Trib HSSN May Madness: Cassidy Krug, Montour vs. Becky Novacek, Hopewell

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Wednesday, May 6, 2020 | 9:00 AM


Over the course of the next month and a half, May Madness will determine who fans believe is the WPIAL Athlete of the Century.

HSSN has put together two 32-player brackets, one for the boys and one for the girls, of WPIAL alums. Outside of a few exceptions, the field is made up of former district players who excelled in more than one sport.

Each weekday, May Madness will have one matchup each on the boys and girls bracket with a little background info on each athlete found in a daily tale of the tape.

Starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday and running through 9 a.m. Thursday, you can vote on the HSSN twitter page on the two athletes featured in this first round matchup.

Check the HSSN website at noon Thursday for the matchup’s final results.

Here is the contest for the girls. Round 1, Day 4:

Cassidy Krug vs. Becky Novacek is a matchup between one of the best performers in her sport in WPIAL history against a versatile athlete who won gold in three sports.

Cassidy Krug — Montour Class of 2003

(Diving)

• Three-time high school All-American

• Krug dominated the 1-meter diving board, winning WPIAL gold in 2001, 2002 and 2003

• She also won PIAA championships her sophomore, junior and senior years

• Krug finished fourth in the WPIAL and third in the PIAA her freshman year in 2000

• She was inducted into the WPIAL Hall of Fame in 2009

• Krug dove in college at Stanford and represented the United States in the 2012 London Olympic Games

Becky Novacek — Hopewell Class of 2007

(Volleyball, basketball, track and field)

• 2006 and 2007 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review female athlete of the year

• In 2006, was named ‘Top 100 Senior Aces” nationally by volleyballprep.com

• Novacek helped the Hopewell volleyball team win four section titles, three WPIAL championships and a PIAA championship

• She was a three-time all-state performer and made first-team all-state her senior year after recording a school record 470 kills

• In basketball, Novacek finished with more than 1,500 points in her career and fell just short of 1,000 rebounds with 987 for her career

• She averaged nearly a double-double her senior year in helping the Vikings win back-to-back WPIAL and PIAA hoops championships

• In track, Novacek won back-to-back WPIAL gold medals her junior and senior years in the high jump and won a PIAA championship in that event in 2007

• Novacek played college volleyball at Dayton

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