WPIAL Year in Review – Top 25 Stories of 2010: 25 through 21

By: Bruce Markey
Monday, December 27, 2010 | 12:00 AM

The year 2010 in high school sports in the WPIAL was very memorable. It was a year where some familiar champions were golden again while some new faces surfaced in the championship picture. There were battles with forces on and off the field in which the athletes had no chance of winning. It was a year in which we said so long to some familiar faces and schools while welcoming in some new teams to the district. Over the final few days of 2010, we here at the MSA Sports Network, who were there for it all, count down the Top 25 stories from around the WPIAL starting with #25 through #21.

#25 – LATROBE AND MARS WIN PIHL AND PA CUP CHAMPIONSHIPS AS HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY SAYS GOODBYE TO THE OLE IGLOO

While Canon-McMillan made a surprise run as a number 8-seed to the 2010 Penguins Cup Class AAA Championship, the song remained the same in the other two Penguins Cup Championships back in March. Both the Mars Fighting Planets with back-to-back Class A titles and the Latrobe Wildcats with back-to-back-to-back Class AA crowns were once again celebrating PIHL high school hockey championships. A week later, the final high school hockey games ever at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh brought home Pennsylvania Cup state championships for both Latrobe in Class AA and Mars in Class A. The state crown for the Wildcats was their third straight title.

#24 – NORTH ALLEGHENY AND AMBRIDGE MONOPOLIZING WPIAL BOYS VOLLEYBALL TITLES

Two boy's volleyball dynasties continued in impressive fashion back in May at LaRoche College. Both North Allegheny in Class AAA and Ambridge in Class AA cruised to WPIAL titles. The Tigers did not lose a game in winning their fourth straight championship while the Bridgers lost one game, to Montour in the Semifinals, en route to their third straight golden crown. Neither team could bring home a state title though as North Allegheny lost to eventual champion State College in the Class AAA Semifinals while Ambridge lost to Meadville in the Class AA Semifinals.

#23 – WPIAL ROLLS OUT THE RED CARPET TO THREE NEW FOOTBALL TEAMS

The WPIAL welcomed three new schools from neighboring districts this past fall to help round out the new alignment setup for both Class AAAA and Class AAA. The Erie McDowell Trojans, which had played a WPIAL schedule for the previous four years but were not eligible for the District 7 playoffs, officially joined the Northern Seven Conference. The Altoona Mountain Lions came from District 6 and played in the Class AAAA Big East Conference and will do so again next fall. The Hollidaysburg Golden Tigers also came west from District 6 to be a part of the Class AAA Keystone Conference for two years. While Altoona struggled in D-7, going 0-9 for the season, both Erie McDowell and Hollidaysburg qualified for the WPIAL playoffs. The Trojans were 7-3 and lost in the opening round of the Class AAAA playoffs to Gateway 37-21. Meanwhile, the Golden Tigers ended up with a 6-4 mark, including a 42-7 loss to Thomas Jefferson in Round One of the WPIAL Class AAA postseason.

#22 – A PAIR OF DIVERS STRIKE GOLD FOR A THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR

Connor Kuremsky has had more success in two years at North Allegheny High School than most high school athletes have had in four. Back in February at Pine-Richland High School, Kuremsky padded his already stuffed resume with his third WPIAL Boys AAA Diving Championship. On top of that, he destroyed his previous WPIAL record with a score 591.50, over 30 points better than his 2009 WPIAL Championship total. Meanwhile, as a freshman, Samantha Pickens missed out on a gold medal by 10.70 points and took home the silver. As a sophomore, Pickens was golden. As a junior, Pickens not only won her second straight WPIAL Class AAA Girls diving gold medal, but she broke the WPIAL point's record with a score of 543.10. What could the Arizona University bound senior do to top that? What indeed! The Franklin Regional diver not only captured her third straight gold medal, but Pickens crushed the WPIAL record she set just last year. Pickens became the first WPIAL Championship diver to break the 600 point mark, finishing her 11 dive set with an astounding score of 605.55. Pickens was so dominant in this meet, that her score of 543.15 after 10 dives was better than the record mark she recorded last February. As the cherry on top of her sweet WPIAL career, Pickens scored 62.4 points on her final dive to re-etch her name in the record books. Both Kuremsky and Pickens went on to win PIAA diving gold in March at Bucknell University.

#21 – FOX CHAPEL LUTTNERS KEEP WPIAL GOLD ALL IN THE FAMILY

The Luttner sisters made sure the WPIAL Division I Girls golf Championship would be coming home with them for a third straight year in the individual finals at the Club at Nevillewood in October. However the outcome was not the same as the past two years. Katterina Luttner of Fox Chapel edged her two-time defending champion sister Nadia by one stroke. It came down to the final hole as Katterina Luttner of Fox Chapel bested her sister Nadia by one stroke to claim her first championship, shooting a 76. Katterina two-putted the final hole after Nadia bogeyed at 17 and 18 to finish at 77. Katterina did not go without adversity during the round; she was even par thru 13, before triple-bogeying the 14th, to go to three over and into a tie with Nadia. She said she started playing for pars after seeing she was tied with her sister, who was playing in the group ahead of her. She said she worked hard to improve her putting and it showed in her run to the championship. Nadia showed obvious disappointment with the second place finish, but was quick to point out that if anyone was to beat her for the title, she wanted it to be her sister. She refused to blame the cold, wet weather for the loss.