Cowher Westgarth to be inducted into Fox Chapel Hall of Fame
This is the fifth in a series of profiles on the 2015 inductees into the Fox Chapel Sports Hall of Fame. The Induction Ceremony and Banquet will be held May 30 at the Harmar House in Cheswick. For information on the banquet, contact Jim Perry at gy mbeck63@aol.com . There also will be a golf outing at The Links at Spring Church, 3257 Balsiger Road, Apollo, PA 15613. The golf outing will start at 8 a.m. with a shotgun start. The cost is $100 per player and includes lunch, 18 holes of golf with cart, drinks during play, and prizes. For information, contact R on_Frank@fcasd.ed u.
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If you're from Pittsburgh and you hear the name “Cowher,” you think football. If you're from Fox Chapel and you hear the name “Cowher,” you think basketball. Meagan Cowher Westgarth, a 2004 FC graduate and the daughter of former Steelers coach Bill Cowher, started all four years on the Fox Chapel basketball team. She was the team captain for two years. She still owns the single season scoring record for a freshman. She's also the school's second leading scorer and rebounder. She also was selected to the Tribune-Review all star team.
For her efforts, she will be inducted as part of the Class of 2015 in the Fox Chapel Hall of Fame.
“I have so many fond memories of my time playing basketball at Fox Chapel,” she said. “The overall experience was probably my favorite aspect, just how close the team was and how much it felt like a family. It was also great to be a part of a rebuild, that ended with us in the playoffs for the first time in years. The games versus Oakland Catholic were always good ones.”
She does have one moment from her playing days at FC that she regrets.
“Fouling out in the third quarter of my last game, in the WPIAL playoffs, was not exactly the ideal way to go out.”
Her hectic schedule has hindered her in trying to rekindle memories with her Fox Chapel teammates.
“Unfortunately, my family moved from Pittsburgh two years after I went away to college, so I don't get back as much as I'd like to,” she said. “Living in other parts of the country has made keeping in touch a little tricky, but friendships like those are ones that never really go away.”
After graduating, she attended Princeton and became the first Princeton player to be named Ivy League Rookie of the Year.
Whatever part of the country she's in, she still follows the progress of the Fox Chapel girls basketball program.
“I have followed the success of the team,” Cowher Westgarth. “I definitely check the Herald for updates from time to time, and hear about how they are doing from friends and family still in Pittsburgh.”
She is thrilled to be inducted into the Fox Chapel Sports Hall of Fame.
“I was surprised. Fox Chapel has a history of producing great athletes, and it's an honor to be included among them. I will have a few friends and family at the banquet so that will be nice. My dad's family still lives in Pittsburgh, so they will be there as will some of my former coaches and high school friends.”
Marty Stewart is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at 412-782-2123 or mstewart@tribweb.com.
