Fueled by girls sports, Peters Township repeats as Class 5A Trib Cup champs

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, July 13, 2025 | 4:05 PM

Purchase Photo Options

After winning a Sports Cup in the competition’s very first school year in 2003-2004, it took 20 years for Peters Township to capture its second crown in 2023-2024.

Now it took the Indians only 12 months to capture a third.

“This is a great honor and a testament to the hard work our athletes and coaches put into their sport,” Peters Township athletic director Brian Geyer said. “The Trib Cup is very special because it encompasses all of our athletic teams, not just a select few.”

The Trib Cup is a yearlong competition in 25 team sports to determine the top WPIAL program in each classification. Schools earn points for section or conference championships, WPIAL playoff berths and district postseason success, state playoff berths and PIAA championships.

Girls sports played a huge part in the repeat Trib Cup performance for Peters Township, with district championships in girls soccer, girls golf, field hockey and girls basketball.

“We started the year with an outstanding fall in earning three WPIAL championships and added the girls basketball title in the winter,” Geyer said. “Other than golf with their (continued) success, we just had an outstanding group of athletes that were so close to winning championships in the last previous years. Being so close to gold in the past had to help propel the teams to championships this year.”

Peters Township scored points in 16 sports to finish with 550 points, the third-most points in the WPIAL this past school year and only five points fewer than the Indians’ winning cup total from the 2023-2024 school year.

“This is what the Trib Cup is all about: program success.” Geyer said. “One of the the things that stood out about this past year was I believe we out-performed our seed in the WPIAL tournaments on several occasions. That may be something little, but it proved we have the athletes and coaches that always keep working to provide the best possible outcome for their respective teams.”

In recent years, school district officials have built or renovated several of the athletic facilities at Peters Township, allowing athletes draped in Indians uniforms to succeed on outstanding stages.

“We are blessed with some very nice facilities in our school district,” Geyer said. “The township and our parks and recreation director, Dave Brooks, did an outstanding job on Joe Maize Field at Peterswood Park. That facility will be invaluable in the rainy spring season and provide a great playing surface for our baseball team.”

The repeat performance in 5A for Peters Township ends a Trib Cup trend.

Class 5A had been the only classification in which five different schools captured the Trib Cup this decade. Thomas Jefferson won in 2020, Mars in 2021, Hampton in 2022 and South Fayette in 2023.

Despite being one of only six WPIAL schools to eclipse the 500-point mark in this past year’s Trib Cup chase, South Fayette finished as runner-up in Class 5A, 35 points behind Peters Township.

Rounding out the top five in 5A are Fox Chapel in third place, Mars in fourth and Pine-Richland in fifth place.

Class 5A final Trib Cup standings

1. Peters Township – 550

2. South Fayette – 515

3. Fox Chapel – 480

4. Mars – 445

5. Pine-Richland – 425

6. Upper St. Clair – 400

7. Franklin Regional – 355

8. Shaler – 340

9. Penn-Trafford – 330

10. Moon – 270

11. Chartiers Valley – 240

12. Bethel Park – 220

13. Plum – 200

14. Gateway – 140

15. Connellsville – 105

15. North Hills – 105

17. Baldwin – 100

18. Trinity – 80

19. New Castle – 75

20. Armstrong – 50

21. Penn Hills – 20