Evan Tsudis

Central Catholic

The past week: A 6-foot-6, 185-pound forward for the Vikings boys' basketball team, Tsudis scored 27 points in his team's regular-season finale, a win against Oliver, and then 20 in a victory against Hempfield in the first round of the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs.

Check this out:Tsudis, a Squirrel Hill resident, has applied to eight colleges and is looking at five where he'd possibly like to play basketball: New York University, Carnegie Mellon, Case Western Reserve, Washington University and Washington & Lee.

Some people have said Central is a sleeper in these WPIAL playoffs. Can you win a title? We have experience, we have five seniors and we were all part of the team that won the WPIAL last year. Also, our system at Central is very good, we are all competitive and I think our coaching philosophy is the best in the WPIAL.

Your head coach is Chuck Crummie. Two of his sons, Sean and Devin, are assistants. Is that strange? There is an interesting dynamic on the bench. Sometimes there are arguments, but nothing major. When I was a sophomore, the dynamic was even more interesting, because Kevin [the youngest Crummie] was a senior and played. But, it is nice to play in a family atmosphere, and that is what it is.

When is the first time you dunked? The summer after eighth grade at St. Bede, it was my first open gym at Central.

The No. 1 misconception about Central Catholic is ... That it is just a football school. We won the [Gene] Kelly award for drama and the crew team is always ranked nationally.

You walk into the gym, all by yourself and shoot 100 free throws. How many do you make? 100. Every time I shoot a foul shot I think I am making it. Realistically, though, between 85-90.

-- By Colin Dunlap

Natalie Beilstein

Knoch

The past week: Beilstein won three events and the all-around title in the Diamond Division at the WPIAL gymnastics championships Saturday at Moon. Diamond is the highest division at the championships.

Check this out: Beilstein is a senior, but didn't compete in the WPIAL championships in previous years. She trains at the Steve Heasley Butler Gymnastics Club and is a Level 10 gymnast (one level away from Elite). She has a full scholarship for gymnastics to the University of Michigan.

Why didn't you compete in the WPIALs in the past? Because I was really busy, and for college gymnastics it's really crucial that you don't get injured in your 10th- and 11th-grade years. This year was not so stressful, so I thought it would be a good year to do it.

How did you get into gymnastics? My brothers took gymnastics first, and I was always doing all the stuff they were doing. The coach asked me to come down and try it. I think I was a pretty hyper kid. I started when I was 2 years old.

What event don't you like? The bars. I'm not very good at it.

You have a full ride to Michigan. Not many gymnasts from Western Pennsylvania get full scholarships, do they? No. There aren't really that many gymnastics programs around here and so there aren't many top-notch gymnasts. It's hard to get a college to look at them.

Do you know who Rich Rodriguez is? No.

He's Michigan's football coach. Do you know the words to Michigan's fight song? Kind of.

If you won a million dollars, what would you buy first? A mall.

People might be surprised to know that ... I still take dance classes.

-- By Mike White