A closer look at 2019 Westmoreland County Scholar-Athlete honorees

By: Paul Schofield
Saturday, April 27, 2019 | 11:26 PM

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BELLE VERNON

Lindsay Steeber

Sport: basketball

QPA: 4.532

Class rank: 1 of 188

Did you know: Steeber will attend Duquesne. … She recently played in the Roundball Classic. … She played softball for three years and ran track in 2018. … She had scholarship offers from Duquesne and Seton Hill.

Anthony Bertram

Sport: football

QPA: 3.8

Class rank: 55 of 188

Did you know: Bertram was named to the Pa. Football News All-Academic team. … He was a first-team all-conference linebacker. … He is waiting for an appointment from the U.S. Military Academy. He also is considering Penn State.

BURRELL

Andrew Bigler

Sport: football, basketball, rugby

QPA: 4.45

Class rank: 2 of 144

Did you know: Bigler s a multiple-year letterman. … He recently committed to play rugby at St. Bonaventure. He also had an offer from West Virginia. … He played rugby for Kiski Valley.

Lauren Brown

Sport: track and field, cross country

QPA: 3.96

Class rank: 24 of 144

Did you know: Brown plans to major in health science, but she has not decided on what school. … She’s received offers from Washington & Jefferson, Westminster, Saint Vincent and Roanoke College.

DERRY AREA

Lauren Enos

Sport: volleyball

QPA: 4.0

Class rank: 12 of 153

Did you know: Enos will attend IUP. … She also was offered a scholarship to West Virginia. … During the 2017 and ‘18 seasons, she had 497 digs and 77 aces.

Dominic DeLuca

Sport: football, wrestling, volleyball

QPA: 4.0

Class rank: 26 of 153

Did you know: DeLuca was a two-time PIAA runner-up in wrestling and had NCAA Division I offers to wrestle in college. … He will play football at Mercyhurst. … He served as captain for all three teams.

FRANKLIN REGIONAL

Tiffany Jolayemi

Sport: soccer, track and field

QPA: 3.97

Class rank: 76 of 292

Did you know: Jolayemi will attend Slippery Rock. … She owns the school record in the discus. … She was an all-section and all-WPIAL goalkeeper in 2016. … She also has been a Girl Scout since 2007.

Palmer Jackson

Sport: golf, baseball

QPA: 4.2180

Class rank: 44 of 292

Did you know: Jackson was the WCCA and PIAA Class 3A golf champion in 2018. … He is one of the top high school golfers in the country and played at Oakmont, Baltusrol, Pebble Beach and Valhalla golf courses in one season. … He will attend Notre Dame. … He also was 6-0 on the hill in 2018.

GREENSBURG CENTRAL CATHOLIC

Gabrielle Skatell

Sport: basketball, soccer, softball

QPA: 4.0

Class rank: N/A

Did you know: Skatell earned 12 varsity letters, four in each sport. … She plans to attend Mansfield and play basketball. … She will major in biology.

Luke Mort

Sport: soccer

QPA: 4.1

Class rank: 5 of 65

Did you know: Mort is attending Pitt and is on the soccer roster. … He was the first player selected to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds Pathway to the Pros Program in 2018.

GREENSBURG SALEM

William Crites

Sport: swimming, soccer

QPA: 4.0

Class rank: 1 of 217

Did you know: Crites owns offers from Rensselaer Polytechnic and Georgia Institute of Technology. … He is a middle school volunteer coach. … He was the Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association champion in the 100 breaststroke. … He was a four-time WPIAL qualifier in swimming.

Jack Oberdorf

Sport: baseball, golf, basketball

QPA: 3.72 (unweighted)

Class rank: Top 10 percent of 217

Did you know: Oberdorf will attend Seton Hill and play baseball. … He also is an outstanding golfer and basketball player. … He served as a summer baseball camp counselor. … His sisters, Jayne and Claire, were elite softball and basketball players at Greensburg Salem. Both attended Marist.

HEMPFIELD

Jessica Persin

Sport: softball, soccer, basketball

QPA: 4.0

Class rank: 17 of 438

Did you know: Persin was the captain of all three teams she played on. … She was vice president of student council. … She will attend Saint Vincent as a biology and chemistry major in the pre-med program. She will play soccer and softball in college.

Gavin Mayo

Sport: swimming, track and field, cross country

QPA: 3.67

Class rank: 130 of 438

Did you know: Mayo was a USA swimming scholastic All-American in 2018. … He plans to attend North Carolina. … He owns three school records in swimming.

JEANNETTE

Zoe Manolis

Sport: cheerleading, tennis

QPA: 99.828

Class rank: 1 of 56

Did you know: Manolis plans to attend Westminster and has received a $20,000 scholarship per year from the school.

Anthony Sharp

Sport: basketball

QPA: 3.75

Class rank: 12 of 56

Did you know: Sharp hasn’t yet decided where he wants to play college basketball. … He was named MVP for the Class 2A/3A team in the Roundball Classic. … He also played one season for the football team.

KISKI AREA

Keaghan Schafer

Sport: gymnastics

QPA: 4.2

Class rank: 1 of 298

Did you know: Schafer participated in competitive gymnastics for 15 years, the past five at Level 10. … She received a partial scholarship to William & Mary. … She also coaches gymnastics. … She was nominated to participate in the American Mathematics Competition.

Brenden Brzozowski

Sport: swimming

QPA: 4.0

Class rank: 16 of 298

Did you know: Brzozowski plans to attend Edinboro. … He also is a member of the Kiski Area marching band. He served as vice president. … He is part of the school record setting 400 freestyle and 200 medley relay teams.

LATROBE

Reed Fenton

Sport: basketball, volleyball

QPA: 4.2

Class rank: 12 of 310

Did you know: Fenton will attend Lehigh on a basketball scholarship. … He also is an outstanding volleyball player. He scored more than 1,000 points in his career. … He owns the record for the most 3-pointers in a game (10).

Carly Augustine

Sport: volleyball, basketball

QPA: 3.59

Class rank: 100 of 310

Did you know: Augustine will stay close to home and attend Saint Vincent. … She was a two-year captain and first- team all-section player. … She was MVP of the Indiana tip-off tournament this season. … She has been an alter server for 10 years.

LIGONIER VALLEY

Mia Lynn

Sport: soccer, basketball, softball

QPA: 4.03

Class rank: 10 of 138

Did you know: Lynn had 61 career goals in soccer, second in school history. … She will attend Slippery Rock. … She is co-president of One Road Club (Christian Group) and is in Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

John Caldwell

Sport: football, baseball

QPA: 4.06

Class rank: 1 of 138

Did you know: Caldwell set a single-game passing record by completing 20 of 23 passes for 402 yards and seven touchdowns against Purchase Line. … He was 21-2 as a starting quarterback, starting with the fifth game of the season in 2017. … His is the team captain of the basketball team. … He will attend Penn State to study engineering.

MONESSEN

Soleil Simpson

Sport: softball, cheerleading

QPA: 4.5556

Class rank: 1 of 56

Did you know: Simpson was a the president of SADD for two years, and was captain of the cheerleading squad and softball team. She received four scholarships. She also was on the homecoming court. She is undecided on a major or school.

Madison Telegraphis

Sport: softball, basketball, soccer, cheerleading

QPA: 4.42

Class rank: 5 of 56

Did you know: She is choosing between attending Slippery Rock or Gannon. … She received highest honors for four years. … He also is an assistant rec softball coach.

MT. PLEASANT

Sam Napper

Sport: basketball, soccer, golf, tennis

QPA: 3.7167

Class rank: 39 of 151

Did you know: Napper had 45 career goals and 50 career assists. … He led the team in assists in 2016, ‘17 and ‘18, and he was the top goal scorer in 2018. … He also was stellar on the golf and had the lowest scoring average in 2017 and ‘18. … He is undecided on his future, but does have offers from Allegheny, Westminster and Cal (Pa.).

Kayla Moninger

Sport: soccer, track and field,

QPA: 4.3485

Class rank: 2 of 151

Did you know: Moninger plans to attend Penn State. … She received a scholarship offer from the Seton Hill “Women in Science.” … She is the president of the student council. … She helped the soccer team qualify for the WPIAL playoffs from 2015-17.

NORWIN

Jessica Kolesar

Sport: basketball, track and field

QPA: 100.25

Class rank: 11 of 396

Did you know: Kolesar plans to attend Cornell. … She is a member of the student council and helps with Special Olympics. … She placed seventh in the PIAA Class 3A long jump in 2018. … She owns school records in the long jump, triple jump and 200-meter dash.

Rachel Langsdorf

Sport: volleyball

QPA: 100.52

Class rank: 10 of 396

Did you know: Langsdorf is the senior class president. … She likes to listen to Spanish music to help learn and appreciate Spanish culture. … She will be attending Saint Francis (Pa.).

PENN-TRAFFORD

Nicholas Coy

Sport: wrestling

QPA: 3.58

Class rank: 160 of 325

Did you know: Coy was a four-time PIAA qualifier and two-time place winner. … He will attend Virginia and be reunited with his brother Cam. … He’s a volunteer coach with Penn-Trafford’s Junior Olympic program.

Paige Kalik

Sport: Diving

QPA: 4.3

Class rank: 35 of 325

Did you know: Kalik will attend Akron. She’s been accepted into the Williams Honor College at the school. … She is a gymnastics instructor at Gymkhana Gymnastics. … She was a WCCA and WPIAL champion.

SOUTHMORELAND

Travis Sipple

Sport: golf, hockey, baseball

QPA: 3.98

Class rank: 6 of 125

Did you know: Sipple is a rare athlete who participates in three sports. … He is a food bank volunteer at Cornerstone Church in Murrysville. … He plans to attend IUP.

Maggie Moore

Sport: basketball, cross country

QPA: 4.23

Class rank: 2 of 125

Did you know: She also ran on the cross country the team. … She has received an appointment to attend the U.S. Naval Academy. … She is a volunteer at the First United Methodist Church food bank.

VALLEY

Brandon Fiedor

Sport: track

QPA: 4.2185

Class rank: 5 of 124

Did you know: Fiedor was the first male cheerleader at Valley. … He is the president of the senior class and is undecided about his future.

Elizabeth Schachte

Sport: cheerleading

QPA: 4.264

Class rank: 1 of 124

Did you know: Schachte did mission work for her church in Nicaragua in 2018 and is planning to go back this summer. … She plans to attend Penn State New Kensington.

YOUGH

Lindsey McClaren

Sport: soccer

QPA: 97.3

Class rank: 6 of 160

Did you know: McClaren will attend Penn State Altoona. … She is an assistant athletic trainer and helped to organize a food drive. … She received the Challenge Program’s Academic Excellence Award.

Jarett Bach

Sport: baseball, basketball

QPA: 97.6

Class rank: 4 of 160

Did you know: Bach will attend Pitt and play baseball. … He led the WPIAL in strikeouts in 2018. … He was class president in 2016 and vice president in ‘17. … He was a three-time winner of the county Einstein Minds competition.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Burrell, Derry Area, Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Jeannette, Kiski School, Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Monessen, Mt. Pleasant, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Southmoreland, Valley, Yough