Rankin off to fast start for North Allegheny girls golf

By: Bill Hartlep
Thursday, September 10, 2020 | 10:10 PM

Katie Rose Rankin has set the pace this season for the North Allegheny girls golf team.

The sophomore was the Tigers’ medalist in each of their first five competitions, including wins over Pine-Richland, Blackhawk, Seneca Valley and Penn-Trafford.

The Tigers (4-2, 2-2 Section 1-AAA) were swept by Moon and Mars in a tri-match.

Rankin has averaged 40 strokes per nine holes this season.

Also seeing time in the starting lineup this season for North Allegheny are junior Sissi Hai; seniors Olivia Schenk, Shriya Suresh and Yunshu Li; and sophomore Lauren Kardos.

WPIAL individual qualifiers are scheduled for Sept. 23, and the team playoffs begin Oct. 5.

Girls tennis

The North Allegheny girls tennis team opened the season 1-2 overall and 1-0 in Section 2-AAA.

The Tigers shut out Mars thanks to singles wins from Jenny Zhu, Emily Wincko and Claire Zheng, and doubles victories by Claire Shao and Abbey Swirsding and Rebecca Kolano and Siya Jain.

North Allegheny lost to Latrobe, 4-1, and Mt. Lebanon, 3-2.

• North Hills girls tennis opened its season with a 4-1 loss to Butler in Section 2-AAA. Sydney Kissner and Morgan Nolan won 6-2, 6-3 at second doubles for the Indians.

Emma Kim, Emma Humphrey and Rachel Byrne fell in singles matches, and Veronica Sciulli and Anna Tihomirova lost at first doubles.

The Indians rebounded with a 5-0 win over Moon on Sept. 9.

Boys golf

North Allegheny boys golf rebounded from an 0-2 start with Section 3-AAA wins over Shaler and Butler.

Seniors Peter Canovali and Adam Steinmetz each shot 36, and Portland Canovali and Collin Wang shot 39 in the 194-234 win over Shaler.

NA edged Butler, 210-211, behind Steinmetz’s 38.

• North Hills’ boys golf team started 0-4 after losses to Shaler, Seneca Valley, Pine-Richland and Mars. Hannah Scuilli shot 45 against Mars. Tyler Manfred shot 42 against Pine-Richland, Shaler and Seneca Valley.

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.

Tags: North Allegheny, North Hills