TO REACH US - Allegheny West Magazine

DICKERSON TURNS PROWhen Pitt All-American tight end Dorin Dickerson was chosen in theseventh round of the NFL draft by the Houston Texans, he joined threeother former West Allegheny football players that will be in NFL preseasoncamps later this summer. All four were coached by Bob Palko in highschool and went on to have collegiate careers at Pitt. Quarterback TylerPalko (WA ‘02) is on the roster of the Kansas City Chiefs. Offensivelineman C.J. Davis (‘05) is with the Carolina Panthers, and kicker DaveBrytus (‘04) will be in camp with the Baltimore Ravens as a free agentinvitee.Dickerson was the first All-American tight end from the University ofPittsburgh to be drafted since Mike Ditka in 1960. He was not, however,the first Pitt tight end taken in this year’s draft. Nate Byham was selectedby San Francisco in the sixth round. It is a rare occasion when two listedtight ends from the same college are drafted in the same year.Dickerson was a finalist for the John Mackey Award, the NCAA’s mostoutstanding tight end award. His statistics at Pitt were eye-popping, buthis talent and versatility dictate that he will probably be utilized at anotherdesignated position in the pros.BROWNING IMPRESSIVE AT OPEN QUALIFIERIn the mist and fog on a rainy day in mid-May at Quicksilver Golf Club,the kid from Westbury hung with the best and had the veteran playerssinging his praise.West Allegheny’s 16-year-old sophomore Garrett Browning, who won thePIAA State Golf Championship last fall, was among the 77 golfers enteredin the U.S. Open Local Qualifier that was held at Quicksilver. Five of them,along with two alternates, advanced to the sectionals, the final stepleading up to the Open.Browning, playing on his high school home course, shot a one underpar 71 to finish in a three-way tie for seventh place, just two shots off thelead. He lost in a three-way play-off for the final alternate spot to 46-yearoldformer touring pro, Bob Friend.“The kid did a great job out there today,” said Friend, who in now a clubpro in Morgantown. Friend is the son of former pirate pitcher Bob Friend.Also in the play-off was Dave Brown, 49, an Upper St. Clair Country Clubmember. “It was interesting out there to see a 16-year-old doing so wellunder poor conditions on a championship course. For 16 he sure looksgood,” said Brown.Browning’s round consisted of four birdies, 12 pars, a bogey, and a rarefor him -- double bogey at the 173 yard par 3 11 th hole. Had he made paron the hole he would have shot 69 and tied for the lowest score andmoved on to the sectionals.DR. JEFF SALEK THEN AND NOWOn a Friday night in mid-December 1978, West Allegheny senior guardand co-captain Jeff Salek had 19 points to lead the Indian basketball teamto a 64-61 win over section rival Fort Cherry. Earlier that week he scored26 points against Chartiers-Houston. Jeff went on to play basketball atLaRoche and attended graduate school at Pitt.Fast forward to May 2010. Forty-nine-year-old Oakdale native Jeff Salek,a Doctor Of Bioorganic Chemistry with Braskem Chemical Corporation indowntown Pittsburgh, finished 74 th at the Dick’s Sporting Goods PittsburghMarathon. That’s up there among the elite runners when consideringthere were 4,011 runners listed as finishing the race.A relative newcomer to distance running, Jeff has participated in anumber of local, Pittsburgh area, and Ohio events over the past decade.He has run in every Pittsburgh Marathon that has been held since 1998.How does a Doctor of Bioorganic Chemistry and father of four -- Kaitlyn,Birthday Wishes . . .Dick Glovier, sports writer for AlleghenyWest Magazine, recently turned 80. Wewish him much success and happinessas he reaches this milestone!17; Zachery, 14; Madeline, 10; and Joshua, 7 -- manage to find the timeand energy required to train and run marathons? It’s a labor of love,according to his wife, Marianne.“Jeff just decided that he wanted to run in his late thirties and he hasbeen running ever since,” says Marianne.WA Youth Wrestlers Go Big!On March 25, eight WestAllegheny youth wrestlers traveledto Wilkes-Barre, for thePennsylvania Junior Olympics.Each wrestler had to place 1 st or2 nd in the qualifying tournament torepresent Area VII at the statelevel. Area VII is comprised of 43 different school districts in the Pittsburghregion. The qualifying wrestlers included Shea Beaumont, Danny Clements,Nate Hall, Joshua Bahr, Luke and Austin McConaghy, Rocky and Ty McGearyeach representing part of Area VII, also known as “The Black and Gold.”There were a total of 11 areas represented throughout the state. Of theeight wrestlers, four medaled in the tournament. Ty McGeary placed fifth;Joshua Bahr, sixth; Nate Hall, seventh; and Rocky McGeary, eighth. All fourmedalists automatically qualified to wrestle at the national level.On April 17, Rocky, Josh, and Ty traveled to Battle Creek, Michigan tocompete and be a part of Team Pennsylvania at the Kellogg Arena. The 2010NUWAY National Championships included wrestlers from Georgia, Indiana,Illinois, New Jersey, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, South Carolina, andPennsylvania. All three youth wrestlers placed and officially became “AllAmerican Wrestlers.” Ty placed 2 nd , Rocky placed 3 rd , and Joshua placed 7 th .June 2010 Allegheny West Magazine 55