Cross Country
Scholastic Notebook – 11/04/2016
November 4, 2016
When Ron Sciarro became Riverside’s coach this year, he changed the playing style of the Panthers. They went from a pass-happy team to one that throws only 13 times a game. But there has been one other drastic change for Riverside. It deals with the number in the wins column. After going 3-6 last year, Riverside is 7-2 this season and headed to the WPIAL Class AA playoffs. They don’t throw nearly as often, but the Panthers win much more often.
Abdalah (VA), Pawloski (QV) & Savchik (NA) Win WPIAL Girls X-Country Gold
October 27, 2016
It was a magical day for Marianne Abdalah of Vincentian Academy in the rain and mud at Cooper’s Lake Campground. The senior became one of only two runners in WPIAL history to win the individual championship in each of her four years. The Royals also placed three others in the top ten to run away with the 1-A team championship by a wide margin. Abdalah opened up a ten second lead over Jeanne Lauer of Shady Side Academy in between the first and second mile and maintained her lead the rest of the course to claim a 13 second win. Abdalah had missed most of this season with a shin injury and did not start competing again late September. She said that she had lost some confidence while recovering from the injury but said it was starting to come back with the win today.Scholastic Notebook – 10/21/2016
October 21, 2016
For the first time in WPIAL history, there could be a Lady in the football playoffs. No, it’s not a female player or coach. It’s the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart team. The Chargers started playing WPIAL football in 2010 and failed to make the postseason in the first six years of the program. OLSH could turn out to be one of the big turnaround stories in the WPIAL this season. The Chargers did not win a game last year, going 0-9. Now they are 5-2 overall and 4-2 in the Big Seven Conference. They are almost assured of a playoff berth, with games remaining against Sto-Rox and Shenango. Rochester leads the conference at 6-0, Northgate is 5-1 and OLSH and Sto-Rox are tied at 4-2. Shenango is fifth at 3-3.Scholastic Notebook – 09/09/2016
September 9, 2016
Pine-Richland quarterback Phil Jurkovec has been all the rage of dual-threat quarterbacks in the WPIAL the past two seasons. Jurkovec has gotten many props and loads of publicity – rightly so – for his ability to throw and run. But up north at small Neshannock High School, there is another quarterback doing big things running and passing. Frankly speaking, he could finish with statistics you don’t see often from WPIAL quarterbacks.
MSA SPORTS CUP RESULTS – Sewickley Kings of Single-A Again
July 12, 2016
Sewickley Academy is once again on top of the Class A standings in the chase for the MSA Sports Cup after leapfrogging defending champ Greensburg Central Catholic. In fact, the Panthers and Centurions have been tagging in for titles the last five years with GCC winning in 2012-2013 and 2014-2015 and SA claiming the Cup in 201--2011, 2013-2014 and now in 2015-2016. The championship for Sewickley Academy is the schools 9th in 13 years of the competition and was aided greatly by district and state championships in boys golf and boys tennis along with WPIAL crowns in boys cross-country and boys soccer.
MSA SPORTS CUP RESULTS – A New Champ Wins Double-A
July 9, 2016
For only the fifth time in the thirteen years of the MSA Sports Cup Class AA chase, the torch has been passed to a new champion. Greensburg Central Catholic won the first three years, followed by a five year run by Shady Side Academy and three of the last four years the AA Cup has gone to Quaker Valley with a one year run at the top by Seton-LaSalle two years ago. Now the AA crown is coming to Beaver County thanks to Beaver High School. After a couple of close calls in recent years, the Bobcats were lifted to the top spot in part because of district championships won in each season...girls tennis in the fall, ice hockey in the winter and a second straight WPIAL title in girls track & field in the spring.
MSA SPORTS CUP RESULTS – SF Three-peats in Triple-A
July 7, 2016
In the first ten years of the MSA Sports Cup, while there were a couple of dominating schools in the other three classifications, the chase for the Class AAA Cup had been up for grabs with eight different schools earning The Cup. However in the last three years of the season long competition, Triple-A has become the pride of the Lions. After finishing as the runner-up in 2012-2013, South Fayette has staked its claim on top in Class AAA as the Lions are the first school in this classification to win a third consecutive MSA Sports Cup.
MSA SPORTS CUP RESULTS – NA Remains Perfect in Quad-A
July 6, 2016
Another school year is in the books and another MSA Sports Cup in Class AAAA is headed to North Allegheny High School. NA captured the schools 13th Cup in 13 years since the MSA Sports Network started this school year long competition to determine the top sports programs in each classification. There are 20 sports in which schools can earn points in the competition and the Tigers earned points in 18 of them. While it was not the highest point total or largest margin of victory, North Allegheny still cruised to their final Quad-A Sports Cup as they will move up to 6-A starting this fall. The second place school finished 430 points behind NA.WPIAL Girls Sports Realignment
February 16, 2016
We all knew it was coming. A major change to the WPIAL high school sports landscape based on the PIAA's decision to increase from four to six classifications in basketball and softball, plus the increase in other sports such as soccer, volleyball and lacrosse. The WPIAL Board of Control approved the various steering committee's re-alignment suggestions starting with the 2016-2017 school year. This alignment also will be for the 2017-2018 school year. For interactive listing, CLICK HERE. GIRLS BASKETBALL Class 6AWPIAL Boys Sports Realignment
We all knew it was coming. A major change to the WPIAL high school sports landscape based on the PIAA's decision to increase from four to six classifications in football, basketball and baseball, plus the increase in other sports such as soccer and lacrosse. The WPIAL Board of Control approved the various steering committee's re-alignment suggestions starting with the 2016-2017 school year. This alignment also will be for the 2017-2018 school year. *For an interactive listing, CLICK HERE FOOTBALL Class 6AMSA Sports Top 25 WPIAL Stories From 2015 Countdown: #25 – #11
December 31, 2015
It has become a tradition like no other...at least during the holiday season here at MSA Sports. Here is a look back at another great high school sports year with the top stories from around the WPIAL in 2015. We begin our countdown with #25 through #11. #25 - ODD STREAK CONTINUESScholastic Notebook – 12/11/2015
December 11, 2015
There is a Wildcat strike in WPIAL boys basketball this season. Big things are expected of the Latrobe Wildcats and coach Brad Wetzel’s crew has been impressive in the first week of the season. Latrobe is 3-0, including Tuesday’s victory against Pine-Richland, which was the No. 2-ranked Class AAAA team in the MSA Sports preseason Class AAAA rankings. This could be one of Latrobe’s best teams in a while, at least the best since the 2009 team that went 19-4. Latrobe is the odds-on favorite to win Section 1. If Latrobe wins the section, it would be only their fourth crown in the past 30 years. The others were in 1987, 1990 and 2009.2015 PIAA Cross-Country Results: Two WPIAL Runners Win Gold
November 7, 2015
On a day when no WPIAL teams won state titles, a pair of district runners were golden at the 2015 PIAA Cross-Country championships in Hershey on Saturday. Griffin Mackey of Sewickley Academy won the Boys Class A race with a time of 16:05 while Marianne Abdulah of Vincentian Academy added to her golden trophy collection by winning the Girls Class A race with a time of 18:50. Two WPIAL boys teams are bringing home silver as North Allegheny finished second in the AAA race and Sewickley Academy was second in the A race. Seneca Valley finished third in AAA for the highest spot on the girls side of the team competition. Here are the team winners along with the highest WPIAL team to finish in that race. BOYS AAA:
BF’s Dom Peretta & QV’s Zach Skoinekovich Repeats as Boys Cross-Country Champs
October 30, 2015
Two of the three boys’ individual cross country winners were repeat champions, as Beaver Falls’ Domenic Peretta and Quaker Valley’s Zach Skolnekovich defended their championships, while Nick Wolk of Peters Township earned his first title. Meanwhile, all three reigning team champions successfully defended their titles in the event, which was held at Coopers Lake Campground near Slippery Rock. In Class A, Peretta, who is also a standout in track and field for Beaver Falls, notched a winning time of 16:15, 13 seconds better than Sewickley Academy’s Griffin Mackey. A senior, Peretta will be competing for the Penn State track and field team next year.
Marianne Abdalah of Vincentian Wins Third Title in Girls X-Country Finals
At the WPIAL Girls Cross Country Championships at Coopers Lake Campground, there was a brand new champ in AAA. Oakland Catholic's Lauren Finikiotis is a first ever champ for the Eagles. In AA, Knoch's Mandi Moxie won gold Vincentian Academy's Marianne Abdalah won for a third straight year. All of this came on a course that was surprisingly dry after rains from the day before. It was the wind that had more of an effect on the runners all day. In the team portion of the event, Seneca Valley in AAA, Quaker Valley in AA, and Vincentian Academy in A were crowned champions. The top three teams in each classification will move on to the state finals. The following is a list of all the teams, and individuals that will move on to the PIAA State FinalsScholastic Notebook – 10/25/2015
October 25, 2015
The irony of it. Deer Lakes came into Friday night’s game with the leading rusher in the entire WPIAL this season Hunter Burns. When it ended, Apollo-Ridge had the top rusher ever in a WPIAL game. Duane Brown, a junior at Apollo-Ridge, put himself in the history books when he rushed for a WPIAL record 460 yards in a 56-35 victory over Deer Lakes. Brown was certainly a workhorse in the game, carrying the ball 47 times. Brown broke a 15-year-old WPIAL record. Connellsville’s Marcus Furman ran for 455 yards in a 2000 game. What’s funny is that Apollo-Ridge coach John Skiba and his team had no idea how many yards Brown had or that he had broken the WPIAL record until an announcer from your very own MSA Sports staff came on the field and told him after the game.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 10/25/2015
We conclude the Stretch Run of the 2015 high school football season while starting exclusive coverage of the 2015 WPIAL Soccer and Girls Volleyball Playoffs this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We wrap up the regular season with Week Nine of the high school football season with 29 WPIAL weekend contests starting Friday night with the MSA Sports Pregame Show and concluding later that night with the WPIAL Football Scoreboard Show.Scholastic Notebook – 09/11/2015
September 11, 2015
Duane Brown’s sidekick is gone, but Brown’s game apparently still has a lot of kick. Brown is a junior football player at Apollo-Ridge. A year ago, he and Tre Tipton were a one-of-a-kind one-two punch, as both played quarterback and some at receiver/running back. They were believed to be the first quarterback pair in WPIAL history to both rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. Tipton is now at Pitt, but life is anything but the pits for Brown. At least after the first week of the season. Look at the statistical leaders for the WPIAL after Week 1 and Brown is the only one you will see in the receiving, rushing and scoring leaders.
2015 Positive Athlete Awards
May 19, 2015
2015 Positive Athlete Awards On Wednesday, May 13th, 27 Western PA High School students were recognized at the John Heinz History Center by Hines Ward as “Positive Athletes” . These athletes were nominated by coaches, teachers, administrators, parents, and friends for their ability to meet the following criteria in their day-to day lives as athletes, students and members of their communities.
