KATIE TRACHOK AND KATIE TROTTER

	Upper St. Clair's Katie Trachok, left, and Katie Trotter. (Tony Tye, Post-Gazette)

SCHOOL: Upper St. Clair

WHO ARE THEY? Seniors and two of the top golfers in the WPIAL.

RECENTLY: Trachok shot a one-under 34 (for nine holes) and Trotter 37 in a match Tuesday against Center at St. Clair Country Club. On Monday at St. Clair, Trachok shot 33 and Trotter 34 against Mt. Lebanon. On Sept. 8 at St. Clair, Trotter and Trachok set a school record when they shot 32s in a match against Seton-LaSalle.

DYNAMIC DUO: Trachok and Trotter are averaging 35s and have helped Upper St. Clair to a 9-0 record. A year ago, Trotter was fifth at the WPIAL championships and Trachok eighth. Trachok also tied for second at the 2002 PIAA championships. Upper St. Clair is the favorite to win the WPIAL team title for the 10th year in a row.

"We always have some good players," Upper St. Clair coach Fred Lese said. "But I don't know of any team around with two like this."

SISTER ACT: Another one of Upper St. Clair's top players is Trachok's sister, Megan, a freshman. She also shot 34 against Center. "Sometimes she's better than me," Katie Trachok said.

FORGET GYMNASTICS: Trotter competed in gymnastics for seven years before giving up the sport when she was 12. "I liked golf better and I wasn't really going anywhere in gymnastics," she said. "Plus, gymnastics was kind of painful. I had a lot of pain in my back, wrists and joints."

DADDY'S LITTLE GOLFER: Trotter and her family are members of St. Clair Country Club while Trachok and her family are members at Valley Brook. Trotter and Trachok said their fathers got them started in golf. "I was 5 when I started playing," Trachok said. "My dad cut down some clubs and started taking me with him."

Trotter said: "My dad is a 2- or 3-handicap and he taught me a lot."

FUTURE: Trachok and Trotter are excellent students and are being recruited by Division I colleges. Trachok's top three are Northwestern, Penn State and Michigan State. Trotter will make recruiting visits to Penn State and Maryland.

-- By Mike White

NICK CHRISTY

SCHOOL: Shaler Area.

WHO IS HE? A 5-foot-4 1/2, 140-pound senior soccer forward.

THE PAST WEEK: Christy scored three goals a week ago in a 6-1 victory against North Hills, three Monday in a 4-0 triumph against Chartiers Valley, and two Tuesday in a 5-0 win vs. Knoch. He is among the WPIAL goal leaders with 15, and a major reason the Titans (8-0-1, 4-0-1) are No. 3 in the Post-Gazette's Class AAA rankings and co-leaders of Section 2 with Pine-Richland.

CAREER: A four-year starter, Christy has 49 goals, which is third on the Shaler list behind Milo Orsini (66) and Sam Wisotzkey (55). He was an outside midfielder as a freshman and has played up front the past three seasons. Christy was all-state as a junior.

SPEED THRILLS: Shaler coach Chris Catanese was as quick responding to the question as Christy is going downfield. "His strengths? The first thing is he has an unbelievable first step, as good as I've seen on a soccer field. Plus he's tenacious. All three of his goals [Monday] were workmanlike. He won't stand around waiting for the ball to come to him."

A TEAM PLAYER: It takes talent to average 1.7 goals per game, as Christy is this season. Just don't tell him. "It's mostly my teammates," he said. "They look for me all the time and work to get the ball to me. I've been playing with pretty much the whole team since I was 10 or 11, which makes it easier." Catanese appreciates that humility. "Chris is a superstar, but all he's interested in is winning. He's really a coach's dream."

LOOK AT ME, CENTER FIELD: Christy is in the middle of things in more than one varsity sport. In the spring, he was the starting center fielder and leadoff batter for the Shaler baseball team, which went 23-3, finished second in WPIAL Class AAA and advanced to the PIAA quarterfinals.

FUTURE: A top student with a 3.85 grade point average, Christy said he will choose a college after soccer season. "I'm going to try to stay in Pennsylvania," he said. "I'd like to play both sports, but it's soccer first. I think I'm better at soccer than baseball."

-- By Rick Shrum