Michael Love stories, Page 49
Plum gymnast Natalia Burris competes at Eastern Nationals
Natalia Burris was in select company over the weekend. The Plum sophomore and a USA Gymnastics Level 9 competitor joined six others on a regional team that was to compete at the Eastern Nationals on Sunday in Kissimmee, Fla. The seven selected for the Region 7 squad at the Level...
After strong regular season, Plum girls lacrosse carries journey into WPIAL playoffs
The WPIAL girls lacrosse committee is scheduled to meet Thursday to hash out the WPIAL playoff pairings and also release the brackets for both Class 3A and Class 2A. Plum hopes to earn a first-round bye in the Class 2A field of at least 12 teams — six from each...
Elite runners look forward to challenge at 2023 Pittsburgh Marathon
The Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon and UPMC Health Plan Half Marathon returned last year from a two-year in-person hiatus to much fanfare, and race officials are confident the momentum gained from a successful, albeit rain-soaked, 2022 event will carry over to this weekend’s stacked lineup celebrating the event’s 15th...
Leechburg softball team proud to uphold playoff streak
Anna Cibik found herself in an unfamiliar position last week. The Leechburg senior starting pitcher, also one of the leading hitters for the playoff-bound Blue Devils, exacerbated an existing foot injury during her team’s Section 3-1A win over Monessen on April 26 and was held out of the section victory...
Top A-K Valley squads chase WPIAL team track titles
Rain and cold temperatures at the start of May prompted the WPIAL to make changes to the schedule of the Class 3A and Class 2A track and field team championships. The postponements could lead to better performances. Originally set for Tuesday, the meets now will be Thursday, and several Alle-Kiski...
With 2 weeks left, WPIAL boys volleyball teams jockey for positions in section, coaches rankings
Two weeks remain in the WPIAL boys volleyball regular season, and teams in Class 3A and Class 2A are gearing up for the stretch run to the postseason. Shaler and Latrobe remain at the top of their respective classifications in this week’s Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association WPIAL Top-10 polls...
New St. Joseph coaches excited to take over basketball programs
Geoff Dutelle and Logan Acri are ushering in new chapters for the St. Joseph basketball programs, and both got a chance last week to meet and talk with each other about what the future holds on and off the court. “We both met with our respective teams at about the...
Gateway’s Gratton sisters face off on softball field for respective college teams
When Kayla and Deanna Gratton shared the softball diamond growing up, they always did it on the same team. But on April 8, the Monroeville sisters and Gateway High School graduates found themselves on opposite sides for the first time. Kayla, a junior captain for Waynesburg, and Deanna, a freshman...
Victory over Derry helps bolster Gateway boys volleyball team’s resume
The Gateway boys volleyball team toppled Armstrong and Deer Lakes to open Section 2-2A play, but consecutive section setbacks to Latrobe and Mars left the Gators at .500 in section and seeking a return to the win column. The Gators got that in the form of a 3-1 win over...
Plum grad Nick Hubner helps Westminster lacrosse reach PAC playoffs
When Anthony Accardi was hired last August as the men’s lacrosse coach at Westminster College, it was a clean slate for the returning players in terms of opportunity to get on the field and contribute to team success. Nick Hubner took that to heart. The Plum graduate, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound...
After strong freshman season, Plum’s Gabrielle Layne ready to take next step
Gabrielle Layne came within an eyelash of making the finals of the Class 3A girls 100-meter dash at last year’s WPIAL championships at Slippery Rock. The top eight from the preliminaries made the finals heat, and Layne placed ninth with a time of 12.97, just three one-hundredths of a second...
A-K Valley softball notebook: Leechburg extends streak to 36 playoff berths
Leechburg officially clinched its WPIAL-record 36th consecutive WPIAL playoff appearance with Thursday’s 7-5 Section 3-1A victory at Jeannette. The Blue Devils are 7-6 overall and 7-2 in the section, alone in second place behind section leader Frazier (9-1, 8-0). “We talked about the streak before the season,” first-year coach Larry...
Plum graduate puts down tennis racket, picks up competitive bodybuilding
Carson France put himself on the map in athletics as a tennis player at Plum, where he represented the Mustangs at No. 1 singles and qualified for the WPIAL singles championships before graduating in 2015. He continued his education and his tennis career at Duquesne. He doesn’t look like a...
Rain cancels racing at Lernerville Speedway
Mother Nature has put a halt to Friday’s racing schedule at Lernerville Speedway. Rain is expected to continue throughout the day and into the evening, and track officials have canceled the Fab4 Revved Up with Marburger Farm Dair events. Next Friday, May 5, Fab4 will return, weather permitting, featuring the...
A-K Valley athletes hope to contend for medals at WCCA track and field championships
With just three weeks remaining until the WPIAL track and field championships at Slippery Rock, Thursday’s Westmoreland County Coaches Association championships at Latrobe Memorial Stadium serves as somewhat of an opening salvo for Kiski Area, Burrell and Valley in the stretch run of the regular season. A number of individuals...
Kiski Area dedicates track to former coach William Halli
William “Bill” Halli and Richard Dilts are together again. The former football coaching colleagues at Kiski Area who later served together in athletic administration at the school now have their names forever linked at the football stadium. On Tuesday, Kiski Area honored Halli with a ceremony renaming the track at...
Greensburg Central Catholic prevails over Apollo-Ridge in wild, weather-affected game
When the Apollo-Ridge and Greensburg Central Catholic softball teams met at Apollo-Ridge on April 5, it was a low-scoring Section 2-2A affair won by the Centurions. Monday’s rematch had a lot more scoring. The teams combined for 18 runs over the first two innings amidst chilly conditions and a rain-snow...
Seneca Valley vaults into top 10 as volleyball coaches association releases latest WPIAL boys rankings
Shaler remained at the top in Class 3A as the Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association released its Week 6 rankings Monday morning. Penn-Trafford, North Allegheny, Canon-McMillan, Hempfield and Norwin also stayed strong at Nos. 2 through No. 6, respectively. Seneca Valley was the big mover just one week after falling...
Gateway boys tennis captures long-awaited section championship
The last time the Gateway boys tennis team captured a section title, Bill Clinton was ramping up his campaign to become President of the United States, Duke has just routed Michigan to win the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament, and “Jump” by the hip-hop duo Kris Kross was moving...
Gateway lacrosse eyes improvement, progress in 2nd half of season
The Gateway boys lacrosse team last made the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs in 2019. The Gators that year defeated Sewickley Academy in the first round before falling to No. 2 Hampton in the quarterfinals. Gateway’s momentum was stunted the next year as the covid pandemic wiped out the entire spring...
Back from injury, Jack Loughren helping Riverview baseball contend for section crown
It was a long road to recovery for Riverview junior Jack Loughren. The three-sport Raiders standout saw his football season come to an end Sept. 10 when he suffered a severely broken leg in a game against Northgate at Riverside Park. Surgery and several months of healing followed. Loughren missed...
A-K Valley campus clippings: Plum’s Nick Hubner earns PAC lacrosse honors
Plum graduate Nick Hubner, a senior attacker on the Westminster men’s lacrosse team, earned his second straight Presidents’ Athletic Conference men’s lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. He scored nine goals and added two assists in a pair of games for the Titans. Hubner tallied a pair of...
Maddie Kee’s perfect game helps Deer Lakes to 4-inning win vs. Freeport
The Deer Lakes softball team hoped to return to the win column against Freeport in a Section 1-3A game Friday and finish the bounceback from Tuesday’s eight-run setback to Class 5A power Armstrong. The Lancers did just that against a Yellowjackets team hoping to stay competitive despite not having heart-and-soul...
New-look Deer Lakes softball team challenges itself
The Deer Lakes softball team lost four starters to graduation from last year’s team, which finished runner-up to Avonworth in WPIAL Class 3A and made it the PIAA quarterfinals before falling to Bald Eagle Area. The entire outfield is new with two first-year starters and veteran senior Delanie Kaiser moving...
Hundreds of competitors registered for Pittsburgh Karate Championships
The Pittsburgh Karate Championships made a triumphant return last year after a nearly decade-long hiatus. More than 300 competitors of all ages flocked to the Quality Inn in New Kensington to compete and celebrate a myriad of martial art styles and practices. Event organizers, led by Caliguri’s Academy of Martial...
