Home >  Sports >  High School Sports >  Athlete of The Week

Thursday, November 01, 2001

By Mike White and Paul Zeise, Post-Gazette Sports Writers

WHO ARE THEY? Sophomore Amanda El-Tobgy, senior Ashley Kommer, freshman Shayna Miller, sophomore Whitney Abbott, freshman Carrie Miller, senior Jessie Jones and senior Allison Davis.

Clockwise from the back left: Jessie Jones, Allison Davis, Amanda El-Tobgy, Ashley Kommer, Shayna Miller, Whitney Abbott and Carrie Miller. (Andy Starnes, Post-Gazette)

LAST WEEK: Upper St. Clair won the PIAA Class AAA team championship with a 3-2 victory against Lower Merion at Blair Racquet Club in Altoona. It was only the second year of PIAA team championships. and Upper St. Clair has won the title both years.

THEY WIN EVERYTHING: For Upper St. Clair, it has been a year filled with gold medals and gold trophies. Besides the PIAA team title, the Panthers also won the WPIAL Class AAA championship. El-Tobgy won the WPIAL singles championship while Jones and Shayna Miller won the WPIAL doubles title.

The WPIAL does not keep records, but Upper St. Clair is believed to be the first school to have a team champion, a singles champion and doubles champion in the same year.

"Amanda finished third in our section tournament, so what she did [in the WPIAL tournament} was amazing," said Upper St. Clair Coach Marcy Bruce. "Then we didn't know what to expect with Jessie and Shayna because they had never practiced together until the section doubles tournament. They just jelled really well together."

In team matches, Jones played No. 1 singles and Miller No. 3.

DOMINATION: Winning WPIAL and PIAA team titles was impressive. But how Upper St. Clair won was more impressive. In the WPIAL tournament, the Panthers won two matches by 5-0 and the other by 4-1. In the PIAA tournament, they beat Wallenpaupack, 5-0, in the quarterfinals, and Manheim Township, 5-0, in the semifinals. Overall, the team had a 19-0 record.

DYNASTY? Upper St. Clair has won the WPIAL team title eight years in a row and 12 of the past 13. The last time the Panthers lost a match was 1993.

THEY NEVER STOP: Bruce believes her team is unique because all the Panthers play year-round. "You'll have some teams who have a few players playing year-round, but then it drops off after the first few," Bruce said. "Or a team might have players who play only once a week in the winter. These girls play a lot all year."

WHAT NEXT: Three of the seven players are seniors. An obvious question is what can Bruce do for an encore next year? She has been the Panthers' coach for five seasons.

"That's a good question," she said, with a laugh. "What else can you do? Do I resign?"

El-Tobgy will play in the PIAA singles tournament this weekend in Hershey while Jones and Shayna Miller will play doubles.

-- By Mike White

SCHOOL: Westinghouse.

WHO IS HE? A 5-foot-7, 175 pound senior for the Bulldogs' football team. He is one of the best running backs in the City League and also an excellent sprinter for the track team.

LAST WEEK: Lane returned an interception 70 yards for the winning touchdown with less than a minute to play in the Bulldogs' 21-15 victory over Peabody. He also returned a kickoff 76 yards for a touchdown and kicked a 25-yard field goal.

SEASON: He has led the team to an 8-1 record and second place in the City League, carrying 85 times for 645 yards. He has scored 16 touchdowns and kicked nine extra points. In one game this year, he scored five touchdowns and intercepted three passes.

CAREER: He is a three-year starter at running back and defensive back.

JACK OF ALL TRADES: It is not uncommon for high school football players to play more than one position, but Lane takes it to an extreme. Along with running back and cornerback, he is the team's punter, kicker, punt-returner and kick-returner, meaning he never leaves the field during a game.

"I always knew I could kick because I used to just mess around with it and I was pretty good," said Lane. "This year, we didn't have a kicker, so I told coach to give me a try."

Westinghouse Coach George Webb said, "He does all that because he's the best player at every one of those positions. We give everyone an opportunity to compete for every position. He just beat them out."

POPULAR NUMBER: Lane wears No. 32 on his jersey, and he always has. "I figure, a lot of the great ones wear that number so why shouldn't I."

FUTURE: Lane isn't sure what he will do when he graduates, but he is certain he'll play college football somewhere. He is receiving interest from Division I-AA programs and some Division II programs. Webb said his grades (he is an honor student) and his speed (he runs the 100 in 11 seconds) combined with the fact that he is still only 16 have made him very attractive to some schools.

"Georgetown has really been after him, and so have some other schools," said Webb. "He is so young that his best days are still ahead of him. Once he actually grows into his body and matures, he is going to be something special. And because he is such a great kid and does so well in school, he's created a situation where he'll have some nice opportunities."

-- By Paul Zeise