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Bethel Park’s Grimm one of 15 to be inducted into WPIAL Hall of Fame

By Eleanor Bailey almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.Net 6 min read
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Laura Grimm

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Laura Grimm excelled at Serra Catholic. She helped her basketball team win two WPIAL titles and one PIAA championship. A four-year starter, she scored 1,940 career points to go along with 497 assists and 391 steals

Bethel Park assistant athletic director Laura Grimm had a memorable career as a basketball player.

She led Serra Catholic to a 103-12 record in four seasons, two district titles as well as four finals not to mention a PIAA championship.

That 2005 crown Grimm said, “Means more than I can put into words.” She added, that if asked, she could still name all the losses the Eagles had. “It was by far the most fun that I have had athletically in my life.”

Individually, Grimm fired in 1,940 career points to go along with 497 assists and 391 steals. She buried 283 3-point field goals. She recalls fondly scoring a game-high 32 points in her first varsity start ever as a freshman and then breaking the school scoring record held by Jody Sabo.

“Those were pretty surreal moments,” she said.

Grimm added another when she was named as one of the 15 inductees to be enshrined in the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League’s Hall of Fame. The Class of 2023 was announced Jan. 18 at a press conference at the Senator John Heinz History Center and Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum.

The annual WPIAL Hall of Fame banquet will be held June 2 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Greentree.

“This is an incredibly humbling honor,” Grimm said. “While it recognizes an individual achievement, it is attributed to the amazing coaches and teammates I had throughout the years. Without them, I would not be where I am today.”

After her many accolades, which included being named Associated Press Pennsylvania State Player of the Year in 2005, and playing collegiately at Colgate University, Grimm transitioned to a career away from the hardcourt.

After serving as the girls basketball coach at Ringgold, she moved into the athletic director chair in 2015. During her tenure, the Rams won the 2018 Class 3A state baseball championship, WPIAL and PIAA diving championships and several other runners-up in the league.

A Bethel Park resident, she took the job as assistant director to Dan Sloan in 2021.

Grimm credits Bill Cleary for her career choice. Cleary, who is also being inducted into the WPIAL Hall of Fame, was the coach of he Serra Catholic girls basketball team. Cleary also was the school’s athletic director.

“I was lucky enough that he was not just my coach but also the AD,” Grimm said. “My experience in high school gave me the insight of how to balance the needs of the athletic department as a whole over any one individual sport.

“Mr. Cleary was an excellent mentor and role model, and there is no doubt that using his example as my guide helped to prepare me for the positions I’ve held in athletics.”

Two more nominees with Bethel Park ties will join Grimm in the WPIAL Hall of Fame.

Emily Carter coasted to seven WPIAL and five PIAA gold medals, while leading the Bethel Park girls swim team to three WPIAL titles from 1998 to 2000 and back-to-back PIAA crowns in 1998 and 1999.

An 11-time All-American, Carter set WPIAL records in the 200-yard medley relay and 100 breaststroke. She also was a member of a PIAA record-breaking medley relay.

Don Rebel enters the Hall of Fame as a contributor. Since 1988, when he started as program director at Nauticom Sports, Rebel has promoted Western Pennsylvania high school sports. He launched the MSA Sports Network before it was purchased by Trib Total Media and became the TribLIVE High School Sports Network in 2017.

Rebel, who once served as a member of the WPIAL Hall of Fame committee, studied broadcasting and communication at Point Park. He and his wife, Laurie, have three children, Brandon, Ryan and Carson, who was a standout pitcher at Seton LaSalle High School.

Sarah Riske McGlamery and Jonathan Hayes are two of the additional area WPIAL Hall of Fame nominees.

A McMurray native, Riske McGlamery won WPIAL girls tennis singles titles in 1995, 1997, and 1998, and PIAA singles crowns in 1997 and 1998.

Collegiately, she played at Vanderbilt and was a four-time All-American. She helped the Commodores finish as the national runner-up in 2001.

Riske McGlamery was once ranked No. 1 nationally in doubles. She enjoyed a professional career from 2003-06 on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Tennis Tour.

“Playing tennis was who I was for a long time,” Riske McGlamery said. “I still play a little bit. But I struggle with it because of my competitive nature. When I’m out there, I want to win. So there is no such thing as fun on the court.

“I did it so long. I look back with extremely fond memories. I do miss it. It was part of what I did each day as a kid, teenager, in college and in trying to make it on the (professional) tour.”

Hayes helped South Fayette team win the West Hills Conference football championship in 1980. He was voted Player of the Year and was selected to play in the 1981 Big 33 Game.

Hayes went on to play at the University of Iowa, earning All-America honors in 1984. He was selected in the second round (41st overall) of the 1985 NFL Draft by Kansas City and played 12 seasons with the Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers.

After he retired, Hayes coached at the University of Oklahoma and with the Cincinnati Bengals. He currently serves as the co-offensive coordinator of the XFL’s Arlington Renegades.

Two teams will also be enshrined in the WPIAL Hall of Fame. One of them is the 2000-01 Oakland Catholic girls basketball squad, which was coached by Suzie McConnell Serio. An Upper St. Clair resident, Serio guided the Eagles to a 31-1 record complete with WPIAL and PIAA titles at the Class 4A level.

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The rest of the Class of 2023 includes: NA wrestler Ray Brinzer; Virginia Fronk, who is the Courage Award winner from Seneca Valley; Valley’s Greg Meisner, James “Lash” Nesser, Heritage honor; Ringgold’s Bob Osleger, Sto-Rox softball and basketball coach Bill Palermo; and Valley’s Tom Pipkins as well as the 1981-82 Monaca boys’ basketball team.

Founded in 1906, the WPIAL was organized as a means of recognizing, preserving, and promoting the heritage of interscholastic sports in Western Pennsylvania. Many individuals have made extraordinary contributions and have achieved superb accomplishments in high school sports.

The WPIAL Hall of Fame honors the contributions and accomplishments of these individuals who are worthy of recognition as examples for others to emulate.

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