Milestones, Memories and Big Moments
Butler High School's girls bowling state championship was only one of numerous memorable local sports stories in 2013.
By vote of the Eagle sports staff, here is the rest of the top 15:
No. 2 — Mars swimmer Maggie Gruber ends storied prep career: Now at Virginia Tech, Gruber ended her high school career with six state titles and six WPIAL titles. She became the 14th female in PIAA history to claim six individual titles and was named Class AA female swimmer of the meet.
No. 3 — Mars girls country team wins WPIAL title: It was windy, muddy, cold rain falling ... None of it mattered to the Planets, who sloshed their way to the program's first WPIAL crown in 37 years. Seven Mars runners placed among the top 37.
No. 4 — Remembering Posey Rhoads: More than 500 people spilled into the Slippery Rock Middle School gym to honor the life of longtime basketball coach Robert “Posey” Rhoads, who died of cancer April 18 at age 63.
No. 5 — Slippery Rock University football success: The Rock put together one of the top five productive offenses in all of NCAA Division II while qualifying for the national playoffs for the first time in 14 years. Quarterback Nigel Barksdale and receiver John Schademan shattered single-season school records.
No. 6 — Karns City girls soccer: The Gremlins won all 20 of their games in cruising to the District 9 Class A championship, their 16th district title in 19 years.
No. 7 — Janet McDonough dominates National Senior Games: In her first appearance in the National Senior Games, the Cranberry Township resident won four gold medals in swimming and broke NSG records in all four events — the 100-yard individual medley, 200 IM, 50 and 100-yard backstroke.
No. 8 — Renaming of Pullman Park: The historic Butler baseball park had its naming rights sold and will be called Kelly Automotive Park, effective in January of 2014. All references to Pullman Park will be removed from the facility.No. 9 — Matt Adams competes in World Series: Former Slippery Rock University baseball slugger Matt Adams started at first base for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2013 World Series and homered against the Pirates during the National League Division Series.No. 10 — Meghan Schnur joins WPIAL Hall of Fame: The former Butler High School soccer great, who went on to star at the University of Connecticut and played for U.S. national teams, became the first Butler County product inducted into the WPIAL Hall.No. 11 — Butler cheerleaders win first PIAA title: The Golden Tornado topped a field of 40 teams in winning the first-ever PIAA Competitive Spirit Championships at Hersheypark Arena.No. 12 — Gary and Ruth Geller win state mixed doubles bowling title: The Mars Lanes owners, who always used the state mixed doubles tournament as their own secret getaway, had to let that secret out when they finished first in the handicapped division.No. 13 — Slippery Rock University basketball team wins NCAA Tournament game: The SRU men, seeded seventh in the region, upset No. 2 seed Winston-Salem State, 69-67, for the program's first NCAA tourney win in 35 years. The season ended the following day with a heartbreaking 53-50 loss to third-seeded Indiana (Pa.).No. 14 — Slippery Rock High football goes 10-0: The Rockets put together an undefeated regular season for only the second time in 40 years. They produced one of District 10's most prolific running attacks in the process.No. 15 — Grove City graduate Ryan Prokay wins national David Toms Award: Prokay, a sophomore on the Robert Morris University golf team, was presented the award by the Golf Coaches Association of America for his courageous comeback from Tourette Syndrome and Lyme disease.
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