PIAA girls track and field championships: Not just a hooper, Quaker Valley’s Mimi Thiero soars to PIAA silver in the high jump
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. — One of the top girls hoopers in the WPIAL dunked a basketball for the first time last summer. Quaker Valley’s Mimi Thiero once again soared to new heights Friday, and a high jump was again the reason for it. Thiero, a 6-foot-5 junior considered one of the top junior basketball players in…
PIAA boys track and field championships: Quaker Valley sophomore Jonah Montagnese uses late push to win Class 2A gold in the 1,600-meter run
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. — Jonah Montagnese winning a PIAA Class 2A title in the 1,600-meter run Friday was as easy as 1-2-3. Or should that be 3-2-1? Montagnese sat in third place with 800 meters left and was second with 400 meters to go, but by the time he crossed the finish line he was first.…
PIAA track and field championship preview: Large contingent of Quaker Valley athletes aim for titles
The PIAA track and field championships will turn 100 this weekend. And while Quaker Valley doesn’t literally have 100 athletes in pole position to capture titles, it certainly feels that way. Quaker Valley is one of the many WPIAL schools that will compete in the 100th edition of the championships to be held Friday and…
Braddock Carnegie Library has a new look — and a new name
Thursday’s grand reopening of the Braddock Carnegie Library was the most notable celebration of the old building since 1914, when an aging and white-haired Andrew Carnegie stood on a stage with a bunch of other formally dressed men and, on the library’s 25th anniversary, declared it a “center of light.” Carnegie died five years later,…
The playoffs!
Softball semifinal rundown: Blackhawk shocks Elizabeth Forward, Hampton blanks Beaver in Class 4A; Penn-Trafford, Shaler post shutouts in Class 5A
For all the athletic success Blackhawk has enjoyed across several different sports over the years, it’s a bit hard to believe the Cougars had never played for a WPIAL softball championship before — until now. Taking on defending WPIAL champion and No. 1 seed Elizabeth Forward (15-4) in a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal on Tuesday at…
Baseball postseason rundown: Norwin rallies to defeat rival Hempfield, advances to first WPIAL final since 2016
A bunch of teens from Norwin can bring the Knights WPIAL gold with another win, but it was not a golden child, but a Silberman that helped get them to the title game. Nathan Silberman delivered the go-ahead, three-run double in the sixth to push No. 4 Norwin into the final for the first time…
Baseball postseason rundown: On a night of nail-biters, No. 1 seed North Allegheny falls, No. 1’s Pine-Richland, Indiana survive
As usual, Indiana’s pitching staff was terrific in Monday’s WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinals, limiting opposing Ambridge to just one hit and three baserunners in nine innings of play. But in a game in which Indiana was getting little offense itself, the Indians found themselves in an extra-innings tie and their season in the balance. That’s…
Softball postseason rundown: No. 11 Riverside turns tables, avenges pair of lopsided losses against No. 3 Laurel with stunning upset victory in Class 2A quarterfinals
During the sixth inning of Riverside’s remarkable upset victory against Laurel in the WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinals, Panthers coach Geri Lynn Cummings gazed over at the scoreboard, then turned to one of her players, Ayla Sterner, and asked Sterner to pinch her. “Ayla goes, ‘What?’” Cummings recalled. “And I said, ‘Just pinch me right now.…
NCAA Division II baseball: Seton Hill set for third straight Atlantic Super Regional appearance with shot at redemption, spot in College World Series on the line
Marc Marizzaldi is not interested in where his program has been. Despite leading Seton Hill to the brink of an NCAA Division II College World Series berth each of the past two seasons, the longtime Griffins coach said he does not find it helpful to reflect upon what has led to one of the most…
Seeing red: Crews begin painting exclusive bus lanes in Downtown Pittsburgh
More red paint will begin showing up on Downtown Pittsburgh streets beginning Monday to designate exclusive bus lanes for Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s University Line. Formally marking the lanes for use by buses only is one of the last steps before buses start using the special corridor through the Golden Triangle on June 22. Crews also…
If the weather is warm, you can count on roadwork
Most crews will be working a short week because of the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, but there will still be lots of construction going on. Here are the new projects and changes to expect this week:
‘I don’t know where we’d be without him’ — After waiting his turn, Shaler senior catcher Joe Rispoli emerges as one of the WPIAL’s best hitters
Joe Rispoli patiently waited for his opportunity his first couple of seasons playing on the Shaler baseball team, and he did so in an honorable way. “He didn’t get a lot of playing time his sophomore and junior years, but he never did any pouting, never any complaining,” Shaler coach Brian Junker said. “He never…
Double trouble: Beaver product Payton List standing out as one of NCAA Division I’s top two-way players after sensational season in batter’s box, pitcher’s circle at James Madison
Loren LaPorte and her coaching staff put in the work. And, accordingly, the ninth-year James Madison softball coach had strong feelings about the way her first swing at recruiting former Beaver standout Payton List initially played out. When LaPorte said she watched List dominate WPIAL competition she envisioned a career path much like that of…
Esplanade development on Pittsburgh’s North Side will fund studies to upgrade Allegheny Station, extend light rail system
Piatt Companies’ $750 million Esplanade project that’s ready to move forward along the Ohio River is known for the housing, entertainment and 50-meter Ferris wheel it will bring to Pittsburgh’s Manchester neighborhood. But the 15-acre transitional project also has a key transportation element involved because of the way it is funded. The project is being…
In other news …
Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s 10-year budget proposes huge upfront cuts to provide predictability in funding crisis
If Pittsburgh Regional Transit doesn’t get substantially more state funds for next year, it will make sweeping cuts in one fell swoop in February in an effort to sustain the agency for the next 10 years. Officials detailed how drastic those cuts would be Thursday when they presented the agency’s proposed 2025-26 budget to its…
DTCare expands aid to Ukrainian veterans with prosthetics degree and new outreach for women
DTCare’s work in Ukraine has focused on empowerment and uplifting its citizens since the beginning of the Russian invasion. Now it’s expanding its efforts in two areas as that war continues: a scholarship program to help 14 veterans earn master’s degrees in prosthetics and supporting women veterans, too, through its Hero’s Compass program. The Moon-based…
WPIAL Class 2A girls track and field championships: Laurel’s Tori Atkins claims four gold medals, cements legacy as one of greatest sprinters in WPIAL history
Every so often, a transcendent athlete comes through and raises the bar to previously unattainable heights — and we’re not talking about the pole vault. Already solidified as one of the greatest track stars in WPIAL history, Laurel senior sprinter Tori Atkins polished off her decorated career with a historic afternoon on Wednesday at the WPIAL…
