Cross Country
MSA SPORTS CUP RESULTS – NA Remains Perfect in Quad-A
July 6, 2016
Another school year is in the books and another MSA Sports Cup in Class AAAA is headed to North Allegheny High School. NA captured the schools 13th Cup in 13 years since the MSA Sports Network started this school year long competition to determine the top sports programs in each classification. There are 20 sports in which schools can earn points in the competition and the Tigers earned points in 18 of them. While it was not the highest point total or largest margin of victory, North Allegheny still cruised to their final Quad-A Sports Cup as they will move up to 6-A starting this fall. The second place school finished 430 points behind NA.WPIAL Girls Sports Realignment
February 16, 2016
We all knew it was coming. A major change to the WPIAL high school sports landscape based on the PIAA's decision to increase from four to six classifications in basketball and softball, plus the increase in other sports such as soccer, volleyball and lacrosse. The WPIAL Board of Control approved the various steering committee's re-alignment suggestions starting with the 2016-2017 school year. This alignment also will be for the 2017-2018 school year. For interactive listing, CLICK HERE. GIRLS BASKETBALL Class 6AWPIAL Boys Sports Realignment
We all knew it was coming. A major change to the WPIAL high school sports landscape based on the PIAA's decision to increase from four to six classifications in football, basketball and baseball, plus the increase in other sports such as soccer and lacrosse. The WPIAL Board of Control approved the various steering committee's re-alignment suggestions starting with the 2016-2017 school year. This alignment also will be for the 2017-2018 school year. *For an interactive listing, CLICK HERE FOOTBALL Class 6AMSA Sports Top 25 WPIAL Stories From 2015 Countdown: #25 – #11
December 31, 2015
It has become a tradition like no other...at least during the holiday season here at MSA Sports. Here is a look back at another great high school sports year with the top stories from around the WPIAL in 2015. We begin our countdown with #25 through #11. #25 - ODD STREAK CONTINUESScholastic Notebook – 12/11/2015
December 11, 2015
There is a Wildcat strike in WPIAL boys basketball this season. Big things are expected of the Latrobe Wildcats and coach Brad Wetzel’s crew has been impressive in the first week of the season. Latrobe is 3-0, including Tuesday’s victory against Pine-Richland, which was the No. 2-ranked Class AAAA team in the MSA Sports preseason Class AAAA rankings. This could be one of Latrobe’s best teams in a while, at least the best since the 2009 team that went 19-4. Latrobe is the odds-on favorite to win Section 1. If Latrobe wins the section, it would be only their fourth crown in the past 30 years. The others were in 1987, 1990 and 2009.2015 PIAA Cross-Country Results: Two WPIAL Runners Win Gold
November 7, 2015
On a day when no WPIAL teams won state titles, a pair of district runners were golden at the 2015 PIAA Cross-Country championships in Hershey on Saturday. Griffin Mackey of Sewickley Academy won the Boys Class A race with a time of 16:05 while Marianne Abdulah of Vincentian Academy added to her golden trophy collection by winning the Girls Class A race with a time of 18:50. Two WPIAL boys teams are bringing home silver as North Allegheny finished second in the AAA race and Sewickley Academy was second in the A race. Seneca Valley finished third in AAA for the highest spot on the girls side of the team competition. Here are the team winners along with the highest WPIAL team to finish in that race. BOYS AAA:
BF’s Dom Peretta & QV’s Zach Skoinekovich Repeats as Boys Cross-Country Champs
October 30, 2015
Two of the three boys’ individual cross country winners were repeat champions, as Beaver Falls’ Domenic Peretta and Quaker Valley’s Zach Skolnekovich defended their championships, while Nick Wolk of Peters Township earned his first title. Meanwhile, all three reigning team champions successfully defended their titles in the event, which was held at Coopers Lake Campground near Slippery Rock. In Class A, Peretta, who is also a standout in track and field for Beaver Falls, notched a winning time of 16:15, 13 seconds better than Sewickley Academy’s Griffin Mackey. A senior, Peretta will be competing for the Penn State track and field team next year.
Marianne Abdalah of Vincentian Wins Third Title in Girls X-Country Finals
At the WPIAL Girls Cross Country Championships at Coopers Lake Campground, there was a brand new champ in AAA. Oakland Catholic's Lauren Finikiotis is a first ever champ for the Eagles. In AA, Knoch's Mandi Moxie won gold Vincentian Academy's Marianne Abdalah won for a third straight year. All of this came on a course that was surprisingly dry after rains from the day before. It was the wind that had more of an effect on the runners all day. In the team portion of the event, Seneca Valley in AAA, Quaker Valley in AA, and Vincentian Academy in A were crowned champions. The top three teams in each classification will move on to the state finals. The following is a list of all the teams, and individuals that will move on to the PIAA State FinalsScholastic Notebook – 10/25/2015
October 25, 2015
The irony of it. Deer Lakes came into Friday night’s game with the leading rusher in the entire WPIAL this season Hunter Burns. When it ended, Apollo-Ridge had the top rusher ever in a WPIAL game. Duane Brown, a junior at Apollo-Ridge, put himself in the history books when he rushed for a WPIAL record 460 yards in a 56-35 victory over Deer Lakes. Brown was certainly a workhorse in the game, carrying the ball 47 times. Brown broke a 15-year-old WPIAL record. Connellsville’s Marcus Furman ran for 455 yards in a 2000 game. What’s funny is that Apollo-Ridge coach John Skiba and his team had no idea how many yards Brown had or that he had broken the WPIAL record until an announcer from your very own MSA Sports staff came on the field and told him after the game.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 10/25/2015
We conclude the Stretch Run of the 2015 high school football season while starting exclusive coverage of the 2015 WPIAL Soccer and Girls Volleyball Playoffs this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We wrap up the regular season with Week Nine of the high school football season with 29 WPIAL weekend contests starting Friday night with the MSA Sports Pregame Show and concluding later that night with the WPIAL Football Scoreboard Show.Scholastic Notebook – 09/11/2015
September 11, 2015
Duane Brown’s sidekick is gone, but Brown’s game apparently still has a lot of kick. Brown is a junior football player at Apollo-Ridge. A year ago, he and Tre Tipton were a one-of-a-kind one-two punch, as both played quarterback and some at receiver/running back. They were believed to be the first quarterback pair in WPIAL history to both rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. Tipton is now at Pitt, but life is anything but the pits for Brown. At least after the first week of the season. Look at the statistical leaders for the WPIAL after Week 1 and Brown is the only one you will see in the receiving, rushing and scoring leaders.
2015 Positive Athlete Awards
May 19, 2015
2015 Positive Athlete Awards On Wednesday, May 13th, 27 Western PA High School students were recognized at the John Heinz History Center by Hines Ward as “Positive Athletes” . These athletes were nominated by coaches, teachers, administrators, parents, and friends for their ability to meet the following criteria in their day-to day lives as athletes, students and members of their communities.
WPIAL Hall of Fame Class of 2015
April 9, 2015
Four athletes who would later go on to professional careers, several multi-sport athletes, four coaches who won nearly 40 WPIAL championships between them, an old-school baseball player whose son continued his Major League Baseball legacy and a team that won nine WPIAL and PIAA playoff games en route to a state basketball title by an average margin of victory of 25.8. Those are some of the headliners of the WPIAL Hall of Fame class of 2015. The WPIAL held a news conference Thursday morning to announce its ninth annual class. You can watch the video stream archived here on MSA Sports. All inductees will be honored at a banquet June 12 at the Doubletree Hotel in Greentree.Scholastic Notebook – 01/09/2015
January 9, 2015
New Castle High School’s Malik Hooker apparently isn’t the only one who wears the athletic “genes” in the family. Hooker was one of the best two-sport athletes in the state the past two years, standing out in football and basketball. He now is a freshman football player at Ohio State, but is being redshirted this year. Two of Hooker’s younger brothers are now playing on the New Castle basketball. One of them is the team’s leading scorer in his first year as a starter. Marquel Hooker, a 5-foot-10 junior, is averaging 16.4 points a game. He never saw regular varsity time before this season.MSA Sports Countdown – Top 25 WPIAL Stories From 2014 – 01/07/2015
January 7, 2015
It has become a tradition like no other...at least during the holidays here at MSA Sports. Here is a look back at another great high school sports year with the top stories from around the WPIAL in 2014. We conclude our countdown with all 25 stories from #25 through #1. #25 - Game, Set, Match and Gold The unique streak continued in 2014 for Sewickley Academy. 2009 was the last time a Panthers duo did not win gold the WPIAL boys doubles tennis tournament. back in April, the Sewickley Academy tandem of Ryan Gex and Luke Vith won gold in Class AA.
MSA Sports Countdown – Top 25 WPIAL Stories From 2014 – 01/01/2015
January 1, 2015
It has become a tradition like no other...at least during the holidays here at MSA Sports. It's time to look back at another high school sports year with the top stories from around the WPIAL in 2014. We conclude our countdown with the five stories that ended up #5 through #1. {Left: Brianna Schwartz of Shaler crosses the finish line to win the WPIAL Girls Class AAA cross-county championship, her third straight title} #5 - Sister Power In 2013, the Kluska sisters made news when older sister Alyvia forfeited her WPIAL Class AA Consolation match to Michaela, thus earning the then freshman a spot in the PIAA girls individual singles tennis playoffs.Scholastic Notebook – 11/14/2014
November 14, 2014
It has been well-documented how Pine-Richland quarterback Ben DiNucci has turned out to be one of the most prolific passers in the history of the WPIAL. But DiNucci also has benefitted from a terrific one-two receiving punch. It looks like you could call seniors D’ondre Gastion and Mike Merhaut are a receiving duo for the ages. There are no records available for best receiving one-two punches, but you can bet you will be hard-pressed to find many duos from the same team who have been as productive as Gastion and Merhaut. How many teams have had two receivers with 100 or more career catches? But that’s what Pine-Richland has in Gastion and Merhaut, a pair of seniors.
Shaler’s Brianna Schwart Runs Away With PIAA Cross-Country Gold
November 2, 2014
The golden career of Shaler's Brianna Schwartz had another championship chapter written Saturday in Hershey. The three time WPIAL Class AAA girls cross-country champion finally captured a PIAA championship and was joined in the winners circle by one other famle runner and a pair of boys teams from the WPIAL. Schwartz finished first in the near record setting course time of 17:39 , the second fastest time ever by a female runner on the Hershey course on a raw, rainy and windy afternoon with temps in the mid-40's. Also winning state gold was Marianne Abdalah of Vincentian Academy, who took first in the Girls Class A race with a winning time of 18:35.Scholastic Notebook – 10/24/2014
October 24, 2014
Has there ever been a WPIAL football regular season that was so perfect as this one? Probably not. Fourteen teams go into the final night of the regular season with undefeated records. Two of them play (West Allegheny at Central Valley). That means there could be 13 teams that finish the regular season with perfect records. That would be the most in the WPIAL in a long time. Possibly ever. Checking records going back 37 years, there has never been a WPIAL season with 13 undefeated and untied teams (there used to no overtime in WPIAL football).
North Allegheny, Knoch & Sewickley Academy Win WPIAL Boys Team X-Country
On the boys’ side, North Allegheny once again shined, as the Tigers cruised to a team victory, led by individual winner Matt McGoey, who edged teammate Hunter Wharrey for the top spot.
