Penn-Trafford notebook: P-T’s Yacamelli, Hershberger named finalists for scholar-athlete award

By: Paul Schofield
Sunday, May 8, 2022 | 11:01 AM

Purchase Photo Options

Cade Yacamelli and Gwendolyn Hershberger were finalists for the 66th annual Westmoreland County Scholar-Athlete Excellence Awards, hosted by Judge John J. Driscoll.

They were among a group of 13 considered for the annual awards, which were handed out May 3 at Ferrante’s Lakeview in Hempfield. The banquet was sponsored by Ferrante’s Lakeview, Excela Health and Drs. Geoffrey and Greg Bisignani.

Mt. Pleasant’s Dayton Pitzer and Greensburg Central Catholic’s Corinn Brewer were the 2022 winners.

Yacamelli helped the Warriors football team to their first WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A title in the fall. He will be attending Wisconsin.

Hershberger has been part of four consecutive WPIAL Class 2A field hockey titles as the team’s goalkeeper. She will attend Ohio.

Bonson wins WCCA title

Penn-Trafford senior Chloe Bonson won the 3,200-meter run at the Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association meet April 30 at Latrobe.

Her time was 11 minutes, 43.96 seconds.

Also for the Warriors, Kate Schall placed second in the 400 and third in the 100; Jake McGee was third in the 1,600 and fourth in the 800; Amelia Barillla was fourth in the 800; Joe Ambrose was fifth in the 300 hurdles; Jake Nardozza was fifth in the 200; Nathan Schlessinger was third in the discus and sixth in the javelin; Madison Setzenfand was third in the discus; and Matthew Sarnowski was fourth in the discus.

The 400-meter relay team of Liam Hileman, Jake Nardozza, Tristan Geary and Ian DeMeri was second. The girls 1,600-meter relay of Barilla, Delaney Miklos, Bonson and Schall was third.

P-T softball vaults to No. 1

Penn-Trafford (12-1) surged to No. 1 in the Trib HSSN WPIAL Class 5A softball rankings, leap-frogging four teams after sitting at No. 5 last week.

That makes two No. 1 teams in the area. Hempfield remained No. 1 in 6A, despite a loss to Seneca Valley.

Westmoreland County has a strong presence this week in the Trib HSSN state rankings.

Penn-Trafford and Yough made appearances for the first time this season. Penn-Trafford is No. 5 in Class 5A, and Yough is No. 4 in 4A.

Hempfield dropped a spot in 6A to No. 5.

A Little awkward

Penn-Trafford softball coach Denny Little couldn’t believe it when the PSAC softball playoff bracket came out last week. He thought the Division II conference was playing a trick on him.

A first-round matchup in the double-elimination tournament pitted Seton Hill against Bloomsburg.

Little is a part-time hitting coach for Seton Hill. His daughter, Emma, is a freshman catcher/outfielder for Bloomsburg.

“I didn’t sleep well (last) Saturday night. My head almost blew up,” Little said with a laugh. “She is not a nice girl. She said, ‘We want to kill you guys.’ ”

Price honored by AMCC

The Price was right this season at Pitt-Greensburg.

Junior tennis standout Turner Price, a Penn-Trafford graduate, was named the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Player of the Year for the third time in his career.

The award was not given out in 2020.

Price finished 7-0 in conference singles play and won 33 consecutive matches. He helped lead the Bobcats to the AMCC semifinals.

Warriors shine at Grove City

A pair of Penn-Trafford grads had strong efforts for the Grove City men’s track and field program earlier this month.

Sophomore Gabe Dunlap recorded a pair of fourth-place finishes at the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Championships. He cleared 10 feet, 3/4 inches in the pole vault and measured 21-7 1/2 in the long jump.

Freshman Joe Whipkey was part of the fourth-place 1,600-meter relay.

Staff writer Bill Beckner Jr. contributed to this report.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Penn-Trafford