Almanac search for top athletes commences
Claire Dougherty and Jake Dixon were The Almanac’s top athletes in 2016. Who will be this year’s winners? The Almanac search for the top male and female AOTY commences today.
Almanac Athlete of the Year
The WPIAL basketball playoffs always bring me back to my playing days at St. Francis Academy. Back then, the girls giggled whenever Johnny Lee came to games. “Aren’t you excited he’s coming to watch us play?”
“Thrilled,” I’d deadpan.
Getting a glimpse of the then standout at South Catholic, now Seton-La Salle, was as exciting as when Mr. Pete Niesen walked into the gymnasium at St. Anne’s Grade School when I played ball at St. Sylvester. The Ciscan coach was there also to “watch” but, with three sisters attending school and playing there currently, no recruiting was necessary. I knew I was already signed, sealed and delivered to dear-old SFA.
While I would never talk to Lee until he became the boys’ basketball coach at his alma mater, we’ve become life-long friends. But, not long after our scholastic departures, another Rebel came along and graced the athletic arena with his prowess. Sadly, I recently relived his astonishing accomplishments as I read his obituary. At 53, Rich Ingold passed away. A day after Valentine’s Day, on Feb. 15, he died of pneumonia.
Ingold was the classic All-American, the star quarterback of a football team that won back-to-back WPIAL championships in 1979 and 1980 and featured other notables such as Greg Gattuso and Jim Sweeney. Gattusso played at Penn State and now coaches at Albany. Sweeney played at Pitt and in the NFL. In 1980, Ingold, who also excelled in baseball, threw for 1,500 yards.
After college stints at South Carolina and IUP, where he was the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 1985, Ingold was a quarterback in Arena Football League, leading his team, the Detroit Drive, to a championship. He later coached with Gattuso at Duquesne University and served as an offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Gladiators.
As The Almanac embarks on its search for its top athletes in 2017, Ingold’s death reminded me of all the players that would have been great candidates before the program was instituted in 1991. Even before my arrival at The Almanac and during Ingold’s era there were many, especially those who played on Mt. Lebanon’s remarkable back-to-back WPIAL championship football teams in 1980 and 1981. Guys like tailback Mark Hart, who is the vice president of planning and development for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Dr. Robert Schilken, who played at Pitt and is now a renowned orthopaedic surgeon, Chris Jelic, the Aldisert twins, Caesar and Richard.
Over at Bethel Park, the Hawks had a quarterback named Shawn Morton that rivaled Ingold and Jelic. Morton now is an assistant coach for Jim Render at Upper St. Clair, which produced some standout athletes in the 1980s such as the Schipani brothers, Pat, Jeff and Brian, or the Lunds, Ken and Don. The Ivy League products also excelled in baseball.
Doug Whaley was another standout that once rushed for 300 yards in a game. He has gone on to be the assistant general manager and director of pro personnel for the Buffalo Bills.
Kevin Orie was the last in a long line of brothers to excel in multiple sports for the Panthers. Drafted by the Chicago Cubs, he also played football and basketball for USC. Today, he is a pre-game and post-game radio announcer.
Besides Morton, BP produced its share of excellent athletes. To name a few: the Buzzi brothers, including Chris, who was a standout on the school’s only state baseball championship team in 1988 along with two-sport standouts like Craig McRoberts, now a big-wig with Hefren-Tillotsen, and Wade Wilson, who works on Wall Street; or the Whites, Craig, Chris, Corey and Clark; even the Douds brothers, Bill and Michael, standouts in baseball and basketball respectively.
Most recently, Bethel Park and Mt. Lebanon had the top athletes in the area: Jake Dixon and Claire Dougherty.
Though he earned a Division I volleyball scholarship to Lewis University, Dixon is now enrolled at Duquesne University. Dixon, who led the Hawks in basketball, too, will play tight end for the Dukes this fall. Meanwhile, Dougherty is attending Dartmouth College. Already she has improved her high school personal best time of 2:10 during the winter track season for the Big Green and should have a sensational spring.
Dixon and Dougherty look to pass the torch as The Almanac embarks on its search to crown the 27th male and female athletes of the year. The campaign begins with the nomination process. Readers will find a form online and the coaches of each sport have been contacted for their input. For convenience, follow the link www.thealmanac.net/sportsbanquet.
The nomination process runs through March. Once an athlete is nominated the name is placed on a preliminary ballot. So it isn’t a popularity contest.
The preliminary ballot will be reviewed by a committee and reduced to the Top 10 male and female candidates. These athletes will be announced in upcoming editions of The Alamanc and honored at the Premier Performers Sports Banquet to be held at 6:30 p.m. May 21 at the Crowne Plaza-Pittsburgh South. In addition, MVPs from each of the WPIAL sports will be recognized. Tickets for the event are $35 per person. To order, call 724-941-1200.35