North Allegheny notebook: Tigers cross country teams defend WPIAL titles

By: Tribune-Review
Saturday, October 28, 2023 | 11:01 AM

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North Allegheny again swept the WPIAL Class 3A cross country championships as the boys and girls teams captured titles last Thursday at White Oak Park.

The boys won their sixth straight title, scoring 59 points to edge Butler (67), Fox Chapel (124), Norwin (155) and Upper St. Clair (179).

North Allegheny junior Jack Bertram finished second with a time of 15 minutes, 31.7 seconds, trailing only Drew Griffith from Butler (15:05.2).

NA senior Michael Gauntner (16:16.7) was sixth, senior James Behrend (16:22.0) was eighth, junior Anthony Miklos (16:50.1) took 19th and senior Connor Williams (16:55.5) was 24th.

The girls claimed their sixth straight championship with 62 points to beat Mt. Lebanon (144), Norwin (148), Peters Township (148) and Upper St. Clair (182).

Junior Robin Kucler finished second in 17:53.6, followed by senior teammate Eva Kynaston (17:56.3) in third. Senior Erin McGoey (18:36.4) was fifth, junior Camille Swirsding (19:18.9) was 15th, and senior Maia Getz (20:11.5) finished 37th.

Both teams will advance to the PIAA championships set for Saturday (Nov. 4) in Hershey.

Girls water polo reaches state tourney

North Allegheny’s girls water polo team beat Cumberland Valley, 13-7, and Cathedral Prep, 7-4, on Oct. 21 in the state play-in tournament to advance to the state tournament.

Tori Tieppo scored five goals against Cumberland Valley, and Carissa Jones and Bella Spino each had a hat trick. Izzie Trunzo made 14 saves.

Against Cathedral Prep, Tieppo and Lily Tang each had two goals, and Trunzo made 10 saves.

North Allegheny improved to 14-7 with the victories.

Boys soccer players earn postseason honors

Three North Allegheny boys soccer players were honored by the Western Pa. Soccer Coaches Association last week.

Senior goalie Dante Accamando, senior midfielder Arnav Patel and junior forward Zach Nash were picked to the All-WPIAL team.

Nash has 12 goals this season, and Patel has eight. Accamando has posted five shutouts.

The Tigers (14-1-3) earned the No. 2 seed for the WPIAL playoffs and were scheduled to face No. 7 Canon-McMillan in the opening round.

NA tennis wins PIAA 1st-round match

North Allegheny’s girls tennis team scored a 5-0 win over District 6 champion Hollidaysburg in the first round of the PIAA Class 3A tournament Oct. 24.

Sara Fernandez, Laeticia Wessel and Peyton Mauser won in singles.

Audrey Zheng/Tia Soussou and Siya Jain/Rebecca Murphy won in doubles.

It was the first loss this season for Hollidaysburg (20-1).

WPIAL runner-up North Allegheny (19-2) advanced to face District 1 champion Council Rock South in the state quarterfinals in Hershey.

NA softball falls in WPISL quarterfinals

North Allegheny’s slow-pitch softball team was dealt a 3-1 loss to Plum in the WPISL quarterfinals on Oct. 21, at Mt. Lebanon.

Addie Lee had an RBI single for the Tigers, who finished the season 12-3.

Tags: North Allegheny