Cross Country
Scholastic Notebook – 01/09/2015
January 9, 2015
New Castle High School’s Malik Hooker apparently isn’t the only one who wears the athletic “genes” in the family. Hooker was one of the best two-sport athletes in the state the past two years, standing out in football and basketball. He now is a freshman football player at Ohio State, but is being redshirted this year. Two of Hooker’s younger brothers are now playing on the New Castle basketball. One of them is the team’s leading scorer in his first year as a starter. Marquel Hooker, a 5-foot-10 junior, is averaging 16.4 points a game. He never saw regular varsity time before this season.MSA Sports Countdown – Top 25 WPIAL Stories From 2014 – 01/07/2015
January 7, 2015
It has become a tradition like no other...at least during the holidays 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 2014. We conclude our countdown with all 25 stories from #25 through #1. #25 - Game, Set, Match and Gold The unique streak continued in 2014 for Sewickley Academy. 2009 was the last time a Panthers duo did not win gold the WPIAL boys doubles tennis tournament. back in April, the Sewickley Academy tandem of Ryan Gex and Luke Vith won gold in Class AA.
MSA Sports Countdown – Top 25 WPIAL Stories From 2014 – 01/01/2015
January 1, 2015
It has become a tradition like no other...at least during the holidays here at MSA Sports. It's time to look back at another high school sports year with the top stories from around the WPIAL in 2014. We conclude our countdown with the five stories that ended up #5 through #1. {Left: Brianna Schwartz of Shaler crosses the finish line to win the WPIAL Girls Class AAA cross-county championship, her third straight title} #5 - Sister Power In 2013, the Kluska sisters made news when older sister Alyvia forfeited her WPIAL Class AA Consolation match to Michaela, thus earning the then freshman a spot in the PIAA girls individual singles tennis playoffs.Scholastic Notebook – 11/14/2014
November 14, 2014
It has been well-documented how Pine-Richland quarterback Ben DiNucci has turned out to be one of the most prolific passers in the history of the WPIAL. But DiNucci also has benefitted from a terrific one-two receiving punch. It looks like you could call seniors D’ondre Gastion and Mike Merhaut are a receiving duo for the ages. There are no records available for best receiving one-two punches, but you can bet you will be hard-pressed to find many duos from the same team who have been as productive as Gastion and Merhaut. How many teams have had two receivers with 100 or more career catches? But that’s what Pine-Richland has in Gastion and Merhaut, a pair of seniors.
Shaler’s Brianna Schwart Runs Away With PIAA Cross-Country Gold
November 2, 2014
The golden career of Shaler's Brianna Schwartz had another championship chapter written Saturday in Hershey. The three time WPIAL Class AAA girls cross-country champion finally captured a PIAA championship and was joined in the winners circle by one other famle runner and a pair of boys teams from the WPIAL. Schwartz finished first in the near record setting course time of 17:39 , the second fastest time ever by a female runner on the Hershey course on a raw, rainy and windy afternoon with temps in the mid-40's. Also winning state gold was Marianne Abdalah of Vincentian Academy, who took first in the Girls Class A race with a winning time of 18:35.Scholastic Notebook – 10/24/2014
October 24, 2014
Has there ever been a WPIAL football regular season that was so perfect as this one? Probably not. Fourteen teams go into the final night of the regular season with undefeated records. Two of them play (West Allegheny at Central Valley). That means there could be 13 teams that finish the regular season with perfect records. That would be the most in the WPIAL in a long time. Possibly ever. Checking records going back 37 years, there has never been a WPIAL season with 13 undefeated and untied teams (there used to no overtime in WPIAL football).
North Allegheny, Knoch & Sewickley Academy Win WPIAL Boys Team X-Country
On the boys’ side, North Allegheny once again shined, as the Tigers cruised to a team victory, led by individual winner Matt McGoey, who edged teammate Hunter Wharrey for the top spot.
Seneca Valley, Quaker Valley & Laurel Win WPIAL Girls Team X-Country
October 23, 2014
Brianna Schwartz of Shaler captured a three-peat at the WPIAL Cross-Country Championships on Thursday, as she once again proved unbeatable at Cooper’s Lake Campground in Butler.Scholastic Notebook – 10/18/2014
October 18, 2014
Neshannock High School has never gotten much attention for football, and not just because the small Lawrence County school is on the outer edges of the WPIAL. Neshannock hasn’t gotten much attention because the football team had been one of the least successful in WPIAL history – until lately. What is going on the past few seasons at Neshannock is really one of the biggest turnaround stories in the WPIAL in a long time. And this year, the story might have a perfect ending.
MSA SPORTS CUP: Sewickley Academy Back on Top After Winning Class A Cup
July 3, 2014
Eight time champion Sewickley Academy and defending champ Greensburg Central Catholic were deadlocked with 360 points each with one more sport to calculate in the chase for the 2013-2014 MSA Sports Class A Cup. That one sports was boy tennis, which was great news for Panthers fans and bad news for everybody else in Class A. A district title and state runner-up in boys tennis helped Sewickley Academy win the MSA Sports Cup for the ninth time in eleven years.
MSA SPORTS CUP: South Fayette Roars to First Class AAA Cup Title
July 1, 2014
The first ten years of the MSA Sports Cup has shown us that while there are a couple of dominating schools in the other three classifications, the chase for the Class AAA Cup has been up for grabs with eight different schools earning The Cup in ten years. Now in the eleventh year of this competition, we have another first time winner in Triple-A making it nine different champs in eleven years. After finishing as the runner-up in 2012-2013 and being a steady member on the Top 5 in recent years, South Fayette is finally enjoying its day in the Championship Sun with a convincing victory.
MSA SPORTS CUP: Another Year, Another Quad-A Title for North Allegheny
June 30, 2014
Another school year and another MSA Sports Cup in Class AAAA for North Allegheny High School. NA captured their 11th Cup in eleven 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 for the second straight year and only the second time in this history of the coveted competition, the Tigers earned points in ALL of them. In the 2012-2013 school year, North Allegheny scored a mind-numbing and record 1,115 points. In 2013-2014, they had to settle for a mere 965 points. The second place school finished 530 points behind NA.
2013-2014 MSA Sports Female Athlete of the Year
June 25, 2014
Brianna Schwartz ran her final event of the school year two weeks ago in New York. It was a prestigious invite-only event sponsored by adidas and Schwart ran a race in which 10 high school runners from around the country competed in the mile. The entire meet was part of the adidas “Grand Prix” and the event that Schwartz participated was called the “Dream Mile.” For Schwartz, it was a rather appropriate title because she had a “dream year.” Schwartz, a junior at Shaler Area High School, did some marvelous things in the 2013-14 school year. She put herself in the WPIAL spotlight, but also gained national prominence. She is the MSA Sports Female Athlete of the Year.WPIAL Fall Sports Realignment for 2014
January 21, 2014
The WPIAL Board of Control officially passed the new alignments for the WPIAL fall sports on Tuesday afternoon, including girls volleyball, boys and girls golf, boys and girls cross-country, girls tennis and girls field hockey. A couple of big changes occur in Girls Tennis where there are more teams in fewer sections and in Boys and Girls Cross-Country where there are only two duel-class divisions, but there will be three classifications for the championships. Here is the new make-up of the sections in all of those sports for the 2014 high school fall sports seasons. GIRLS VOLLEYBALL: WPIAL CLASS AAA SECTION 1:MSA Sports Countdown of Top 25 WPIAL Stories of 2013 – #25 to #1
January 3, 2014
It has become a tradition like no other...at least during the holidays here at MSA Sports. It's time to look back at another high school sports year with the top stories from around the WPIAL in 2013. Here is our entire countdown fr0m #25 through #1. #25 - Playoff Drought Ends In a year when the Pittsburgh Pirates ended a long Major League Baseball playoff drought, a long WPIAL football playoff drought also came to an end when in Week 9, the Avella Eagles clinched a WPIAL playoffs berth with a 55-14 thrashing of Bentworth to clinch fourth place in the Class A Tri-County South Conference.2013 WPIAL Team Champions on Parade
January 1, 2014
What better way to celebrate championships and the start of a new year then with a parade. It has been another great year in high school sports. All of us here at the MSA Sports Network and Management Science Associates thank our sponsors and fans for their support during 2013. As we get ready for another great scholastic year in 2014, we look back at all the WPIAL team champions on parade from this past year. Football: Class AAAA - Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings Class AAA - West Allegheny Indians Class AA - South Fayette Lions Class A - Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic Trojans PIAA Class AA - South Fayette Lions PIAA Class A - Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic TrojansMSA Sports Countdown of Top 25 WPIAL Stories of 2013 – 12/30/13
December 30, 2013
It has become a tradition like no other...at least during the holidays here at MSA Sports. It's time to look back at another high school sports year with the top stories from around the WPIAL in 2013. We continue our countdown with the five stories that ended up #15 through #11. #15 - Perfect Champions It was a rare Perfect Saturday at Heinz Field on November 23rd as all four WPIAL football champions crowned did so with no losses. Pittsburgh Central Catholic, West Allegheny, South Fayette and Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic were all 13-0 as they were presented with the golden football on a snowy day on the North Shore, but both the Lions and Trojans were not satisfied with just a district title, they wanted to stake their claim to state gold as well.Freshman Marianne Abdalah of Vincentian Wins PIAA X-Country Girls A Title
November 2, 2013
The field of runners in the PIAA Class A girls cross-country championship race Saturday got some Royal treatment. But they couldn’t have liked it.Youth was served when Marianne Abdalah, a freshman for the Vincentian Academy Royals, ran away from the field and won the Class A title in Hershey. Abdalah won with a time of 18 minutes, 24 seconds and the next closest finisher was almost one minute behind.The win capped off quite a first year of high school cross country for Abdalah. She also won the WPIAL title a few weeks ago and emerged as one of the top runners in the area, no matter the classification. She was the only WPIAL athlete to win a PIAA title.Scholastic Notebook – 11/01/2013
November 1, 2013
Moon’s running game went from Colaianni to Cole, and now everything is cool with the Tigers on the ground.Moon is in the WPIAL football playoffs this season for the first time since 2006, and one of the main reasons for the turnaround is Cole Blake, a senior running back who is the fifth-leading rusher in the WPIAL heading into the playoffs.Blake has made a name for himself, rushing for 1,457 yards. He set a school record with 342 yards in one game. But Blake’s story is interesting in that he only got a chance to be the featured back this year because of an injury. Suffice to say, Blake has run with that chance.
