Pittsburgh athletes of the week: North Allegheny’s Josh Luchini, Sewickley Academy’s Tatum McKelvey

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, October 11, 2017 | 3:57 PM

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Josh Luchini

School: North Allegheny

Class: Senior

Sport: Soccer

Claim to fame: Luchini scored a hat trick in a win over Pine-Richland before registering two assists in a win against Butler last week. The Class AAAA No. 2-ranked and defending WPIAL champion Tigers (13-2-1, 9-0-1) are unbeaten in their last 11 games after losing two in a row early in the season. Luchini will attend Lehigh next year where he will play soccer.

What led to your goal-scoring success last week?

My teammates, they can find me sometimes and when they do, and I'm in the right position, I do my best to finish what they gave me.

What's led to your team's turnaround after a slow start?

I think that we were almost not in the right mindset based on the fact that we thought that we could win every game easily, and those two games that we lost kind of put us in the right mindset that we're not invincible and that we need to work for it. The past 11 games, we've been working for all of them, and it's just come together.

Will it be harder to defend your title than it was winning it last year?

I think in any sport, to defend a title is even more challenging, but you still have to go through the same process, and the only thing is you've got a target on your back. We've had one this whole season, so you've got to keep fighting through it.

If you could only have one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Probably ribs, with a nice barbeque sauce.

What's your favorite class?

I like preschool practicum. It's a class that if you live in the district, you can sign your kid up for preschool and we see them three times a week, and we set up lessons for them, and it's fun to see all the kids laugh and run around?

Tatum McKelvey

School: Sewickley Academy

Class: Junior

Sport: Golf

Claim to fame: McKelvey shot an 81 to earn the WPIAL Class AA championship last Wednesday at Diamond Run Golf Club. The first girls golf champion in school history, McKelvey advanced to the Western Regional on Monday at Tom's Run Golf Course.

What was the feeling like after you won the WPIAL championship?

It's just crazy to look back on who's won in the past, including Arnold Palmer, and to think I'm part of that elite list that has won that championship. I also have to look forward to regionals and just taking it one step at a time and hopefully making it to states from there.

What was the key part of your round?

I think bringing my score back to 2-over going into the last four holes really helped me get a lead before I struggled a bit in the end. But overall, I just kept my head down and did my own thing. I think that's how I took the title after that.

What does it feel like to be a part of school history?

I didn't even know I was playing for that until afterwards coach (Win) Palmer told me, but it's just crazy to believe that I was the first one to do that and represent Sewickley in that way. I'm really proud of that and to represent my school and to hopefully represent them even more at regionals and states. It's just crazy to believe that I made a mark on school history.

How did you get started playing golf?

We live in a golf community, and my dad put a putter in my hand when I was 4. I played at the First Tee for about four years over at Schenley Park … and that kind of got me into the competitive mode. I've always been a competitive kid, but that really showed me, ‘OK, there's better kids than you, you have to work to beat them.'

What's your favorite class?

Probably anatomy. I'm really interested in the medical field. … Either anatomy or physics, but something with the sciences or math is definitely the most interesting. I look forward to going to those classes and doing the work the most for those.

Tags: North Allegheny, Sewickley Academy