Shady Side Academy WR getting plenty of interest

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Michael “Dino” Tomlin doesn’tparticularly like that people often bring up his dad’s name when talking about him, but it’s hard not to at least mention his father considering he’s the Steelerscoach.

Dino, though, is making a name for himself, and the 5-foot11wide receiver from Shady Side Academy will head into the summer with 14 scholarship offers andhopes to begin his senior season with a list of offers from Power5 schools.

“I’ve been talking to some people. They want to see me camp, see my tape,” Tomlin said. “We’re playing Triple-A teams that didn’t go to the playoffs, so they want to see me against D-I talent. I understand that and I’m going to do camps. I’m going to put on and show them what I got.”

So far, the conference most heavily recruiting Tomlin isn’t the ACC or Big Ten … it’s the Ivy League. Tomlin holds offers from Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth and Brown. He has one Power 5 offer, and that’s from Iowa State. His other offers are from Army, Duquesne, Robert Morris, Howard, Albany, William & Mary, Holy Cross and Fordham. Mike Tomlin was a wide receiver at William & Mary.

“I’m not trying to rack up offers. I just want to find the best fit for me,” said Tomlin. “I’m going to ride through the summer. I believe I have Power 5 talent. We’re going to camp and see what happensfrom there.”

Tomlin was Shady Side Academy’s leading receiver last season. With dual-threat quarterback Skyy Moore and Tomlin’s brother, sophomore Mason, returning, the Indians should have astrong offense this fall.

Tomlin showed off his athletic ability at last week’s WPIAL Class 2A track championships. He won the 300-meter hurdles and was the runner-up in the 100 to Aliquippa football standout MJ Devonshire. Tomlin is the No. 1 seed in the 300 hurdles and No. 5 in the 100 at this weekend’s PIAAchampionships.

West Allegheny’s Salek

Maddie Salek hopes to do more than OK at state track this weekend before heading to OK State.

Salek, a senior at West Allegheny and one of the top middle distance runners in the state, signed with Oklahoma State this spring. The Cowboys have a strong running program, but how did a girl from Oakdale end up deciding to continue her career more than 1,000 miles away inOklahoma? Salekexplains. “I was interested in them because I saw how great their middle distance program was. And then one day I just got this call and it was ‘Stillwater, Oklahoma’ and I was like, ‘What?’ And then I picked it up and he was like, ‘Hey, I’m [head coach] Dave Smith from Oklahoma State.’ I almost cried. I was like, ‘Ohmy God.’”

Salek won the 800 at the WPIAL Class 3A championships after running a time of 2:11.34. Herpersonal record is 2:10.72, the fourthbest in WPIAL history.

Football commitments

Fox Chapel’s Brayden Thomas (West Virginia Wesleyan); Penn Hills’ Hollis Mathis (Howard); Serra Catholic’s MalikEdmundson (Saint Francis).

Basketball commitment

Oakland Catholic’s Abbie Pechin(Pitt Johnstown).

Soccer commitments

Allderdice’s Dane Jacomen (Pennsylvania) and Sam Bellin (Juniata).

Field hockey commitment

Pine-Richland’s Alora Sharron(Christopher Newport).