Jun 20, 2020 5 min read

We close the book on the 2019-20 school year with this “Best of Sports” edition, a joint venture of the Observer-Reporter and The Almanac sports staffs. This is our third year for “Best of Sports,” which honors the top athletes and teams from the two publications’ coverage areas.

Some, for obvious reasons, might say good riddance to 2019-20, but it is a school year that will not be forgotten. It was like no other in the last 100 years.

It started so well.

There was much to be happy about as the fall seasons brought championships, both team and individual. Such accomplishments have become commonplace for athletes in our corner of Pennsylvania.

Much of that success could be found on the cross country courses, where the South Fayette girls ran to a state team championship, the first for an area school since the Mt. Lebanon boys in 1998.

They can still produce fast runners at Mt. Lebanon, as Patrick Anderson showed us during the fall. The Blue Devils senior and North Carolina recruit was one of the best cross country runners not only in the WPIAL and the state, but the entire country. He won his second consecutive PIAA championship – finishing an unthinkable 25 seconds ahead of the runner-up – and then won the Foot Locker North East Regional. At nationals, Anderson garnered a third-place finish in the race held at Balboa Park in San Diego.

There were fantastic finishes, unlikely plays and dramatic moments. One such contest that had each of those was Canon-McMillan’s 3-2 come-from-behind win over Mt. Lebanon in the WPIAL Class 4A boys soccer championship match. The Big Macs scored the tying goal on a shot that ricocheted off the bottom of the crossbar with only 1:02 left in regulation, then added the game-winner less than three minutes into overtime.

Winter sports got off to a strong start, but some never were completed. There was a changing of the guard in wrestling, an undefeated run in basketball and the start of what made this such a unique school year.

In wrestling, Waynesburg unseated Canon-McMillan as the top program in the area. The Raiders won the WPIAL Class 3A Team Tournament and went undefeated until losing to Nazareth, the top-ranked team in the state, in the PIAA finals. With its entire team returning next season, the future looks bright for Waynesburg wrestling.

In girls basketball, Chartiers Valley was in the midst of an undefeated season and had won a WPIAL record 57 consecutive games over two seasons. The Colts won the WPIAL Class 5A championship by defeating section rival Trinity. The game created a unique situation as it pitted brother against sister as Chartiers Valley is coached by Tim McConnell and Trinity is coached by Kathy McConnell Miller, who did a fabulous job in her first season with the Hillers.

Both Chartiers Valley and Trinity were still alive in the PIAA tournament, having reached the quarterfinals, when the unimaginable happened.

The PIAA decided to suspend, then cancel, all winter sports championships because of the growing COVID-19 pandemic. It sent shockwaves throughout the state. It was crushing to every single athlete still competing.

Then, the spring sports seasons were canceled before they even started. In the spring – especially in Pennsylvania – baseball and softball rainouts are one thing. Having an entire season canceled is something else.

The announcement was not unexpected, yet it still hurt. For seniors in baseball, softball, track and field, boys tennis, boys volleyball, boys lacrosse and girls lacrosse, it was devastating and the worst news possible.

Those seniors who competed in spring sports are left only with memories, and the thoughts of what could have been in the spring of 2020. Athletes everywhere are filled with pain and sadness as they try to cope with losing a significant portion of their senior year.

I think the Class of 2020 has learned its first big lesson – sometimes not even the best plans come to fruition. You should always expect the unexpected and although you can never plan for it, you should be aware that sometimes things out of your control can happen. Don’t put off things now to do them “down the road” because, as you found this spring, there might not be a “down the road.”

But if there is one thing we’ve learned about the Class of 2020 it has to be that it’s a resilient bunch. You’ve learned to appreciate what you have, how to learn in a different way and how to adapt when something that is not fair is thrown your way.

I am sure the Class of 2020 will put its considerable talents to good use in this different world. However, we at the Observer-Reporter and The Almanac wish we could have watched you compete – which is what you have shown to do best – during the spring.

Observer-Reporter sports editor Chris Dugan can be reached at dugan@observer-reporter.com.