It has been eight months since John Challis passed away, but his impact is still being felt, and he is still being honored in various ways.

Challis is the former Freedom High School athlete whose courageous battle with cancer and his life messages became a national story last summer. Here are some recent happenings concerning Challis:

• The Freedom Post Office has been officially renamed "John Scott Challis Jr. Post Office." U.S. Congressman Jason Altmire had a bill passed to rename the post office.

• Freedom High School last week unveiled a memorial of Challis that is now in the school. It is a mural with photographs of Challis.

• Also, an outfield sign was unveiled at Freedom's baseball field last week that reads "Forever In Our Hearts No. 11." Challis wore No. 11.

• Challis' baseball and football jerseys were retired last week.

• The MLB Network included Challis in a television documentary this past Sunday entitled "This is Beyond Baseball."

• Tom Rinaldi's ESPN piece on Challis last summer is one of five finalists for a sports Emmy award under the category of "Outstanding Short Feature."

• The WPIAL plans to honor Challis at Hall of Fame ceremonies in June.

"Everything is so overwhelming," said Challis' father, Scott. "Just when you think things are going to start slowing down, things continue to happen. It really is amazing how he is still affecting people."

Scott Challis said strangers still sometimes call the family home and want to talk about John. The family still receives letters and emails from people who say how John has affected them.

Before John's death, it was his goal to start a foundation that would raise money for terminally-ill children to enjoy sports experiences. Scott Challis said the foundation has been successful and will have its second golf outing in August. The foundation's web site is www.courageforlifefoundation.org.

Madison Cable was a talented sophomore guard on Mt. Lebanon's girls' basketball team that became only the second girls' squad from the WPIAL to go undefeated through an entire season. But this perfect stuff runs in the Cable family.

Sixty years ago, Cable's grandfather, Dale, was a starter on Aliquippa's boys' team that finished with a perfect 29-0 record and won WPIAL and PIAA championships.

"But I never mentioned to Madison that we were undefeated because I didn't want to jinx her," Dale Cable said with a laugh. "I waited until after they won the whole thing."

Mickey Zernich and James Frank were two of the stars of that Aliquippa team. Frank went on to become the first African-American president of the NCAA. The '49 Aliquippa team beat York, 63-51, in the PIAA title game.

"And here's the irony of ironies," Cable said. "At one of the Mt. Lebanon games, I was sitting with the grandfather of [senior standout] Emily Miller. We got to talking and he was a student teacher at York in 1949 and was at the state championship game."

Some of the top boys' and girls' basketball players in the City League and WPIAL will play today in the annual Kenny Durrett Basketball Classic at Gateway High School. It is an all-day event of all-star games beginning with middle school games in the morning.

Two girls' high school preliminary games will be played at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. The boys' preliminary game is at 2:30.

The feature girls' game is at 6, followed by the feature boys' game at 7:30.

Also, at 4 p.m. the Steelers basketball team will play the "Champions Legends" team. The entire event is run by Bill Neal and the Champions Association.

The Shady Side Academy baseball team had an unusual no-hitter against Springdale Tuesday. Two brothers combined to keep Springdale hitless.

Tim and Matt Giel beat Springdale, 4-0, in a non-section game. Tim Giel, a senior, pitched three innings and Matt, a junior, worked four. They combined for four strikeouts.

"We were wondering if that's ever happened before in the WPIAL. We thought it was kind of neat," said the Giels' father, Tim, who also is Shady Side Academy's wrestling coach.

Tim Giel will play baseball next season at Columbia.

Peters Township's Andrew Nixon and Doug Subosits won a PIAA doubles tennis championship last year before graduating. Another Nixon and Subosits are trying to fill the shoes of Nixon and Subsoits.

Sound strange? Well, Chris Nixon and Matt Subosits are now Peters Township's top doubles team. They are the younger brothers of Andrew and Doug.

• Bob Jacoby has retired as Bishop Canevin's athletic director after 30 years. He will continue to coach the football and softball teams.

• Taran Buie, half-brother of Penn State basketball standout Talor Battle, made a verbal commitment to the Nittany Lions after they won the NIT Thursday night. Buie plays for Albany, N.Y. high school.