top 10
2. John Luckhadt
At one point, John Luckhardt was the winningest head football coach at Washington & Jefferson and California University. He took both programs deep into the NCAA playoffs and finished his career with a 137-37-2 record.
The crowning achievement came this year when Luckhardt was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Luckhardt and the other inductees were honored at the 64th National Football Foundation Annual Awards Dinner in December.
At Washington & Jefferson, Luckhardt led the team to two appearances in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, the NCAA Division III championship game (1992 and 1994).
Under Luckhardt’s guidance, W&J won 13 Presidents’ Athletic Conference championships and made 11 appearances in the NCAA Division III playoffs. In 1992, he was named the AFCA National Coach of the Year, and CNN named him the Division III Coach of the Year in 1994.
Luckhardt spent a decade as head coach at Cal following an incredibly successful tenure at Washington & Jefferson. Over his 27 seasons as head coach, he posted a 225-70-2 overall record behind 11 seasons of double-digit victories. Luckhardt had a .761 winning percentage while leading the Presidents and Vulcans to a combined 16 appearances in the NCAA playoffs.
3. Ron Burke, Bythemissal
When they made the turn for the homestretch, a big smile crossed the face of Ron Burke.
His 3-year-old gelding, Bythemissal, was opening up and Burke, the horse’s trainer and part owner, knew he had the field.
Bythemissal, which sat in seventh place early, burst down the home stretch and won the Delvin Miller Adios over the one-mile track at The Meadows on a perfect Saturday afternoon
Bythemissal paced in at 1:49.4, one second better than the place horse Beach Glass, which left the post as the 4:5 favorite. Pebble Beach and Todd McCarthy finished third.
A month later, the United States Harness Writers Association announced that Burke, George Teague, Jr., and Yannick Gingras would be inducted into the 2022 Harness Racing Hall of Fame.
Burke has rewritten the definition of the modern trainer while shattering all previous records for trainers in earnings and money – he currently has sent out more than 11,700 winners, 4,900 more than any other conditioner, and the $250 million-plus earnings of his trotters and pacers are nearly double of his closest competitor.
He is a three-time winner of the Glen Garnsey Trainer of the Year award selected by USHWA, in 2011, 2013, and 2018.
The list of champions with whom Burke has been associated could go on for paragraphs, but some top horses would be the highest earner of all-time, Foiled Again ($7.6 million); Hannelore Hanover, the trotting mare who was 2017 Horse of the Year; Mission Brief; and Sweet Lou. His stable has sent out 18 Breeders Crown champions.
4. Waynesburg wrestling
One finally broke through; the other defended well for Waynesburg High School. Rocco Welsh came away with his first PIAA Class 3A wrestling title and teammate Mac Church won his second gold medal at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Welsh won a 24-8 technical fall against Dom D’Agostino of Interboro at 172 pounds that looked more like a rough-and-tumble segment of a combat movie.
Welsh exploded on the whistle and held a 6-2 lead over D’Agostino after one period. It was 17-6 after two periods as D’Agostino went up and came down more times than a busy elevator operator.
Church won a 3-1 decision over Matt Repos in a tightly thought out and controlled match at 132 pounds at the PIAA Class 3A Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey.
A takedown 1:39 in gave Church, like Welsh a junior, all the points he needed. He added an escape to start the second and gave up a stalling point at the end. Church is now a two-time state champion after taking third place as a freshman.
8. Menear wins state swim title
Ella Menear won the Class 2A 200-yard individual medley at the PIAA Swimming Championships at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium last season.
Menear’s time in the 100-yard backstroke the next day broke the state record, but, so did Bedford’s Leah Shackley. She also beat Menear so the Mapletown swimmer was left with the silver medal. Shackley reset the state mark when she touched the wall in 52.42 seconds. Menear finished in 53.37 seconds.
Menear set two WPIAL pool records last year at Upper St. Clair and added a WPIAL record with her repeat gold medal in the 100-yard backstroke. She finished in 54.10 seconds, breaking the previous time of 54.51 seconds set my Mars’ Margaret Gruber in 2013.
Menear’s accomplishments were even more impressive considering Mapletown doesn’t have a swimming team or pool. Menear swam during meets at Laurel Highlands High School to hit her qualifying marks.
Menear is the first athlete from Mapletown to get a major Division I scholarship since Derek Bochna said yes to Penn State (football and baseball) in 1990. She is also the first PIAA champion Mapletown has had, winning two gold medals in swimming over the last two years.
She chose Alabama over Penn State, Miami of Florida and Liberty. She said weather played a small role in her decision.
10. Palone wins 20,000th race
Already harness racing’s “winningest” driver, Dave Palone on Saturday went where no driver has gone before – and quite possibly where no driver ever will go.
Palone collected career win 20,000 when he piloted Brother Dick to victory in the fourth race at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows in June.
Palone, 60, was joined in a jubilant winners’ circle by his mother Jean; wife Bethann; daughters Hannah, Alana and Sophie; grandson Asher; officials of the United States Trotting Association, Penn National Gaming, which operates The Meadows, and the Meadows Standardbred Owners Association, as well as dozens of colleagues and fans – including fellow Hall of Famer trainer/driver Dick Stillings.
Palone’s achievement was hailed throughout harness racing. Mike Tanner, USTA executive vice president, called it “unprecedented, amazing, incredible.”