 mark...
Golden Gloves Western Pa. finals set for Saturday in Monroeville
The Western Pennsylvania Golden Gloves winter and spring 2022 schedule comes down to Saturday evening and a card full of championship bouts at Pro Sports in Monroeville. Boxers representing Butler Cubs, Team 412 WPAL, Wolfpack Boxing, Jack’s Gym, 3rd Avenue WPAL, Pittsburgh Boxing, Scorchin Boxing, Erie Boxing Academy, South Park...
Burrell’s Armstrong guides young, determined squad
Katie Armstrong’s freshman softball season was over before it got a chance to get going. The now-Burrell junior was in the running for varsity starting time in the pitcher’s circle with Kylie Karns, a freshman pitcher this spring at Mt. Aloysius, and things went well in her scrimmage debut against...
Steel City Ice Renegades, Selects hockey teams capture national championships
The Steel City Ice Renegades boys Tier II 16U 3A and Steel City Selects girls Tier II 19U A hockey teams were not to be denied Monday as they finished title runs at their respective USA Hockey national championship tournaments. Both teams played six games. The Ice Renegades finished 5-1,...
Highlands softball team pounds 5 HRs among its 20 hits in win over Freeport
After scoring single runs in losses to Shaler and Laurel to open its season, the Highlands softball team broke out in a big way Monday in the Section 1-4A opener against Freeport at Freeport Community Park. The Golden Rams pounded out 20 hits, including five home runs, and senior Jaycee...
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart is Class 2A’s new No. 1 in coaches association volleyball rankings
There’s a change at the top of the Western PA Volleyball Coaches Association’s WPIAL Class 2A rankings released Monday morning. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart ascends to the top spot in the coaches’ vote from its No. 2 position in last week’s poll. It won three nonsection matches in...
Monroeville SNAP program a success for quartet of swimmers
When Jamee Kovacs helped get the Special Needs Aquatic Program off the ground in September, she hoped to give her son, Caleb, and others throughout the Monroeville area more opportunities to find comfort in the water. Now, seven months later, Kovacs, a board member with the Monroeville Marlins Swim Club,...
Gateway swimmers send off coach at PIAA championships
The 2021-22 season is the last for Sherry Sonetti as head coach of the Gateway swim teams, and she also is retiring from the Gateway School District at the end of the academic year in June. She said she was pleased with the ending to her tenure with the Gators....
West girls edge East in double OT in record-setting Cager Classic
At the midway point of the first overtime of Saturday’s 25th Cager Classic girls all-star game at Highlands, a loose ball off a missed shot caused a mad scramble involving a couple of players from both the East and West squads. Bodies collided as they hit the floor. Instincts took...
Knoch’s Maddie Boyer named Valley News Dispatch Girls Basketball Player of the Year
Maddie Boyer Knoch, 5-10, Sr., Guard As a freshman, Maddie Boyer helped the Knoch girls basketball team make the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs. The Knights suffered a first-round loss to Elizabeth Forward. Two years ago, Boyer increased her role at both ends of the court, and Knoch increased its standing...
Fox Chapel’s Eli Yofan takes Valley News Dispatch Boys Basketball Player of the Year honors
Eli Yofan Fox Chapel, 6-2, Sr., Guard Eli Yofan averaged 19.3 points throughout the 2021-22 boys basketball season, but he was limited for most of Fox Chapel’s WPIAL Class 6A title game against North Hills early last month at the Petersen Events Center. But as he did all season, the...
Highlands’ Foster sprinted to Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame
When Robert Foster began running track and field at Highlands, he wasn’t sure where the sport would take him. With hard work and determination, it took him to championships and into the record books. Foster made his mark on the track as one of the fastest to compete at Highlands,...
After strong season, future bright for Plum wrestling program
Seven Plum wrestlers took part in the WPIAL/Southwest Regional Class 3A tournament March 4 and 5 at Canon-McMillan High School. The wrestling over those two days capped a strong season for the Mustangs, who displayed competitiveness and depth throughout a youthful lineup. With just two graduating — Lucas Heath and...
Plum swimmers cap special season at PIAA championships
Sam Schohn was one of the top performers in the Class 2A boys 100-yard breaststroke all season. The Plum senior’s talent was on display at the WPIAL championships March 4 with a third-place finish behind Southmoreland’s Henry Miller and Mt. Pleasant’s Joseph Gardner. Those three kept the pace two weeks...
Penn Hills stands by decision for teams to not play Kiski Area this spring over racism accusations
The Penn Hills School Board on Wednesday reaffirmed the district’s stance that its high school sports teams will not play Kiski Area opponents this spring after allegations that Kiski Area fans subjected Penn Hills players to racist taunts at a March 2 middle school volleyball game. Kiski Area’s superintendent characterized...
Highlands searches for new football coach after Girardi steps down
Dom Girardi stepped down as Highlands football coach Thursday, ending a five-season tenure with the Golden Rams. Girardi said he came to the decision over the past week and cited changes at home and at work that would take more of his time away from his coaching responsibilities. “I kept...
Highlands Little League cancels season due to lack of players
Highlands Little League officials announced Wednesday that the 2022 spring season has been canceled because of a lack of players registered at any of the age levels. A statement on the league’s Facebook page also informed those families who had players register that their fees would be refunded Saturday from...
New coach to Springdale football team: ‘Show me what ya got’
Ryan Tempalski is ready to generate a spark for the Springdale football program. Familiar with a number of high school coaching systems in his 16 years as an assistant in the WPIAL, the new Dynamos head coach, officially hired at this month’s school board meeting March 15, is energized to...
