Sad goodbye, title runs highlight year
While the Mars girls basketball run to the PIAA Class 5A championship was the Butler Eagle sports staff's unanimous choice for Butler County Sports Story of the Year, there were plenty of other significant happenings in 2018.
As we prepare to welcome 2019 into our lives, here is a look at the remainder of the top 15 county sports happenings of 2018, as voted by our sports staff.
No. 2: Butler BlueSox say goodbye. After 10 years of bringing Prospect League summer baseball to baseball, the BlueSox could no longer continue to operate financially.
The BlueSox made the Prospect League Championship Series in 2017.
No. 3: Seneca Valley freshman Alejandro Herrera-Rondon wins PIAA wrestling title. He won more than 40 matches in his first varsity season, losing the WPIAL title by one point at 106 pounds, then going on his state championship run.
No. 4: Sarver resident Michael Norris dominates at Lernerville. The young Late Model driver not only cruised to the speedway's points championship, he won a World of Outlaws feature race during Firecracker 100, beating the top pro drivers to the checkered flag that night.
No. 5: Seneca Valley enjoys unprecedented success. The Raiders' boys and girls soccer teams both won WPIAL championships.
No. 6: Jim Kelly receives the Jimmy V Award for courage at the ESPYs. The East Brady graduate and legendary Buffalo Bills quarterback underwent still more surgery on his mouth and jaw as he continues to fight cancer.
No. 7: Seneca Valley's Zach Gehm wins two WPIAL titles. Gehm claimed championships in the discus and javelin at the district meet, then went on to win the PIAA title in the discus.
No. 8: Slippery Rock University football puts together a big year. Not only did The Rock go 7-0 against the PSAC West in winning the division title, it won consecutive NCAA Division II road playoff games before dropping a 21-17 decision to Notre Dame (Ohio) in the national quarterfinals.
No. 9: Mars boys basketball wins its first WPIAL title. The Planets nearly matched the girls state title run, but lost in the state finals. Coach Rob Carmody notched his 300th career win during the season.
No. 10: Ed Conto calls it a career. The longtime successful Karns City football coach retired after 18 seasons. He had success as coach at A-C Valley before coming to KC.
No. 11: Jordan Geist takes his success to college. After a dominant high school career in the shot put and discus at Knoch, Geist accepted a full scholarship to the University of Arizona and became the youngest thrower (age 19) to hit 70 feet in the shot put during the indoor season.
No. 12: Heather Stewart enjoys unprecedented archery success. The Slippery Rock resident turned 40 during the year and captured state and national archery championships in her division.
No. 13 (tie): Seneca Valley football reaches WPIAL title game. The Raiders were coming off a 3-6 season in 2017 and lost three games during this regular season. They nearly avenged those three losses in the playoffs, defeating Central Catholic and North Allegheny before bowing to Pine-Richland in the WPIAL 6A title game.
No. 13 (tie): Seneca Valley hockey wins Penguins Cup. The Raiders won the program's first Penguins Cup with a balanced attack that featured solid goaltending and no player with more than 10 goals.
No. 15: Noah Beveridge snaps Butler record. The Golden Tornado's stellar distance runner broke the school record in the 1,600 meters that stood for 40 years. He also won the WPIAL Class AAA 3,200 meters title and placed second in the state in that event.
