Alle-Kiski Valley notebook: Kiski Area’s Plazio wants WCCA title back

By: Michael Love
Tuesday, October 7, 2025 | 6:57 PM

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Sam Plazio knows very well what it feels like to take home gold from the Westmoreland County Coaches Association cross country championships.

The Kiski Area senior claimed the top spot in the boys varsity race as a freshman and repeated as champion as a sophomore.

Last year, Plazio was fourth overall behind a trio of seniors including champion Jake McGhee from Penn-Trafford.

Now, the veteran runner, who is coming off a second-place finish at last week’s Division I, Section 4 championship meet at Northmoreland Park, wants to regain the title. He’ll get that chance among a standout field of competitors Wednesday on the campus of Westmoreland County Community College in Youngwood.

“Sam’s training has probably been the best it’s been in his four years at Kiski,” Cavaliers coach Tom Berzonsky said.

“He’s healthy this year, and he has built up a lot of momentum to run well Wednesday. He’s really excited to test himself against some of the best runners in the WPIAL.”

Junior Audrey Fowkes will help lead the Cavaliers girls team after taking fourth (20:21.90) at last week’s Section 4 meet.

Kiski Area boys and girls runners will join Burrell from the Alle-Kiski Valley in a field that includes Derry, Franklin Regional, Latrobe, Greensburg Central Catholic, Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Kiski Prep, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Southmoreland and Yough.

The boys race is 3 p.m. with the girls at 3:40.

“This is the start of championship season,” Berzonsky said. “For a lot of the kids, this season started in June with a lot of miles in training. Our kids are focused and ready to give it our best against an incredible level of competition. Westmoreland County is at an incredibly high level right now, probably the best I’ve seen since I’ve been coaching.”

Vikings, Bucs set for team tennis tourney

Seeing rain in the forecast for Tuesday, the WPIAL moved the first round of the Class 2A girls team tennis championships to Wednesday, and Valley and Burrell will be in action.

Burrell, the No. 10 seed, will travel to face No. 7 Indiana, and No. 14 Valley visits No. 3 Sewickley Academy. Both will be at 3 p.m.

Sewickley Academy’s eight WPIAL team titles are the third most in WPIAL history behind Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair with 15 each.

The winners of Wednesday’s first-round matches advance to the quarterfinals at 3 p.m. on Monday.

Burrell punched its ticket to WPIALs with a 6-1 record in Section 1 with its only loss to undefeated and No. 8 seed Mt. Pleasant. Valley took third in Section 1 at 6-2.

Fox Chapel, the No. 6 seed in Class 3A, blanked No. 11 Mars in Monday’s first round.

The Foxes, runners-up to Shady Side Academy in Section 3, got straight-set wins from Clara Drahnak, Eloise Johnson and Maya Vyas in singles. Victoria Pfendler and Caroline Leland won at No. 1 doubles, and Umayma Trebak and Rebecca Dorenich won a three-set match at No. 2 doubles.

Fox Chapel visits North Allegheny in the quarterfinals Wednesday.

Yellowjackets to golf for title

The Freeport boys golf team will play for a WPIAL Class 2A championship after finishing runner-up to Elizabeth Forward (387) in Monday’s 18-hole semifinal at Champions Lake Golf Club in Bolivar.

The top three teams from each of the two semifinal tournaments meet Thursday at Cedarbrook Golf Course in Belle Vernon.

Senior Ethan Crooks fired a 72 to lead the Yellowjackets, and fellow seniors Aiden Bauman and Carson Kane both shot 79s. Freshman Jackson Kane (81) and junior Max Zigo (86) rounded out the scoring golfers for the Yellowjackets.

Deer Lakes, who finished runner-up to Freeport in Section 1, also golfed Monday at Champions Lake and finished sixth out of the 10 teams with a score of 418. Junior Christian Capetta recorded the second-lowest individual score with a 69, just one stroke behind medalist Ben Kandravy, a senior from North Catholic.

The Fox Chapel boys, who finished as undefeated Section 7 champions (10-0), advanced to Thursday’s WPIAL finals at Cedarbrook Gold with a first-place finish at Tuesday’s semifinal at Links at Spring Church in Apollo. The Foxes carded a 377, four strokes better than runner-up Franklin Regional.

The Fox Chapel girls will go after a WPIAL Class 3A title Thursday when they face seven other teams at Cedarbrook Red. The Foxes finished the Section 1 slate undefeated at 12-0.

They are seeking their third WPIAL title overall and first since 2021.

Bucs hot on ice

The Burrell ice hockey team is off to a fast start with three wins in as many games to start its PIHL Division 2 schedule.

The Bucs outscored Sewickley Academy, Deer Lakes, and Carrick by a combined 24-2. They will go for win No. 4 on Monday against McDowell at Pittsburgh Ice.

Junior forward Jared Wall leads the team with five goals and three assists, and senior forward Dante Taliani owns four goals and an assist in the trio of victories.

Goaltenders Jonah Endlich, Madi George and Seth Munda each started a game and picked up a win.

Burrell is coming off a 2024-25 season which saw it go 15-2-1-1 and claim the Division 2 Blue Division title. The Bucs went on to win the inaugural Division 2 Pennsylvania Challenge Cup with a 7-3 win over Pope John Paul II.

Championship team recognition

The 2005 WPIAL Class 3A champion Plum boys soccer team will be recognized and celebrated during halftime of Thursday’s key Section 1-4A battle between section leaders Norwin and Plum at Plum’s Mustangs Stadium.

Twenty years ago, the Mustangs made a magical run through a 10-1-1 section slate before defeating Kiski Area, Seneca Valley, Chartiers Valley and Peters Township to claim WPIAL gold for the first time in program history.

Plum then took a 20-1-1 record into the PIAA playoffs where it routed City League champion Schenley, 7-0, and edged District 10 champion Cathedral Prep, 3-2, before falling to District 1’s West Chester Henderson, 1-0, in the state semifinals.

Team members expected to be in attendance are Evan Phillips, Shawn Westerlund, Kevin Hanlon, Matt Kraemer, Anthony Russo, Clayton Kubrick, Chris Yankowski, Paul Paradise, John Kraemer, Nick Russo, Michael Tardio, Jon Fisher, Brice Lott, Zack Matthews and Michael McDade.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.