Sewickley roundup: SA girls fall short in WPIAL lacrosse final

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, May 25, 2018 | 11:05 PM

Elsa Gordon, Antionette Heil and Ellie Zack each netted a goal for Sewickley Academy in the WPIAL Class AAA girls lacrosse championship game May 24 at Robert Morris. But Pine-Richland proved to be up to the task and defeated the Panthers, 11-3, to claim a second straight WPIAL title.

The victory by Pine-Richland (16-1) provided a bookend to a season that saw the team lose to just one WPIAL foe, Sewickley Academy (12-6) on April 5, and capped off a month-and-a-half long stretch of dominance in Class AAA.

Sewickley Academy had scored 49 goals in three playoff victories, including wins over No. 2 Mt. Lebanon and No. 3 Fox Chapel.

Sewickley Academy, which features four seniors, three juniors, two sophomores and 10 freshmen on the roster, survived a fierce gauntlet of opponents to reach the championship game. The outcome of the finals may have not been what first-year coach Chelsea Cameron and her team were hoping for, but she said this year was a winning season nonetheless.

“We should be proud of what we've accomplished this season. We've come a really long way. This program is developing,” Cameron said.

“Nobody expected us to be playing in a championship game this year, and we fought our way to get to it. I couldn't be more proud of them.”

Sewickley Academy advanced to the PIAA Class AAA tournament.

Track and field

Quaker Valley's track and field team had quite a medal haul at the WPIAL Class AA championship meet May 17 at Baldwin.

Freshman Franzi Nace won the triple jump (36-11.25).

Freshman Claire Kuzma was second in discus (117-8), sophomore Annie Wicker was second in the 3,200 (11:37.56) and third in the 1,600 (5:11.13). Senior Audrey Durbin was third in the 3,200 (11:48.57) and seventh in 1,600 (5:18.86), and freshman Amelia Skowron was third in the high jump (5-2).

On the boys team, sophomore Colm Lang was third in triple jump (42-5.75), sophomore Daniel Ford was fourth in 1,600 (4:36.61), senior Noah Berry was fifth in high jump (5-10) and junior Dom Lagnese was fifth in discus (144-1).

All of the competitors advanced to the PIAA championship meet.

Also earning WPIAL medals were freshman Francesca Courtney, who was sixth in the 100 hurdles (16.73); the girls 1,600 relay, which was eighth (4:19.03); and the boys 400 relay, which took eighth (45.33).

• For Sewickley Academy, junior Nella Tsudis was seventh in the 400 (1:01.62), and senior Sam Casale was eighth in 400 (51.81).

Boys tennis

Sewickley Academy's attempt at a third consecutive PIAA team tennis gold medal was thwarted by perhaps its biggest rival on the state stage.

Wyomissing won a tense three-set match at No. 2 singles to secure a 3-2 verdict in the Class AA state championship May 19, dethroning the Panthers. Sewickley won gold in 2016 and '17.

SA's opponent is the only Class AA team in the state with a resume matching its own. The Spartans are state champs for the fifth time in the last nine years and made finals appearances in three other seasons — including a 5-0 loss to coach Whitney Snyder's crew in Hershey two years ago.

Deadlocked at 2-2, the final came down the match at second singles, where former Wyomissing No. 1 Will Schreck defeated Nishant Purewal, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, to clinch the title.

SA was angling for its fourth state crown overall in the same time span. The two schools have been fixtures at HRC for years.

“First, I want to pay tribute to Wyomissing,” Snyder said. “They have a wonderful tradition, history and an outstanding culture, and Coach Mike (Gyomber) does a wonderful job.

“There's a culture of excellence, and it takes a long time to build up. You just don't hit a light switch. It's kids, older brothers getting their younger brothers into it, and the younger one catches the passion and pass it along and you build a team concept.”

The Panthers rallied for victories at second doubles and third singles to force the showdown on Purewal's court. Cole Luther and Will Stevenson beat Wyomissing's Nathan Wang and Colin Campbell, 7-5, 6-3. A few minutes later, Will Nocito dispatched Ben Chen, 6-2, 6-4, to square the match.

Softball

Kamryn Lightcap had a double, single and drove in two runs for Sewickley Academy (11-5), but the No. 6 Panthers dropped a WPIAL Class A quarterfinal to Leechburg, 8-4, on May 21, at Hampton.

Boys lacrosse

Quaker Valley boys lacrosse fell short in a WPIAL Class AA semifinal match May 23, losing to No. 2 Hampton, 14-9, at North Allegheny. The No. 3-seeded Quakers finished the season 11-3.

Tags: Quaker Valley, Sewickley Academy