Other Local category, Page 12
Ricky Thornton Jr. captures 2nd straight Firecracker 100 title at Lernerville Speedway
Utter domination led to Ricky Thornton Jr. making history at Lernerville Speedway. Thornton won by over a dozen seconds to become the first driver to win back-to-back Firecracker 100’s and earned another $50,000 payday Saturday night in Buffalo Township. He took the lead from Mike Marlar on lap 45 and...
Chiefs WR, New Kensington native Skyy Moore holds Summer Slam to benefit community
There is nothing like winning the Super Bowl. A minuscule percentage of players earn the opportunity to play in the big game. Even fewer can hoist the Lombardi Trophy, and even fewer can do it twice. As a two-time Super Bowl champion wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs, Skyy...
Drake Troutman proves he can hang with the big boys during Firecracker weekend at Lernerville
Drake Troutman and his group of young helpers are teens living out a dream. Troutman, 19, has been going up and down the road following the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model tour with a crew of kids the same age or younger than him, and there have been some humbling...
Penn Hills Eagles track club looks forward to regional, national competitions
Penn Hills Eagles track and field coach Chuck Carter knows from experience that the young athletes in his program respond well to any weather conditions. Having to train and compete in the recent heat wave won’t dampen their spirits at all. “The kids just like summer, there’s something about it,”...
19-year-old Drake Troutman earns emotional feature victory at Lernerville Speedway
With tears in his eyes, Drake Troutman shook his head while he was standing in victory lane. The moment was washing over the 19-year-old native of Hyndman in Bedford County. He was a Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Dirt Series winner. Troutman took the lead for good on lap 9...
Alex Ferree has legacy at Lernerville through his car, name
Every time Alex Ferree is on a racetrack, he helps carry on multiple legacies. There’s the legacy of his last name, which he shares with his hall of fame father Ed. There’s also the prestige of the #1 Cochran car he drives, which once was piloted by another hall of...
Defending champion Ricky Thornton Jr. off to fast start at Firecracker 100
Ricky Thornton Jr. picked up right where he left off. The defending Firecracker 100 champion and current Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series points leader led flag to flag to claim one of the Twin 25-lap preliminary races Thursday night at Lernerville Speedway in Buffalo Township. Jonathan Davenport won the...
14-year-old driver ready for pros at Lernerville’s Firecracker event
At 14 years old, Brock Pinkerous is much younger than most of the competitors he races against, but he’s already making his presence known. In his first super late model race last Friday at Lernerville Speedway, the teen from Ellenville, N.Y., led the first 17 laps of the feature. The...
Michael Norris riding momentum heading into Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway
Michael Norris has had some excellent years at Lernerville Speedway, but what he’s done so far this year may be his most impressive run yet. There have been six super late model races contested at the Buffalo Township track this year, and he has won five of them, including four...
New Castle native Dalton Rosta to enter octagon at Bellator Dublin MMA event
“Whenever you come from a small town like New Castle, you’re not supposed to make it and a lot of people hope that you don’t.” Dalton Rosta said. MMA fighter Dalton “Hercules” Rosta will return to the MMA cage in front of a strident Irish crowd Saturday, set to reinsert...
Indoor football offers career lifeline for Jeannette alum Gio Vonne Sanders
Defensive back Gio Vonne Sanders entered the NFL Draft in 2023. The move came with no guarantees, only that his name would be out there and it showed he was aiming for the next level following a sound college career that included two-year run at St. Francis (Pa.) with a...
Western Pa. golf notebook: Busy Neal Shipley withdraws from 124th WPGA Amateur
After playing four grueling rounds at the U.S. Open the past four days and finishing as the low amateur, Central Catholic grad Neal Shipley has decided to withdraw from the 124th Western Pennsylvania Golf Association’s Amateur Championship, which begins Monday at Chartiers Country Club. Shipley tied for 26th at 6-over...
Mt. Lebanon’s Neal Shipley wins duel for top amateur honors at U.S. Open
Mt. Lebanon native Neal Shipley’s last day as an amateur golfer was one he’ll never forget. Shipley beat Florida State junior Luke Clanton in dramatic fashion in the final round of the U.S. Open on Sunday at Pinehurst No. 2 to claim low amateur honors. Shipley shot a 2-over-par 72...
Franklin Regional grad Spencer Lee ready to ‘put on show’ for U.S. wrestling at Paris Olympics
There is one thing that has never changed about Spencer Lee since he began wrestling when he was 8. Lee strived to be the best. And during the past 17 years, it’s hard to argue he hasn’t been one of the best. Now the 25-year-old Franklin Regional and Iowa graduate,...
64-year-old Penn Hills boxer ‘Papa Chainsaw’ scores easy win in Atlantic City
Paul VanDale was honored to have a fight night held in Oakmont for his celebrity boxing match. Vinnie’s Tavern, owned by VanDale’s sponsor, the John Keefe Restaurant Group, hung a banner outside and showed his match on its televisions. VanDale, a Penn Hills resident also known by his ring name...
Palmer Jackson ends up 3rd at Sunnehanna Amateur
Palmer Jackson was hoping to capture one of the biggest victories in his amateur career Saturday. But University of Minnesota senior Ben Warian had other ideas. Warian shot a 6-under-par 64 during the final round of the 70th Sunnehanna Amateur and walked away with the title by finishing with a...
After penalty stroke, Mt. Lebanon’s Neal Shipley shoots 71 in 3rd round of U.S. Open
Mt. Lebanon’s Neal Shipley is 4-over par after three rounds of the U.S. Open at Pinehurst. If his ball hadn’t moved a matter of millimeters at an inopportune time Saturday, he’d be 3-over par. Shipley was assessed a one-stroke penalty on the 13th hole when his ball, sitting on an...
Mt. Lebanon’s Neal Shipley makes cut at U.S. Open at unforgiving Pinehurst
Mt. Lebanon native Neal Shipley went viral in the online golf community this week with his choice of head cover for his driver. It’s a replica of an order of curly fries from Arby’s. He’s also making some headlines for more substantive reasons. Shipley made the cut in a major...
Murrysville’s Palmer Jackson fires 63 to move into contention at Sunnehanna Amateur
They call the third round of a golf tournament “moving day.” It’s a day when golfers try to put themselves in contention to win a championship. For Notre Dame grad and Murrysville native Palmer Jackson, it was a day he made a big move up the leaderboard Friday at the...
Inspired by his late mother, Derry motocross rider eager to compete at High Point National
TJ Squib’s motocross racing career started with his mother Tracy by his side in the pits at every race. Now every time he puts his helmet on and enters the starting gate, he does so to honor her memory. Tracy died in 2020, a little over a year into Squib’s...
30 years ago, Arnold Palmer played his final U.S. Open and Ernie Els reigned at Oakmont
The 124th U.S. Open started Thursday morning at Pinehurst. Thirty years ago, South African Ernie Els won the national championship at famed Oakmont Country Club, another historic venue in the USGA anchor rotation that will host the event again in 2025 for a record 10th time. Els, who has back-to-back...
Greensburg man, 77, sinks 2 holes-in-one in same round
Bob Ross wasn’t enjoying any happy little trees as he played the first three holes during his golf league last week at Mt. Odin Park. Not many courses open with three par 5s. “I wasn’t playing too well,” Ross said. “I think I was two over par going to No....
Jeannette native Cody Carroll completes incredible marathon feat over 1 week
A Pittsburgh Penguins double-overtime victory led to a grueling test of endurance running for Jeannette grad Cody Carroll. Carroll completed two marathons in one week’s time — the Eugene Marathon April 28 in Oregon and the Flying Pig Marathon May 5 in Cincinnati. The challenge came about because of a wager...
Recently retired Aaron Donald looks forward to spending more time with community involvement
Aaron Donald was all smiles during his annual football camp Saturday afternoon. The former Penn Hills, Pitt and Los Angeles Rams standout hosted his fifth annual “Living in the Pocket Skills” football camp for players ages of 6 to 18 at Highmark Stadium. There was a different feeling from Donald...
Penn-Trafford’s Nick Turowski has busy summer planned
Most high school seniors would rather goof around, hang out with friends or go on vacation before heading to college in the fall. Penn-Trafford senior Nick Turowski isn’t one of those seniors. He’s scheduled a busy summer on the golf course before heading to Morgantown to start school at West...
