Westmoreland high school notebook: Hempfield’s DeMatt will join Bucknell

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Monday, October 14, 2024 | 6:19 PM

Allie DeMatt plans to compete in multiple track and field events in college.

She had multiple reasons to like her future destination.

The senior from Hempfield announced a commitment to Bucknell of the Patriot League.

“Bucknell has great athletics but also an amazing academic record, and their campus is beautiful,” she said. “The coaches were very nice, and the team seemed very close.

“When I was on campus it felt like home.”

DeMatt last season was the WCCA girls field MVP when she won the triple jump, took fourth in the long jump and was fifth in the high jump.

At the WPIAL meet, she took fifth in the high jump and triple jump.

She also plays lacrosse and tennis for the Spartans.

Her top marks include 36 feet, 10.5 inches in the triple jump, 5-1 in the high jump and 16-10.5 in the long jump.

DeMatt also has sought points for Hempfield in the hurdles, javelin and shot put.

Coaches saw DeMatt try the triple jump for the first time when she was a freshman and told her she had great potential. If any coaches have an eye for Division I talent, Hempfield’s do.

That is when she set her sights on becoming a Division I prospect.

“I had made it to the indoor state championship meet both my sophomore and junior years, so this goal seemed more and more attainable,” she said. “But I didn’t realize how realistic it was until some of the Division I coaches I emailed had emailed me back.”

Now, she is hitting send on her college future.

Honoring Crumrine

As part of its 30th season of boys soccer, Ligonier Valley last week took a few moments to honor longtime boys soccer coach Kip Crumrine who, since he took over the program in 1995, has not missed a game in 550 tries.

He is the only coach in program history.

He has amassed 240 wins, three division titles, a District 6 championship and a trip to the PIAA quarterfinals in 2001.

Crumrine was standout player in Cincinnati, winning state title at Finneytown High School in the late 1970s. He went on to play at Ohio University.

A deacon and session member at St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, as well as a member of the National Ski Patrol for 20 years, he is a Ligonier Valley hall of famer.

Soccer playoffs

The WPIAL will announce seedings and opening matchups for the boys and girls soccer playoffs Wednesday.

The TribLive HSSN pairings show will be online at 1 p.m.

Local boys qualifiers are: Norwin in 4A; Latrobe, Franklin Regional, Penn-Trafford and Belle Vernon in 3A; Burrell, Mt. Pleasant and Southmoreland in 2A; and Greensburg Central Catholic in Class A.

Girls qualifiers from the county are: Norwin, Latrobe and Hempfield in 4A; Franklin Regional and Kiski Area in 3A; and Belle Vernon, Burrell, Mt. Pleasant, Yough and Southmoreland in 2A.

Greensburg Central Catholic can clinch with a win Tuesday at Apollo-Ridge.

Volleyball playoffs

The WPIAL will release seedings and pairings for the girls volleyball playoffs Friday.

Local teams headed to the postseason include: Penn-Trafford, Hempfield, Latrobe and Kiski Area in 4A, Greensburg Salem in 3A, Southmoreland and Burrell in 2A and Greensburg Central Catholic in A.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Hempfield, Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Norwin, Penn-Trafford