Author: Chris Harlan
Saturday, June 29, 2024 | 1:24 AM
Christina Serafini | TribLive
Canon-McMillan’s Valerie Solorio reacts after defeating Neshaminy’s Grace Nesbitt in the 100-pound final of the PIAA girls wrestling championships on March 9 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Christopher Horner | TribLive
The undefeated Aliquippa football team celebrates a victory after the PIAA Class 4A championship game against Dallas on Dec. 7, 2023 at Cumberland Valley.
Christopher Horner | TribLive
South Fayette’s captains defeated Armstrong in the Class 5A final on March 2 at the Petersen Events Center to hoist the WPIAL championship trophy.
Butler’s Drew Griffith won the WPIAL Class 3A 1,600-meter run at the WPIAL track and field championships May 15 at Slippery Rock University.
Chaz Parra | TribLive
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A look back at the biggest stories in high school sports for the 2023-24 school year.
October 11, 2023
Moon’s Bill Pfeiffer, in his 28th season, became the first WPIAL girls soccer coach to reach 500 career wins, and Pfeiffer and the Tigers then celebrated their third straight PIAA Class 3A championship in November.
November 4th/November 18th, 2024
The North Allegheny girls’ team extended both teams’ state title streaks by another year: the volleyball team won its seventh consecutive PIAA title, and the cross country team won its sixth consecutive title.
December 1, 2023
The 1-and-1 free throw rule disappeared from Pennsylvania high school basketball at the start of last season, along with new PIAA rules that now count fouls by the quarter instead of the half.
December 7-9, 2023
• The Aliquippa football team celebrated its first undefeated state championship with a 60-14 win over Dallas in the PIAA 4A final in Mechanicsburg, and the team followed that up with another victory a few months later when it filed a lawsuit against the PIAA in a Beaver County courtroom over competitive balancing rules.
• Six football teams from the WPIAL and City League combined reached the state finals but only two won. Along with Aliquippa, the winner was Belle Vernon, which won back-to-back PIAA 3A titles.
• Westinghouse was heartbroken by a 99-yard drive and final-minute touchdown by Southern Columbia, which earned a 21-20 victory in the 2A final, extending the PIAA powerhouse’s title streak to seven.
February 2, 2024
The WPIAL is mourning the death of basketball referee Michael Roebuck, 45, who collapsed during a junior varsity game in Mount Pleasant.
February 29th – March 2nd, 2024
This year was a “year of back-to-back championships” for WPIAL basketball, with South Fayette’s girls team winning their third consecutive WPIAL title, while the girls teams from Union and North Catholic and the boys teams from Aliquippa, Imani Christian, Deer Lakes and Lincoln Park all won for the second year in a row.
March 1, 2024
Basketball coach Jonah Burke led Shadyside Academy’s girls team to a WPIAL title, but that title was in jeopardy eight months ago when the WPIAL suspended her for recruiting allegations. The suspension was lifted by court order.
March 9, 2024
• A grassroots movement to sanction girls wrestling paid off when, for the first time, the PIAA crowned a girls state champion alongside the boys at the Giant Center in Hershey, with Canon-McMillan’s Valerie Solorio winning the 100-pound title.
• Frazier High School senior Rune Lawrence won the Class 2A 215-pound title, joining an exclusive list of four-time PIAA wrestling champions. Lawrence (33-1) is the 14th wrestler and the seventh from the WPIAL to win four PIAA titles.
March 16, 2024
North Carolina State freshman Lily King was one of three Mount Pleasant College teammates to break state records at the PIAA 2A Swimming Championships at Bucknell. In addition to King (100 freestyle), other competitors were David Mutter (100 fly) and Joseph Gardner (100 breaststroke).
March 21, 2024
Lincoln Park’s Brandyn Cummings had a “storybook ending” to his high school basketball career as Lincoln Park claimed back-to-back PIAA 4A championships at Hershey, while Imani Christian also defended its PIAA Class A title.
March 22, 2024
Aliquippa became just the fifth school in state history to win the PIAA football and boys basketball titles in the same school year, joining Terrelle Pryor’s Jeannette team in 2007-08.
May 24, 2024
• Butler senior Drew Griffith thrilled the crowd at the state track and field championships by breaking the national high school record in the boys’ 1,600 meters, the second time in three months for the Notre Dame freshman, having broken the national indoor two-mile record on March 10 in Boston.
• Delhi javelin thrower Sophia Mazzoni broke the PIAA 2A girls championship record with a distance of 161 feet, 10 inches in her victory at Shippensburg. Mazzoni and Griffith then each won national titles at the New Balance National Championships.
May 27, 2024
In a rematch of the finals, North Allegheny pitcher David Posey no-hit Mount Lebanon star David Shields in the WPIAL 6A baseball final at Wild Things Park.
May 28, 2024
The Avonworth and Riverside baseball teams battled a 14-inning marathon in the WPIAL 3A championship game, the longest district final since the game moved to Wild Things Park in 2003. Avonworth defeated the defending WPIAL and PIAA champions, 4-3.
June 14, 2024
The Neshannock softball team completed a perfect 27-0 season with a 12-2 win in five innings over South Williamsport in the PIAA 2A final in State College. The PIAA title was junior pitcher Addie Fry’s second, and she also won her third WPIAL title.
June 15, 2024
Nationally ranked Shaler closed out the boys volleyball season with a 3-0 win over Parkland in the PIAA 3A finals at Penn State. The Titans finished the season ranked 9th in the USA Today rankings.
Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.
