Swimming
MSA 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 CONTINUES
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.
WPIAL Swimming Championships – Class AAA Day Two Results
February 21, 2015
North Allegheny boys and girls swim team came into the day with a commanding lead. That meant that today was all but a formality and PIAA qualifying day. Problem for the field was nobody told the Tigers that. North Allegheny picked up where they left off on the cold snowy day with their senior Morgan Soulia winning the Girls 100 Freestyle with a time of 50.75. {Left: Members of North Allegheny swim team celebrate in the pool after winning another WPIAL crown} We had Saturday's first WPIAL Record set when in 100 Yard Freestyle North Hills' Senior broke John Nappi of Mt Lebanon's 2011 record by a whole tenth of a second. Lovasik's finishing time was 45.02.
WPIAL Swimming Championships – Class AA Day Two Results
A snow storm hit Western Pennsylvania on Saturday morning but that didn't stop the participants in the Boys and Girls WPIAL AA Swimming Championships at the University of Pittsburgh. In front of a packed house at Joseph C. Trees Pool the second day of the championships were held. {Left: Members of Shady Side Academy girls swim team celebrate in pool after claiming their first WPIAL title}WPIAL Swimming Championships – Class AAA Day One Results
February 20, 2015
The North Allegheny Tigers picked up where they left off in their dominance over the last several years as the Lady Tigers commanded a huge lead after day one of the WPIAL AAA Swimming Championships. The North Allegheny boys don’t have nearly the dominant lead but still have the advantage going into day two. The Upper St. Clair boys team, however, seem to possibly have the more elite level swimmers on the boys side as they swept the two team events and, in doing so, set two WPIAL records in the process. On the afternoon, there were several WPIAL records that fell.
WPIAL Swimming Championships – Class AA Day One Results
Friday was a great day for both the Shady Side Academy girls and the Quaker Valley boys as the Class AA WPIAL Swimming Championships got underway at Trees Pool at the University of Pittsburgh. Frigid temperatures forced a two-hour delay but, once the swimmers hit the water, the competition was intense.
Mars Taylor Hockenberry Sets Record in Girls AA Diving Finals
February 19, 2015
Taylor Hockenberry of Mars set a new scoring record in capturing the WPIAL Class AA girls’ diving championship on Wednesday at Moon Area High School. Hockenberry, who finished second as a freshman last year, compiled a score of 506.05, eclipsing the previous mark of 505.45, set by Brittany Garza in 1998.
Uniontown’s Braden Carei Wins WPIAL Boys AA Diving Crown
February 18, 2015
In the Boys WPIAL Diving championships at Moon High School Uniontown's Braden Carei a senior wins his first WPIAL title in his third attempt. He finished 9th in 2012, and 7th in 2014 before winning this year. {Left: Braden Carei stands tall amongst top finishers at WPIAL Boys Class AA Diving Finals} After the first round of five dives Carei led the completion by 16 points. After the semi final three dives his lead increased by 8 points to 24. Going into the final three dives he had to make sure not to falter as the rest of the field kept diving well. In fact the first three finishers would have won last years competition based on their scores from Wednesday. On his final dive he scored a 57.40to win by 34 points.
Chartiers Valley’s Maria Lohman Wins 4th WPIAL AAA Diving Title
February 16, 2015
It was a perfect day for Chartiers Valley’s Maria Lohman, who set a personal best mark with 603.50 points in winning her fourth WPIAL championship in the WPIAL Girls Class AAA Diving Championship at North Allegheny High School. Lohman bested Mallory Charles of Pine-Richland by over 130 points to claim the gold and another trip to Bucknell University for the PIAA championship next month. Lohman is the defending PIAA champion and looks to win for a third time on the state level. With a 43 diver field in the preliminary round, she said she listened to her music and just concentrated on every dive. She was able to post a couple of tens on the scoreboard on the way to the win.
Penn-Trafford’s Joey Ference Captures WPIAL Boys AAA Diving Gold
What a difference a year makes. Last year at North Allegheny High School, Joey Ference had a failed dive on his next to last attempt which cost him the silver medal. The Penn-Trafford junior made sure there would be no such drama at this year’s meet, leading throughout and finishing in first place with a score of 589.40. Ference did capture the bronze last year with a score of 403.20 and he finished 11th as a freshman two years ago. North Allegheny senior Andrew Doerfler was strong again and captured his second consecutive silver medal finishing 86.35 points behind Ference with a score of 503.05. Mt. Lebanon senior Cary Johns who finished fourth last year, moved up one slot this year, scoring 484.20 points to grab the bronze medal.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 02/16/2015
So it's postseason scholastic basketball you want? There is no where else to go for all the hardwood action this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We close out the First Round and look ahead to the Quarterfinals this weekend in both boys and girls WPIAL, District 6 and District 9 playoff basketball. We also have plenty of gold to hand out with the WPIAL Diving, WPIAL Swimming and WPIAL Class AA and District 6 Class AAA Individual Wrestling Championships along with WPIAL Class AAA-4 Wrestling Sectionals, plus we have men's and women's college basketball, Inside the WPIAL Wrestling Circle, the PIHL Power Play Show and The WPIAL Roundball Report ALL here at MSAsports.netMSA 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.Scholastic Notebook – 01/02/2015
January 2, 2015
As WPIAL basketball heads into the new year, two of the best teams – record-wise – are the Southmoreland boys and the Jefferson-Morgan girls. Say what? Yes, it is unheard of the past few decades for the Southmoreland boys and Jefferson-Morgan girls to be doing so well in the same season. Winning isn’t associated much with the two teams. But get this: There is only one loss between them. The Southmoreland boys are 10-1 and the Jefferson-Morgan girls are 10-0.
MSA Sports Countdown – Top 25 WPIAL Stories From 2014 – 12/29/2014
December 29, 2014
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 continue our countdown with the five stories that ended up #20 through #16. {Left: Members of the Sabers girls volleyball team are paraded around Ford City after winning the schools first ever WPIAL girls volleyball championship in the schools final year.} #20 - NA Tigers: Kings of the Pool
MSA SPORTS CUP: South Fayette Roars to First Class AAA Cup Title
July 1, 2014
The first ten years of the MSA Sports Cup has shown us that while there are a couple of dominating schools in the other three classifications, the chase for the Class AAA Cup has been up for grabs with eight different schools earning The Cup in ten years. Now in the eleventh year of this competition, we have another first time winner in Triple-A making it nine different champs in eleven years. After finishing as the runner-up in 2012-2013 and being a steady member on the Top 5 in recent years, South Fayette is finally enjoying its day in the Championship Sun with a convincing victory.
MSA SPORTS CUP: Another Year, Another Quad-A Title for North Allegheny
June 30, 2014
Another school year and another MSA Sports Cup in Class AAAA for North Allegheny High School. NA captured their 11th Cup in eleven 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 for the second straight year and only the second time in this history of the coveted competition, the Tigers earned points in ALL of them. In the 2012-2013 school year, North Allegheny scored a mind-numbing and record 1,115 points. In 2013-2014, they had to settle for a mere 965 points. The second place school finished 530 points behind NA.Scholastic Notebook – 05/02/2014
May 2, 2014
There are multi-sport athletes in the WPIAL who compete in more highly-visible sports than North Hills’ Noah Bostick. But as far as the number of sports and excelling in them, Bostick has few peers. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say Bostick is most one of the best all-around athletes in the WPIAL. He is a young man for all seasons – and then some. You don’t see many three-sport athletes these days at large schools. But Bostick is more than a three-sport athlete. He actually competes in four sports, and does well in all of them.Scholastic Notebook – 03/14/2014
March 14, 2014
Seton-LaSalle boys basketball coach Mark Walsh is known as “Knobby.” He has two brothers, Kevin and Danny, who also are known as “Knobby.” The boys’ father, Ed, also is known as “Knobby.” It is a crazy name game. But at Seton-LaSalle, just call Mark Walsh one thing. “Winner.” Walsh has made Seton-LaSalle basketball relevant again. Well, more than relevant. He has guided the Rebels to one of the best seasons in school history. Seton-LaSalle won a WPIAL title for only the second time since joining the league in the mid 1970s. Also, Seton-LaSalle has a 27-1 record. That is the most wins since the school joined the WPIAL.
West Allegheny Girls and Mars Boys Claim WPIAL AA Swimming Gold
March 1, 2014
The West Allegheny Indians girls swim team avenges a tough loss last year to the South Fayette Lions in the team competition by winning their 3rd WPIAL title in five years. It is their 5th top two finish in the last five years as they settled for second in 2010, and 2013. They started the day with an 18 point lead after the first day of compensation, and at one time the Lions cut the lead to points. However after the 3rd event of the day they surged ahead with solid performances in the last 4 events to win 227 to 199.
