Franklin Regional notebook: Golf team’s repeat bid ends in WPIAL semifinals

By: Paul Schofield
Saturday, October 16, 2021 | 11:01 AM

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The Franklin Regional boys golf team just missed defending its Class 3A team golf title when it finished fourth at the WPIAL team semifinals Oct. 12 at The Links at Spring Church.

The Panthers finished behind Fox Chapel (387), Mars (397) and Peters Township (398). Franklin Regional finished with a score of 401. The top three teams advanced to the WPIAL Class 3A team finals Oct. 14.

Franklin Regional was led by the trio of golfers who qualified for the PIAA Class 3A Golf Championship Oct. 18 at Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York.

Junior Nolan Shilling got a 1-over 73, senior Jeff Anderchak a 2-over 74 and senior Zach Abdallah a 7-over 79. Ben Yurko shot an 84, Troy Abdallah a 91 and Dan Rafferty a 98.

FR runners medal

Franklin Regional senior Nicolas Provenzo and junior Andrew Moore finished sixth and seventh at the annual Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association cross country championship Oct. 13 at Westmoreland County Community College in Youngwood.

Freshman Paityn Blakely placed seventh the girls’ race. The top 15 finishers received medals. Provenzo ran a 17:18.6 and Moore a 17:19.0.

“I got four seconds under my personal record, but I was looking to go lower,” Provenzo said. “”I wanted to break 17 minutes. This course is pretty flat other than the 2-mile mark.”

Provenzo said the start was the key because of the size of the field.

“We went out slow and we should have gone out fast,” Provenzo said. “That’s what I noticed, that most of the people who went out first stayed there. It was harder to push up once you fell behind.”

Provenzo is now looking to finish strong at the WPIAL cross country championships Oct. 28 at Cal U.

“I’ll be working on the hills because Cal has a big hill,” Provenzo said. “I just want to finish the best I can.”

Moore said he’s looking to do his best, and he wants to start building towards his senior season.

“I think I did pretty well at the county meet,” Moore said. “Maybe at the end I could have pushed it a little harder. I just want to finish the best I can.”

FR skaters start 2-0

Quick starts have helped the Franklin Regional hockey team to a 2-0 start of the season.

The Panther defeated Hempfield, 6-3, on Oct. 4, and then held on for a 6-4 win against rival Penn-Trafford on Oct. 11. In both games, Franklin Regional jumped out to quick leads.

Two goals by Ben Yurko and a tally by Luke Lavrich helped the Panthers jump out to a 3-0 first-period lead on Hempfield.

Matt Knizner’s goal in the second period helped the Panthers maintain a 4-3 lead before Lavrich and Zach Zeto scored in the third period to close out the scoring.

Luke Beatty had five assists for the Panthers while R.J. Kelly added three. Goaltender Alex Rauber stopped 14 of 17 shots on goal.

Franklin Regional got goals from Yurko and Kelly to grab a 2-0 lead against Penn-Trafford. Zeto and Chase Williams (two goals) helped push the lead to 5-1. Zach Abdallah’s goal in the third period ended Penn-Trafford’s comeback bid. Abby Manzewitsch stopped 19 of 23 shots.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

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