Track and Field
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.Scholastic Notebook – 03/28/2015
March 28, 2015
The best distance runner in WPIAL history might not compete in track this season because of an illness and injuries. That leaves the door open for someone. Madeleine Davison has her foot in the door. Davison is a junior at North Allegheny. While Shaler’s Brianna Schwartz was running her way to records last year, Davison was often close behind, sometimes just a second or two away. Now, Davison could gain a reputation as one of the best distance runners in the WPIAL in recent history.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.
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.
2013-2014 MSA Sports Male Athlete of the Year
June 26, 2014
Neshannock High School in Lawrence County was much more than a school for Ernie Burkes. To him, the place was like his own personal “four seasons” resort. Oh, don’t get the wrong idea. Neshannock was never a place Burkes went to relax. But it was where he always went to get his fix of sports – in all four seasons. Burkes would start football in late summer and play it into the fall. He would move to basketball in the winter. In the spring, it was on to baseball and track. Four seasons. Four sports. One incredible athlete. Now just call him Athlete of the Year. Burkes, a Neshannock senior, wins the MSA Sports Male Athlete of the Year for the 2013-14 school year. The winner is picked from the entire WPIAL and is selected by the MSA Sports staff.
2013-2014 MSA Sports Female Athlete of the Year
June 25, 2014
Brianna Schwartz ran her final event of the school year two weeks ago in New York. It was a prestigious invite-only event sponsored by adidas and Schwart ran a race in which 10 high school runners from around the country competed in the mile. The entire meet was part of the adidas “Grand Prix” and the event that Schwartz participated was called the “Dream Mile.” For Schwartz, it was a rather appropriate title because she had a “dream year.” Schwartz, a junior at Shaler Area High School, did some marvelous things in the 2013-14 school year. She put herself in the WPIAL spotlight, but also gained national prominence. She is the MSA Sports Female Athlete of the Year.PIAA Track & Field – Day Two Recap
May 24, 2014
If the color of success is gold, then it was a successful weekend for the WPIAL at the PIAA track and field championships. The WPIAL left Shippensburg University today (Saturday) with gold medals in 15 individual events and four relays. That’s pretty good, considering recent history. The 15 gold medals in individual events are the most in a while. The WPIAL had only 10 individual winners last year and also 10 in 2012 and 2011. The WPIAL had nine individual winners in 2010, 12 in 2009 and only five in 2008.PIAA Track & Field – Day One Recap
Maddie Holmberg and Max Adams are both students at Hempfield High School. They went to the same elementary school and the same middle school. They belong to the same church. On Friday, they ended up in the same place again. The top of the winners stand. Holmberg and Adams gave Hempfield two state track and field champions as they both won gold medals today, the first day of the PIAA track and field championships at Shippensburg University. The final day of the championships is Saturday.Scholastic Notebook – 05/19/2014
May 19, 2014
Seneca Valley has been the surprise team of the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs. The Raiders are the No. 16 seed, but find themselves in the semifinals. One more win and Seneca Valley will make history, but not because of their seeding. Seneca Valley plays Pine-Richland in a semifinal game Wednesday at a site and time to be determined. A win will put Seneca Valley into the championship game for the fourth year in a row. It has been at least 50 years since a team made it to a title game four consecutive years. In fact, it is likely that no team has ever made it to a championship four years in a row. So far in the playoffs, Seneca Valley has knocked off No. 1 seed Hempfield, 10-5, and also No. 9 seed Shaler, 3-0. Smith Does it All
