A-K Valley notebook: Teams endure high temps during opening heat acclimatization workouts

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, August 6, 2018 | 8:57 PM

The PIAA’s mandated heat acclimatization period for football began Monday, and Mother Nature obliged.

With temperatures reaching into the upper 80s and lower 90s in Western Pennsylvania, the heat truly was on for football teams going through the first of five days of non-padded practices.

“It’s certainly a good day for heat acclimatization,” Fox Chapel coach Tom Loughran said. “It’s the first day in a while that I can remember it was actually hot.”

Fox Chapel practiced in the morning, when the heat and humidity was already beginning.

“It got cooking pretty good as the day wore on,” Loughran said.

After a summer of seven on sevens and other workouts, many teams are used to the heat and humidity, but Loughran said he likes the heat acclimatization period, which began in 2013 and expanded to five days in 2015.

Teams can wear helmets and shoulder pads, but contact is not permitted. Workouts are limited to three hours, and hydration breaks are required to simulate camp. Players must take part in at least three days in a row of workouts to meet the PIAA requirements.

“It was a typical first day, I’d say,” Springdale coach Seth Napierkowski said. “There are some guys that come into camp in shape, and some that don’t. That’s part of what camp is for, to get us in shape and also get ourselves acclimated to this heat and ready for the season. I think all in all, our guys were in pretty good shape.”

Training camp, and padded practices, begins Aug. 13.

Still swarming

It seems the Freeport girls volleyball team isn’t done winning championships.

The defending PIAA Class AA champion Yellowjackets followed up the first state title in school history by winning against some “elite” competition this summer.

Freeport won the Pittsburgh Elite Volleyball Summer League last week, and the Yellowjackets followed that with a title in the Kiski Summer League.

In addition to the 2017 PIAA title, Freeport claimed WPIAL championships in 2010, 2013, 2015 and 2016.

Taking charge

St. Joseph High School will have a new athletic director in place in time for the 2018-19 school year.

Susan Sullivan will begin her new position at the Catholic school in Harrison on Aug. 16 after getting hired last week. She will replace Tim Ackerman.

Once she begins, Sullivan will be the only female athletic director at any of the Alle-Kiski Valley’s 15 schools.

D-I Dylan

Knoch’s Dylan Swarmer said in late July he “couldn’t be happier” with his decision to play baseball this summer with Baird Brothers in the Youngstown Class B league.

He amended that just a short time later, after another benefit came through from his participation.

Swarmer committed over the weekend to Youngstown State, taking advantage of an offer he received this summer from the Division I program.

“It’s been my goal the whole time (to play Division I), and when this opportunity came about, it was kind of a no-brainer,” Swarmer said. “It’s really a school that fits my academic needs, and baseball-wise, it’s great.”

A three-year starter at catcher for Knoch, Swarmer was originally a Lackawanna College recruit. Youngstown State, which Swarmer said he talked to as far back as two years ago, found itself with a need at catcher this summer and offered Swarmer. He readily accepted.

Now Swarmer, who drove in 20 runs this spring for Section 1-4A champion Knoch, is working to get everything squared away with his new school.

“It all just worked out perfectly,” Swarmer said. “I don’t think it would’ve (happened without the summer league) because they come out to see a lot of those games. I think I played with six other YSU commits this summer, and obviously they came out to see them, to see how they were doing.”

House of Pane

Alex Pane also found a new baseball home, as the 2016 Springdale graduate committed to play at Division II Fairmont State (W.Va.).

A former basketball and baseball star at Springdale, Pane played both sports at Community College of Allegheny County-Boyce Campus. This spring, he threw a no-hitter in CCAC-Boyce’s 8-0 victory over CCAC South.

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Doug at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.

Tags: Fox Chapel, Freeport, Knoch, Springdale, St. Joseph