WPIAL track championships take center stage in Thursday’s 3 things to watch in high school sports

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, May 16, 2018 | 10:39 PM

The sea of purple that is Baldwin High School is about to be invaded by plenty of bronze, silver and gold as the 2018 WPIAL individual track and field championships take place at and around Cibik Stadium on Thursday.

Some of the top athletes in the district will be on hand as this marks the 10th straight year the WPIAL has run both the Class AAA and AA boys and girls finals at Baldwin on the same date. Prior to that, the Class AAA individual finals were at Baldwin and the Class AA championships were a few days prior at South Side Beaver.

Some of the athletes looking to add to their collection of gold who won last year in the district championships and also at the Baldwin Invitational a few weeks ago include:

• Ayden Owens of North Allegheny in the 100 and 300-meter hurdles

• Noah Beveridge of Butler in the 3,200

• Emmanuel Mitchell of Penn Hills in the high jump

• Noah Drudy of Hopewell in the javelin

• Hannah Schupansky of Oakland Catholic in the 3,200

• Jena Reinheimer of Butler in the discus

The daylong event begins at 1 p.m.

Volleyball quarterfinals

The top four seeds in Class AAA and top three seeds in Class AA take to the court for the first time in the postseason as the WPIAL boys volleyball playoffs move in the quarterfinal round Thursday.

In Class AAA, defending champion and top seed North Allegheny hosts Baldwin in the second game of a doubleheader, following the No. 4 vs. No. 5 contest between Butler and Norwin.

The other two second-round matches will take place at Bethel Park where the Black Hawks host Hempfield in the second match while Seneca Valley meets Penn-Trafford in the opener.

The Class AA playoff doubleheaders will take place at the home of the top two seeds, Derry and Ambridge.

Seton LaSalle will square off against Montour, followed by Derry hosting Bishop Canevin.

Two-time defending champion Beaver County Christian will battle Deer Lakes, followed by Ambridge hosting Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic.

The winners on Thursday advance to the district semifinals Tuesday.

Golden memories

In the last seven years, Seneca Valley (2011), Peters Township (2012, 2013), Mt. Lebanon (2014, 2016) and Pine-Richland (2017) have won WPIAL girls lacrosse crowns. On Thursday, those four go head-to-head in two of four Class AAA quarterfinals matches.

Top-seeded Pine-Richland hosts Peters Township while second seed Mt. Lebanon welcomes Seneca Valley.

The other two second-round matches are Shady Side Academy against Upper St. Clair and Sewickley Academy facing Fox Chapel.

Also on Thursday, the boys Class AA quarterfinals are Freeport at Mars, Hampton hosting South Fayette, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic taking on Moon and Knoch against Quaker Valley.

Don Rebel is a TribLIVE High School Sports Network broadcaster and staff writer. Reach him at drebel@tribweb.com.

Tags: Ambridge, Baldwin, Beaver County Christian, Bethel Park, Bishop Canevin, Butler, Deer Lakes, Derry Area, Hempfield Area, Hopewell, Montour, North Allegheny, Norwin, Oakland Catholic, Penn Hills, Penn-Trafford, Seneca Valley, Seton-LaSalle