Sports Briefs
Gorman ousted
Mia Gorman dropped out of the PIAA Class AAA girls’ singles tournament in the first round of play for good reason. The Bethel Park freshman met the eventual state champion in her first match played Nov. 2 at the Hershey Racquet Club. Gorman dropped a two-set decision, 6-1, 6-0, to Neha Velaga. The North Penn junior went on to win the state title with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory against North Allegheny’s Ashley Huang in the championship match.
SF girls 4th
South Fayette finished fourth in the PIAA Class AA girls’ cross country team standings, posting a 149 score. Central Cambria (92) won the title and Danville (105) secured runner-up honors while Northwestern Lehigh took third.
Hailey Poe led the Lady Lions. The junior placed ninth overall in 20:23. Freshman Lauren Iagnemma finished 11th overall in 20:56.
Other top runners for SF included: Gabby Baiano (30th), Baylee Carpenter (43rd), Emma Fleck (56th). Delaney Parisi and Peyton Yater also finished among the Top 100 runners.
Meanwhile, Zach Conner finished 82nd among Class AA boys. The SF junior clocked in at 18:15.
North Allegheny won the boys’ and the girls’ Class AAA team titles. The Lebo boys finished fifth overall. In addition to PIAA champion Patrick Anderson (see related story), top finishers for Lebo included: Peter Cosentino (15th), Alex Brokaw (17th), Barak Asher (38th), Duncan Laduke (63), Quinn and Clark Mitchell (72nd and 115th).
Other top local finishers included: Robert O’Brien (18th), Alex Shaw (38th) and Chris Hess (179), all from Upper St. Clair; Elias Zajicek (68th) from Chartiers Valley; Eli Allridge (111) and Antonio Burkhart (193) from Bethel Park.
Emily Carter from Bethel Park was the top AAA girl finisher. The sophomore placed 11th overall in 19:34.
USC’s Claire Hoffman (52), Sophia Shi (72) and Aoife-Ruby Dunne of Lebo also competed in the race.
PT field hockey
Peters Township began its quest for a PIAA title in field hockey when the Lady Indians faced Wilson, the District 3, third-place finisher, Nov. 6 at Latrobe. The Indians, who recently won the WPIAL title with an overtime win against Pine-Richland, 2-1, hoped to advance to the quarterfinals, which are set for Nov. 10 at a site to be determined. The state semifinals will be played Nov. 13 and the championship match is set for 2 p.m. at the Zephyr Sports Complex in Whitehall.