Trib HSSN May Madness: Rachel Martindale, North Allegheny vs. Alison Riske, Peters Township

By: Don Rebel
Tuesday, May 5, 2020 | 9:00 AM

Over the course of the next month and a half, May Madness will determine who fans believe is the WPIAL Athlete of the Century.

HSSN has put together two 32-player brackets, one for the boys and one for the girls, of WPIAL alums. Outside of a few exceptions, the field is made up of former district players who excelled in more than one sport.

Each weekday, May Madness will have one matchup each on the boys and girls bracket with a little background info on each athlete found in a daily tale of the tape.

Starting at 9 a.m. Tuesday and running through 9 a.m. Wednesday, you can vote on the HSSN twitter page on the two athletes featured in this first round matchup.

Check the HSSN website at noon Wednesday for the matchup’s final results.

Here is the contest for the girls. Round 1, Day 3:

Rachel Martindale vs. Alison Riske is a matchup between a versatile recent athlete and one who shined bright enough in her sport in this century’s first decade to make a career out of it.

Rachel Martindale — North Allegheny Class of 2019

(Basketball, softball)

• 2019 Trib HSSN female athlete of the year

• 2019 Trib HSSN girls basketball Class 6A player of the year

• Martindale scored 1,373 points, including 267 3-pointers, 270 assists and 205 steals in her scholastic basketball career

• First-team all-state basketball honors in her junior and senior seasons

• In her four years on the hardwood, North Allegheny was 105-11 with two WPIAL championships and one PIAA runner-up

• She averaged over 14 points per game in basketball and hit .480 in softball after suffering a torn ACL and meniscus in the district basketball finals her junior year

• Martindale is playing college basketball at Akron

Alison Riske-Amritraj — Peters Township

(Tennis)

• Attended Peters Township Middle School from 2004-06

• Took cyber classes to give her freedom to continue to play travel tennis. Riske represented her hometown of Peters Township in the fall of 2006 and won the WPIAL Class AAA singles tennis championship

• Riske was dominant in winning state gold later in the fall of 2006, as she won 48 of 51 games played in taking four matches, including a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Alexis Dorr of Central Bucks East

• Led by Riske, the Peters Township girls tennis team won the PIAA championship in 2006

• In 2008, Riske earned the No. 1 ranking of the USTA girls 18-under field

• Later in 2008, Riske bypassed a tennis scholarship to Vanderbilt to turn pro

• Riske is a professional tennis player with a current world ranking of No. 19

This is a matchup between a versatile recent athlete and one who shined bright enough in her sport in this century’s first decade to make a career out of it!

Here's everything you need to know about these two great athletes ???? https://t.co/35rLCdMH3m pic.twitter.com/IXuayp2JyW

— TribLive HSSN (@TribLiveHSSN) May 5, 2020

Tags: North Allegheny, Peters Township