Geist, Mihalik, PIAA among year's top stories
While the Knoch baseball team's run to a state championship was chosen as the Butler County Sports Story of the Year, there where plenty of other candidates.
Here is a look at the top 15 county sports stories of 2015, selected via vote of the Butler Eagle sports staff:
No. 2 —Jordan Geist dominates in shot put, discus. The Knoch sophomore completed an incredible season by winning the PIAA discus title with a personal-best throw of 186 feet, two inches.
The throw extended his Butler County record by nine feet.
Earlier in the year, Geist won the shot put event at the Penn Relays with a toss of 67-1.25. He won the WPIAL titles in the discus and shot put.
No. 3 — George Mihalik retires as Slippery Rock University football coach. Mihalik called it a career days after The Rock football season ended with a 28-16 loss at Shepherd in the NCAA Division II quarterfinals.Mihalik won 197 games in 28 years at SRU and closed his career with consecutive PSAC championships. His storied career included eight PSAC West titles, six conference coach of the year awards and five Hall of Fame inductions.No. 4 — Seneca Valley boys soccer postseason run. The Raiders had never reached the state tournament and almost didn't this year, having to defeat Kiski Area, 4-0, in the WPIAL Class AAA consolation game to get in.Once there, SV (18-3-1) rolled all the way to the state championship game, where it lost a 2-0 decision to Central Bucks East.No. 5 — PIAA goes to six divisions. The state's high school sports landscape radically changed with this announcement. Pennsylvania prep football, basketball, baseball and softball will have six divisions instead of four in 2016.Soccer and volleyball will have four divisions instead of three. Numerous schools will be changing classifications and leagues in many sports next year.
No. 6 — Mars swimmer Francis Folz wins state titles. The Planet senior ended his prep career with a bang, winning the 50 freestyle at the WPIAL meet, then the 50 free and 100 free at the PIAA meet.Folz is swimming for Edinboro University in 2015-16.No. 7 — The UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex opens. The Pittsburgh Penguins moved their practices north as this landmark facility opened its doors in Cranberry Township.The multi-faceted complex handles medical issues, conditioning for all sports and has two hockey rinks — with room to grow.No. 8 — Dorothea Epps resigns as Butler girls basketball coach. After 12 seasons as head coach, seven WPIAL playoff appearances and 20 years with the program, Epps resigned for personal reasons four weeks before the 2015-16 season opener.Epps is now an assistant coach at Seneca Valley and Joe Lewandowski took over as Butler girls basketball coach.No. 9 — Butler hockey makes Cinderella run to Penguins Cup final. After finishing 1-21 just three years ago, the Golden Tornado put together a 13-9-3 season that included a berth in the Penguins Cup Class AAA title game as the No. 6 seed.Butler upset defending national champion Bethel Park and defending PIHL champ Peters Township on its way to the finals.No. 10 — Mars hockey wins Penguins Cup title. The Planets claimed their first Cup title since 2011, defeating rival Quaker Valley, 4-2, at the Consol Energy Center.The Planets lost the Penguins Cup title game to Quaker Valley in 2012 and 2013. The Planets out-shot Bayard Rustin, 42-17, in the 2015 state title game, but lost a 5-2 decision.No. 11 — Megan Paul wins state high school girls bowling title. The Butler senior averaged 221 for six games to earn the No. 1 seed in the state's stepladder singles finals.She then defeated Alexis Neuer of Lewisburg, 212-185, to win the championship.
No. 12 — Butler wresting coach Scott Stoner gets 300th career win. Stoner became the 16th WPIAL wrestling coach to ever reach that milestone. The 300th win was a 51-21 decision over Kittanning.Stoner accomplished the feat in 22 years of coaching, all with Butler.No. 13 — Knoch's Mandi Moxie wins WPIAL cross country title. The Knight senior capped off a stellar campaign by winning the Class AA individual title handily at Cooper's Lake.She completed the course in 19 minutes and 46 seconds. No other female runner finished in under 20 minutes.No. 14 — Mars Taylor Hockenberry wins WPIAL, PIAA diving titles. The Planet sophomore shined on the big stage at both meets. She claimed the 1-meter PIAA diving title with a score of 426.75.No. 15 — East Brady graduate Jim Kelly receives Lifetime Achievement Award at Dapper Dan dinner. The Hall of Fame quarterback had plenty of family and friends on hand when he received this emotional award in Pittsburgh at the 79th annual Dapper Dan dinner.
