Track and Field
MSA Sports Top 25 WPIAL Stories From 2015 Countdown: #10 – #1
January 1, 2016
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 conclude our countdown with #10 through #1. #10 - GOLDEN TRIBE
WPIAL Alum Q&A – April Krivoniak
November 30, 2015
Competing in one college sport is very challenging, but playing two sports at the collegiate level is incredibly impressive. April Krivoniak, a junior at Robert Morris University, competes on both the volleyball and track and field teams for the Colonials. As a result, she is the featured athlete on this week’s installment of WPIAL Alum Q&A. Krivoniak’s diverse athleticism was on display prior to college, as she competed in three sports, including basketball, while at Greater Latrobe High School. She made quite a mark on the volleyball court, however, as she became a four-year starter for the Wildcats. She was a three-time section honoree, and during her sophomore and season campaigns, Krivoniak earned All-WPIAL honors.Scholastic Notebook – 10/30/2015
October 30, 2015
If you want to see variety, check out Paris this fall. But we’re not talking the city of Paris. We’re talking the junior do-it-all player for the Seton-LaSalle football team named Paris Ford. He is a Ford that is souped up with versatility. He is undoubtedly one of the most versatile – and best – players in the WPIAL. Ford is listed as a receiver and defensive back. He is a stud at both positions. But he also runs the football and returns kicks and punts. How versatile is he? Well, Seton-LaSalle has moved the 6-foot-1, 170-pound Ford to linebacker because that’s where they could use him the most.Scholastic Notebook – 10/16/2015
October 16, 2015
Aliquippa is the only school in the WPIAL to have four running backs rush for more than 4,000 yards in their careers. There will likely be one for the thumb by the end of the season. Aliquippa senior running back Kaezon Pugh went over 3,000 yards two weeks ago and now has 3,210. Barring injury, Pugh should get 4,000 this season. He has three regular-season games left and Aliquippa should play at least two playoff games. The Quips are undefeated and played in the WPIAL Class AA championship seven years in a row. What’s impressive about Pugh is his yards-per-carry average. It’s almost 10 for his career. Pugh has 3,210 yards on 324 carries (9.9 average).
2014-2015 MSA Sports Male Athlete of the Year
June 27, 2015
Riley Stapleton comes from a family of athletes. Growing up, he and his three brothers used to play every sport imaginable and even invent their own events. “My oldest brother [Kevin] used to come up with competitions like who can race around the block the fastest or who can touch the highest spot on the wall,” said Stapleton. But never mind the brothers. If you could put all of the athletes in the WPIAL on a wall, Stapleton would be at the highest spot. Stapleton, who graduated from Indiana High School earlier this month, is the MSA Sports Male Athlete of the Year. All athletes in the WPIAL are eligible for the award. Stapleton competed in three sports at Indiana High School and had a big impact in every one.
2014-2015 MSA Sports Female Athlete of the Year
Madison Wiltrout’s right arm always seemed to have some magic in it. It is what enabled her to play years of baseball with the boys. She was a center fielder and pitcher before giving up the sport after eighth grade. Then in the spring of her ninth-grade year, Wiltrout picked up a javelin and started throwing it with the right arm. Different sport. Different object to throw - and a magic act that had never been seen before in the history of U.S. high school track and field. WIltrout was a state champion in the javelin at the end of her freshman year. Before her sophomore year was finished this year, that right arm had put Wiltrout in the national record book.Scholastic Notebook – 05/29/2015
May 29, 2015
Spring is the time for things to bloom, right? This spring has been a time for a group of young WPIAL athletes to sprout. One of the storylines for spring sports in the WPIAL has been the young blood that has flowed through the league and made an impact. In case you didn’t notice, it has been a spring where an unusually a number of sophomores or freshmen did some terrific things in a few different sports. Let’s examine:PIAA Track & Field – Saturday Highlights
May 23, 2015
A baseball field sits next to the track at Shippensburg University, and Beaver Falls’ Dom Perretta turned a double play at the PIAA track and field championships Saturday. Perretta won two events – the Class AA 800 and 1,600 – on the final day of the two-day competition. He was one of only two WPIAL athletes to win two events. Knoch’s Jordan Geist won the Class AAA boys shot put Saturday, one day after he won a gold medal in the discus. For Perretta, it was the second year in a row he won both the 800 and 1,600. Perretta is only a junior, which means he could finish his career with a half dozen gold medals. No opponent could keep up with Perretta in either race this year. “I’m happy I won, but I really wanted that record in the 800,” said Perretta.PIAA Track & Field – Friday Highlights
May 22, 2015
Three athletes from the WPIAL won championships on the first day of the PIAA track and field championships Friday at Shippensburg University. Two have national reputations. One was certainly a surprise champion. The three winners were Connellsville sophomore Madison Wiltrout in the Class AAA javelin, Knoch sophomore Jordan Geist in the Class AAA discus and – get this – Trinity Christian junior Tyler Carter in the Class AA triple jump. Wiltrout winning was practically a given. She set a national high school record a few weeks ago. Geist winning was also a good possibility. Even though the shot put is his best event, he was also the No. 1 seed in the discus.
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.Scholastic Notebook – 05/15/2015
May 15, 2015
The name is Aaron, as in Hank. The hitting this baseball season has been Hank Aaron-esque. California senior Aaron Previsky had a regular season for the ages. A year ago, Norwin’s J.J. Matijevic became the first known player to win the WPIAL triple crown (first in batting average, home runs and RBIs). Previsky didn’t do that, but his regular season also was terrific. Previsky finished with a .545 batting average, which was good for 13th in the WPIAL. But he was second in home runs with six and third in runs scored with 35.
2015 WPIAL Individual Track & Field Finals HIGHLIGHTS
May 14, 2015
On a day when the sun shined brightly at Baldwin Stadium, there were a number of shining performances from boy athletes at the WPIAL track and field individual championships. A total of eight championship meet records were broken Thursday. Maybe the nice weather had something to do with the good times in running events and other record performances in a few field events. Beaver Falls junior Dom Perretta was more like Dominating Peretta as he blew away the competition and set two Class AA records. He broke his own record in the 800-meter run with a time of 1 minute, 51.50 seconds. He also set a record in the 1,600 at 4:26.55. Perretta was the only athlete – boy or girl – who set two records.Scholastic Notebook – 05/08/2015
May 8, 2015
You know the saying. April showers bring May flowers and Seneca Valley blooms. OK, so the last few words aren’t part of the saying. But in WPIAL baseball lately, it fits. If Reggie Jackson used to be Mr. October, then Seneca Valley coach Eric Semega is Mr. May. Seneca Valley has made it to the WPIAL Class AAAA title game four years in a row. The Raiders are believed to be the first team in almost 100 years to make the championship four consecutive seasons. Allegheny High School won six consecutive titles from 1917-22. The WPIAL baseball playoffs start next week, and a natural question is will be a drive for five for Seneca Valley?North Allegheny and Beaver Repeat as WPIAL Boys Team Track Champs
May 4, 2015
The calendar has changed, but it felt like 2014 all over again in the boys team track finals Monday at Baldwin High School. Both North Allegheny in Class AAA and Beaver in Class AA were victorious again in winning district gold. The Tigers AAA crown is their third straight and the schools 11th boys team track title. Here are ALL of the results from the 2015 Boys Track & Field Team Championships. 2015 WPIAL BOYS CLASS AAA TEAM TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS:Hempfield & Beaver Win WPIAL Girls Team Track & Field Titles
One school continued its dominant ways while another is tasting championship victory for a first time. Hempfield and Beaver were crowned girls team track & field champions Monday afternoon at the WPIAL finals at Baldwin High School. For the Spartans, it is a fourth straight district crown while for the Bobcats, it is the school first girls team track title. Here are ALL of the results from the 2015 Girls Track & Field Team Championships. 2015 WPIAL GIRLS CLASS AAA TEAM TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS:2015 Baldwin Invitational Track & Field Results
May 2, 2015
Thw WPIAL Team Track & Field Finals are Monday and the WPIAL Individual Track & Field Championships are set for Thursday, May 14th, both at Baldwin High School. The tune up for those events took place Friday at the Baldwin Invitational. Here are the top three finishers from each event. BOYS 100 meters – 1. Isaac Elliott, Ambridge, 11.13. 2. Kianta Kiski Area, 11.21. 3. Antwan Brooks, Aliquippa, 11.36. 200 – Isaac Elliott, Ambridge, 22.12. 2. Kevin Garbark, West Mifflin, 22.37. 3. Jamar Sherrill, Moon, 22.42. 400 – 1. Dominic Frisina, Erie Cathedral Prep, 49.91. 2. Jamar Sherrill, Moon, 50.52. 3. Kevin Garbark, West Mifflin, 50.63.Scholastic Notebook – 05/01/2015
May 1, 2015
Apparently, Bo knows softball. Bo Teets is in his sixth year as the girls softball coach at Monessen High School and is conducting one of the biggest turnaround stories in the WPIAL in any sport. Earlier this week, Monessen qualified for the WPIAL Class A playoffs. It is a monumental feat for the Greyhounds when you consider this will be the first time they will be in the postseason. It’s also quite impressive when you consider how far the Greyhounds have come under Teets. Teets was hired as Monessen’s coach before the 2010 season. He took over a program that was, in a word, horrible. The Greyhounds were 9-88 in six years before Teets.Scholastic Notebook – 04/25/2015
April 25, 2015
It opened some eyes in October when Bailey Parshall accepted a scholarship from the Penn State softball team. Parshall is a freshman and when she accepted the scholarship, she had yet to pitch an inning in high school. But after a month of the WPIAL softball season, it has become clear why Penn State went after Parshall. Parshall already has established herself as one of the WPIAL’s top pitchers – as a ninth-grader. In the latest WPIAL statistics published by the Post-Gazette, Parshall leads the WPIAL in strikeouts with 115 and she is tied for the WPIAL lead in wins. She has a 10-1 record. Chartiers-Houston’s Kaitlyn Dittrich also is 10-1.Scholastic Notebook – 04/10/2015
April 10, 2015
Beaver Falls High School is trying to make sure the school’s 1975 baseball team won’t be forgotten. At a baseball game in two weeks, the ’75 team that won a WPIAL title will be honored before a Beaver Falls game. No one is quite ready to call this year’s Beaver Falls team championship caliber, but the Tigers are doing a pretty good job of grabbing some attention for themselves. It’s still extremely early in the WPIAL baseball season, but Beaver Falls is 3-0. That might not sound like much, but considering the past few years, it is a gigantic step forward for Beaver Falls.Scholastic Notebook – 04/03/2015
April 3, 2015
Look at the list of WPIAL tennis champions over the past decade and you’ll see the name Kissell at various places on the girls side. But Chad Kissell is on the cusp of proving that this championship stuff is not just a girl thing in the Kissell family. Kissell is a senior at Latrobe High School and is the No. 1 seed for the WPIAL Class AAA boys tournament Tuesday and Wednesday. The tournament starts Tuesday at North Allegheny and lasts through the semifinals. The championship matches in Class AAA and AA will be Wednesday at Norwin.
