Sewickley Herald notebook: Quaker Valley golfers off to strong start

Three juniors — Ty Stofko, Joseph Kamnikar and Addy Davis — are leading the way in the early part of the season for the Quaker Valley boys golf team.

Through seven matches, the talented trio had sparked the Quakers to a 6-1 record with the lone loss a four-point 189-194 decision to North Catholic at Pheasant Ridge Golf Club.

One of QV’s six wins came against rival Sewickley Academy in a close 202-205 decision at Sewickley Heights Golf Club.

“It was tough to tell who was going to come out on top against Sewickley Academy,” QV coach Greg Vecchi said. “As I watched different players for both teams, they were all golfing fairly solidly with some missed opportunities here and there. We were fortunate to get the win that day.”

Stofko and Kamnikar sparked their team with scores of 38 and 39.

“Rafe Furfari’s 39 was the key, though, since he had a 48 the day before on the same course,” Vecchi said.

Stofko, Kamnikar, Davis and Furfari, another junior, are returning starters this fall.

They have been joined by sophomores James Fogle, Royce Weigand and Bobby Riordan, junior Caden Hanna and freshman Eric Dai.

Sewickley Academy has three returning starters this season in Charlie Scally, Austin Fritz and Will Bojalad. All three are juniors.

“We are a young team and we have great potential,” Bojalad said. “I have high expectations.”

Other team members include seniors Greg Chiusano and Vinny Truesdall, juniors Jack Christ, Lev Kanner, Caden Weinreich and Selah Mungai and freshman Cavan Walden.

Walden is a hockey protege at Sewickley and for the Pittsburgh Predators 14U AAA team. He also has experience playing for the Little Penguins youth team.

Super Sewickley sophomore

Claire Karsman isn’t a member of the Sewickley Academy swim program, but she certainly did make a big splash in the Panthers’ athletic family last year as a freshman.

Karsman is a standout performer for the girls track and field and soccer teams at Sewickley.

“Claire has been a tremendous addition to our team,” said Derik Chimner, the Panthers track and field coach. “When I first met with Claire to talk about her goals heading into the indoor track season, I was expecting to have to work with her in building overall goals and establishing the different marks or times she should achieve in both the indoor and outdoor seasons, as I would with any freshman.

“I was pleasantly surprised by how prepared she was coming into our sit-down with a full 8-by-11-inch page of track, nutrition and strength training goals, among other things. Quite different than any freshman I’ve sat down with.”

In her short time at Sewickley, Karsman already has broken school records in the long jump and triple jump, achieving marks of 17-feet, 6.25-inches and 35-feet, 3.5-inches, respectively

“And while I don’t think she will reach Summer Thorpe’s (2016) WPIAL record-setting marks in the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles this season, she is knocking on the door,” Chimner said.

Karsman was the Diocese of Pittsburgh middle school champion in the girls triple jump, 100 hurdles and 200 hurdles in 2025.

A Mars resident, Karsman was one of two freshmen in the Sewickley girls soccer team’s starting lineup in 2025 along with winger Sara Merryman.

The Panthers are coached by Gary Weber and advanced to the WPIAL finals at Highmark Stadium last season as well as the PIAA quarterfinals, ending up 19-3 overall.

Sewickley was 15-1 in the regular season, finished first in Section 3-A with a 12-0 record, and generated a 79-goal scoring advantage in 22 games.

An attacking midfielder, Karsman accounted for 28 goals and 22 assists and earned all-WPIAL and all-section honors.

Sewickley Academy’s girls golf team started the season on a winning note.

The Panthers defeated Blackhawk, 198-209.

Sewickley was sparked by Emily Milanovich, Alankriti Bakshi, Charlotte Andrews, Bridget Hulick and Angelina Rippole. One of the individual highlights of the day was Andrews sinking a 35-foot putt.

The Sewickley Academy girls tennis team also opened the season in impressive fashion, defeating Aquinas Academy by a 4-1 score.

Brigitte Thimons, Marlowe Wentz and Sanvi Raghavan all captured their first varsity match wins for the Panthers, making the season opener especially memorable.

Kallie McCune and Evelyn Jadlowiec connected for a goal apiece to lift the Quaker Valley girls soccer team to a 2-1 win Sept. 2 at Chartiers Valley.

QV improved to 3-0-1; the Colts dropped to 0-2.

Here’s a unique record you don’t see often: 0-0-2.

That’s where the Trinity Christian boys soccer team stood earlier this season.

The Falcons tied Winchester-Thurston, 1-1, and Riverview, 1-1, in their first two games in 2026 — both Section 3-A matchups.

The Quaker Valley and Sewickley Academy girls soccer teams have something in common. Both were ranked second in their classifications in the Trib HSSN WPIAL girls rankings for Sept. 6.