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SPORTS
SJA and SKD Cross Country Teams Merge
December 2011 ————————————————————————————————————————
Mon Valley Midget Football League A Season to Remember By Paul Chasko
At the Midget game, Frazier moves the ball against Ringgold behind some good blocking.
Angelina Battistone, Lauren Luppe, Evan Marnik, Ryan Vas, Kylene Vas, Matthew Battistone, members of the combined St. Joan of Arc and St. Katherine Drexel cross-country team, and SJA Coach Erin Vas.
The merger of St. Joan of Arc’s (SJA) and St. Katherine Drexel’s (SKD) cross-country teams opened the competition to students in both schools in grades 2-8. The team ran in nine meets this season (SKD hosted two meets at Millennium Park) and the South Hills Invitational, which was hosted by Our Lady of Grace. Each runner completed every race they were in and improved their times at each race. Ryan Vas was the only student from SJA that ran in the Diocesan Championship held at Slippery Rock University’s cross country course at Cooper Lake. He ran in the JV boy’s race, competing against 232 second- to sixth-grade boys, and he finished the 1.8 mi course in 15 min. and 3 seconds. Angelina Battistone, Lauren Luppe, and Kylene Vas proved to be very competitive second-grade cross country runners. They completed each course running in the JV girl’s races against girls in second to sixth grades.
Cheerleaders support the Bears Mighty Mite Team.
Donora's Michaux Bags and Tags Thanksgiving Turkey This 16-pounder with a perfect fantail is #34 for Mark Michaux since 1993. As of 2002 (spring/fall combo)—20 in a row.
Bears Mighty Mites run against Ringgold.
The 2011 season of the Mon Valley Midget Football League started out on a bumpy road with some significant changes. Norwin dropped out of the league, and East Allegheny was admitted to fill the vacated slot. We saw the Donora Dragons morph into a team carrying the Ringgold name (with the blessing of the Ringgold School Board). We also saw the breakup of the Monongahela Wildcats with some players moving to the new Ringgold team and others players finding slots with other neighboring teams. The Monongahela Wildcats were carried in the season standings (0-8-0) even though there was no team. The coaches working with the Ringgold team players saw this change as inevitable as the player pools from Donora and Monongahela were becoming too small to support teams in all four age divisions. The Union Finley Bears remain the only team in the league not having a connection, at least by name, to a specific school district. The Bears have a mix of players from Union Township, Finleyville, and South Park Township. Another change that seems natural to many folks would be for the Bears organization to become a South Park Team within the Mon Valley Midget Football League, releasing players residing in the Ringgold School District to the New Ringgold Team. The only concern with this move might be too many players on the Ringgold Teams, resulting in limited playing time for many kids. Parents, coaches, and league administrators would need to give this move some serious thought – if it’s even being considered
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