Mt Lebanon Magazine High school sports roundup

A collage of three photos of athletes in action: A tennis player in a navy blue uniform and a white visor holding a tennis racket, a swimmer with a navy blue swimsuit dives backwards into the water, and a volleyball player in a navy blue uniform jumps to set the ball at a net. — Mt. Lebanon High School athletes excelled during the 2024-2025 season, especially tennis, swim and volleyball. Photos: Marliee Kline (first and second) and provided by Mt. Lebanon School District (third)

The end of the school year means the end of the Mt. Lebanon varsity sports calendar.  

As always, there were many noteworthy performances and happenings. To mention just a few: Sylvia Roy is a name you’ve probably heard before, and the promising swimmer continued to shine. Boys volleyball is back, baby. And there’s something new at the school stadium – you can’t miss it.

What follows is a rundown of the many sports highlights.

 JUST WIN

Several Blue Devils teams and athletes excelled in 2024-25.

FALL SPORTS

Boys cross country: Evan Yurasko advanced to the WPIAL championships.

Girls cross country: Finished fourth in the WPIAL. Maeve McNamee and Josie Engle advanced to the PIAAs.

Field hockey: Was the WPIAL runner-up.

Boys golf: Cooper Whalen and Max Pirain qualified for the WPIAL individual championships.

Girls soccer: Advanced to the WPIAL quarterfinals.

Boys soccer: Advanced to WPIAL playoffs.

Girls tennis: Won their section. Won the WPIAL team title. Advanced to the PIAA semifinals. Jackie Tang and Michelle Yang won the WPIAL doubles championship and were PIAA runners-up in doubles.

A swimmer in a blue cap with large yellow letters in a pool, splashing water. — Girls swimming and diving had another victorious season, winning their section and finishing fourth in WPIAL and PIAA. Photo: Marilee Kline

WINTER SPORTS

Boys basketball: Advanced to WPIAL semifinals and qualified for the PIAA playoffs.

Girls basketball: Advanced to WPIAL semifinals.

Unified bocce: Two teams advanced to the playoffs. (Read about this unique sport ^[1].)

Cheerleaders: Advanced to the semifinals of the ECA national championships in Orlando.

Hockey: Advanced to the PIHL playoffs.

Rifle: Went 14-0, won their section and finished fourth in the WPIAL and PIAA. Alexander Chandran and Whistle Foxbury qualified for the WPIAL and PIAA individual championships.

Girls swimming and diving: Won their section. Finished fourth in the WPIAL, where 22 swimmers competed. Had 15 swimmers qualify for the PIAA championships. Sylvia Roy won WPIAL championships in the 50-yard freestyle and 100 backstroke, both with WPIAL records. Roy became one of only four swimmers to have won the WPIAL 50 free and 100 backstroke all four years. Roy won the PIAA championship in the 100 backstroke.

Boys swimming and diving: Won their section. Finished third in the WPIAL.

Boys wrestling: Cole Gibbons, John Emma, Ben Lloyd, Devin McCauley and Evan Sala qualified for the WPIAL championships, with Gibbons, Lloyd and Sala advancing to the regional tournament.

Girls wrestling: Paige Jox, Julianne Van Slyk and Sophia Beanner qualified for the WPIAL championships. Jox and Van Slyk advanced to the regionals. Jox qualified for the PIAA tournament. (Read more. ^[2])

A boys volleyball team in navy and yellow uniforms stand together in two rows in a high school gym. The person in the middle of the first row is holding a red, white and blue volleyball. — Boys volleyball is back and thriving. They won their section and advanced to WPIAL quarterfinals in 2025. Photo: provided by Mt. Lebanon School District

SPRING SPORTS

Baseball: Advanced to the WPIAL quarterfinals.

Boys tennis: Won their section and advanced to the WPIAL semifinals. Mark Summers and Luca Ritivoi were the WPIAL runners-up in doubles and made it to the PIAA quarterfinals.

Boys lacrosse: Won the WPIAL championship for the third year in a row and advanced to the state quarterfinals.

Girls lacrosse: Won the WPIAL championship for the second year in a row and advanced to the state quarterfinals.

Girls rugby: Ella Frey was named First Team All State.

Boys track: Finished fourth in the WPIAL team championships, with 20 athletes competing in WPIAL individual events, and three – Nick Machado, Patrick Smith and Alex Joseph — advancing to the PIAA meet.

Girls track: Qualified for the WPIAL team playoffs, with 20 athletes competing in WPIAL individual events. The 4×400 relay won the WPIAL championship and finished fifth in the state – Lily Cramer, Lauren Krebs, Lucy Tang, Selma Bajgoric. They were among seven girls who qualified for states, along with Kiera Kraemer, Carmela Guillen and Maeve McNamee.

Boys volleyball: Won their section and advanced to the WPIAL quarterfinals, extra noteworthy because it was their first playoff appearance since the program was reinstated in 2023 after being disbanded in 2011. (Read more. ^[3])

CALL TO COLLEGE

A lot of Mt. Lebanon athletes don’t stop at high school, and it’s no different this year. Here are athletes who have committed to continuing to compete in college in 2025-26. Thanks to the Blue Devil Club for the list.

Baseball:

Brett Hamel – Marietta College
Anthony Mincarelli – University of Pittsburgh-Bradford
Maddox Yost – Millersville University

Girls basketball:

Payton Collins – Bowdoin College

Field hockey:

Taylor Tecza – John Carroll University
Autumn Dowiak – Vassar College

Football:

Rowan Horgan – Washington & Jefferson College
Brady Lockwich – Seton Hill University
Dominic Huff – Seton Hill University
Noah Schaerli – Robert Morris University

Boys lacrosse:

Ty Pirain – John Carroll University
Joey Hetz – Hamilton College
Mason Prettyman – Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Brady Lockwich – Seton Hill University

Girls soccer:

Tessa Peer – Mercyhurst University
Maureen McCluskey – John Carroll University

Boys soccer:

Cole Barton – California University of Pennsylvania

Swimming:

Sylvia Roy – University of Virginia
Helen Albu – Tulane University 
Malcolm Thompson – Fordham University
Tommy Harrold – Carleton College

Track and field:

Selma Bajgoric – Duquesne University
Maeve McNamee – Lafayette College (cross country and track)
Nick Machado – Duquesne University
Isaigh Irwin Evans – Dennison University
Josie Engle – Washington and Lee University

Boys volleyball:

Liam Dwyer – Hiram College

Wrestling:

Ben Lloyd – Gannon University

SMOKE ON THE WATER

It’s not a varsity sport, but this accomplishment by a club team is worth a shout-out. The boys crew fours qualified for the nationals, a first for Lebo.

EXTRA, EXTRA CURRICULARS

Before Sylvia Roy continued her attack on high school records, before she even entered her senior year, she qualified last summer for the United State Olympic trials. (Read more. ^[4])
Lebo star left-hander David Shields was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the Major League Baseball draft last summer. Although he had a scholarship waiting for him at Miami, he opted to turn pro. He began the 2025 season with the Single A Columbia (S.C.) Fireflies. (Read more. ^[5])
Former Lebo girls basketball coach Dori Oldaker spent a June evening being inducted into the WPIAL Hall of Fame. (Read more. ^[6])

New scoreboard for stadium sports. Photo: Marilee Kline

NEW SCOREBOARD

Thanks to donations, the stadium got a new video scoreboard.

“It’s the first time we’ve had a complete video board. That’s a pretty cool thing. That’s a good addition,” Mt. Lebanon athletic director John Grogan said.

 Not only has that provided a better experience during competitions for the teams that use the stadium, but it also has given students a chance to help design content such as highlight videos and photos.

 In fact, Andrew Hartung, who has been heavily involved in the video board content, documents a lot of that work and won the Myron Cope Best Sports Social Media Account Award at Point Park University.