Breaking News

Local Sports Columns

ALBRIGHT: Who’s got two thumbs and is ready for some football?

Counting down to the high school football season upon the conclusion of the state baseball tournament lessens in length the more years I log as one of two associate sports editors. Increased familiarity with an ever growing number of athletes and their summer activities provides our sports staff access to additional stories. Excitment in the office increases not only for our ever expanding roster of solid pieces, but tonight roars up upon us faster than a Bugatti Veyron going from zero to 60 in three seconds. Football is back in the Mid-Ohio Valley! Convienently, our football ...

MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK: WVU’s new era begins Saturday

The WVU Mountaineers will begin a new era in 2019, as former head coach Dana Holgorsen has moved on to Houston after 8 years and Neal Brown comes to West Virginia from Troy University. The 2018 season was the best opportunity since joining the Big 12 for West Virginia to have gained a berth in the league championship game, a reasonable goal before the season began. But Mountaineer fans saw that opportunity disappear after a blown 17 point halftime lead at Oklahoma State followed by an excruciating 59-56 home loss to Oklahoma to end the season. The disappointment was made all the more ...

JOHNSTON: Sarah Biehl mourns teammate

Earlier this month, Sarah Biehl was driving on the highway when she had to pull over to the side of the road. “My college coach called me and told me that Jeremy had passed away,” recalled the 25-year-old Biehl after finishing the 33rd annual Parkersburg News and Sentinel Half Marathon Saturday. “It was really hard hearing the news,” she added. “It was a shock to all of us in the (Beverly) community and at Shawnee. That’s for sure.” Jeremy Anderson, one of the running Anderson brothers at Fort Frye, was 28-years-old. Funeral services were held Friday, Aug. 9 in ...

BENNETT: Enjoyed covering the Open

Just speaking from personal experience, two of the best things about a golf course are playing it and perhaps having an adult beverage. However, when one is covering a golf tournament the scribe can’t do either one. Being able to cover the final two days of the 86th West Virginia Open last week at Parkersburg Country Club truly was a treat. I was able to catch up with some former area golfers I hadn’t seen in some time. It’s also nice to see them not only having success on the links, but also taking care of things in the classroom. I also had some great conversations with ...

BENNETT: Marshall flavor in W.Va. Open field

Guys like Will Evans and Davey Jude most likely are going to be in the running to win the 86th West Virginia Open, which starts Wednesday at Parkersburg Country Club. The two former Marshall University standouts are far from the only golfers in the field who competed for the Thundering Herd. Or perhaps I should say, are still competing. That’s because three-time Class AAA all-stater Isaac Prine, a Parkersburg High School graduate, is hoping to play his best golf this week and improve upon last year’s tied for 57th place finish. Prine, who is now making his fourth straight Open ...

ALBRIGHT: Plenty to look forward to in the 2019-20 prep sports season

Melancholia often sets in as the calendar flips from May to June. Unavoidable as it is, the end of the high school sports season always stings a little bit. Seniors graduate, special teams break up, and several good byes are uttered for the last time after year(s) of kinship. Releases of the all-state lists for prep softball and baseball, along with each’s player of the year, provide a celebratory wrap-up off the field. Then, the North-South softball, baseball, football and basketball games along with the Battle Against Cystic Fibroris gridiron contest gives closure on the field. The ...