District College category
Westmoreland campus clippings: Honors roll in for Saint Vincent men’s volleyball
Saint Vincent men’s volleyball snagged three major postseason awards in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. Sophomore libero Jackson Genicola (Norwin) was named defensive player of the year, freshman Jack Ryan was tabbed newcomer of the year and Bearcats’ leader Kate McCauley was awarded coach of the year. Genicola, who moved from...
Penn-Trafford grad Mia Smith surpasses 400 strikeouts at Pitt-Johnstown
After her sophomore season, Mia Smith began to believe the record could be hers, but it would take a lot more than showing up in the circle. The former Penn-Trafford ace zeroed in on the all-time strikeout record at Pitt-Johnstown like she does the strike zone itself. She painted corners...
Westmoreland County campus clips: Saint Vincent bowling coach visits winner’s circle
Jeff Zidek is the track announcer at The Hollywood Casino at The Meadows race track in Washington. He knows which horse to bet on come the college bowling postseason. Zidek also is the head women’s bowling coach at Saint Vincent, and after a second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament,...
Mt. Pleasant grad Courtney Poulich displays prodigious power for RMU in ‘Boom Township’
Whether it’s training in the weight room with her teammates or swinging for the fences, Courtney Poulich is putting in some powerful performances for the Robert Morris softball team. It’s not a stretch to say the redshirt senior outfielder from Mt. Pleasant is going out with a boom. The record-setting...
Williams throws no-hitter as Seton Hill coach Marizzaldi grabs 800th win
What an afternoon on “the Hill.” Sophomore pitcher Sean Williams was grooving strikes, his defense was sharp around him and the offense was efficient as 16th-ranked Seton Hill baseball flexed its muscles, all while giving its longtime leader another milestone victory. Williams tossed the second no-hitter in school history, and...
Norwin grad Jack Whalen a record-setting base-stealer, cornerstone player for Seton Hill baseball
He wears No. 1, so he is already at the top of the Seton Hill baseball roster. And he also leads off the batting order. But senior outfielder Jack Whalen isn’t just No. 1 in your program. He now holds a top spot in the conference record book. Whalen, a...
Westmoreland County Community College baseball ends long losing streak vs. D1 foe
The Westmoreland County Community College baseball team did something recently that it had not done in 34 years: defeat NCJAA Division I Potomac State (W.Va.). The Wolfpack (15-7) not only won one game, but they also swept a doubleheader by the scores of 14-4 and 13-6. Freshmen Jake Sincak (Norwin),...
Westmoreland County campus clips: Seton Hill wrestlers earn PSAC honors
The three Seton Hill wrestlers who made the NCAA Division II Championships earned all-conference honors. Redshirt senior Mike Zacur was named to the All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference first team at 157 pounds, while senior Ty Linsenbigler (Hempfield) and senior Kane Kettering made the third team at 149 and 174. Kettering...
Westmoreland college notebook: Belle Vernon’s Whitlock enters transfer portal to leave IUP
One of the most prolific playmakers to come out of Belle Vernon is looking to cash in after a big season at IUP. Devin Whitlock, a wide receiver who earned All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference first-team honors last season, has entered the NCAA transfer portal, according to his representatives with The...
Point Park names new men’s basketball coach
Point Park promoted Joe Long to head men’s basketball coach Thursday, as the former lead assistant coach is set to replace Ryan Grandits, who resigned to accept the head coach position at Daemen. “Joe was the logical choice from the moment our position opened,” vice president of athletics Scott Swain...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Jeannette grad helps Kentucky to Sweet 16
A former local basketball star experienced March Madness at the highest level. Kentucky assistant coach Ciara Gregory (Jeannette) and the Wildcats reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. They fell to top-seeded Texas, 76-54, to finish the season 25-11. Gregory is a second-year assistant who also serves as the team’s director...
IUP women’s basketball team routed in NCAA final
The Michigan machine rolls on. IUP’s dream of a national championship in women’s basketball was shattered by a nightmarish outcome in Saturday’s NCAA Division II title game against defending champion Grand Valley State. The bigger, longer and stronger Lakers from Allendale, Mich., outclassed Indiana County’s Crimson Hawks during a 72-49...
Mercyhurst drops its struggling Division I men’s hockey program as part of its master plan
ERIE — Mercyhurst will drop its Division I men’s hockey program at the end of the academic year as part of a university-wide master plan, the 2,600-student private school announced Friday. The Lakers finished 6-28-3 this season and were last in Atlantic Hockey for the second straight year. They haven’t...
IUP women’s basketball team reaches Division II championship
Nyshae’ Weaver’s blank stare elicited a quirky question for the IUP senior and two-time PSAC West women’s basketball Athlete of the Year. Had the 6-foot forward from Baltimore Coppin Academy High School ever felt this numb before? “Never,” Weaver said without a blink. Rightfully so, because IUP is headed to...
Westmoreland County college notebook: Saint Vincent bowlers return to NCAA Tournament
The Saint Vincent women’s bowling team is headed back to the NCAA Tournament, a Division III power among a cluster of Division I and II programs, and the Bearcats will roll on at the local regional. Saint Vincent (45-3), which has the best winning percentage in the nation, will take...
A-K Valley campus clippings: Kiski Area grad Veronica Flanagan named All-American
The transition from high school to collegiate bowling didn’t keep Veronica Flanagan from reaching top-flight status this past winter. The Kiski Area graduate and freshman at Lourdes in the Toledo, Ohio suburb of Sylvania recently was selected to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics All-American team. Flanagan, whose prolific high...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Saint Vincent swimmer Dzurica earns 3 All-American honors
Saint Vincent senior swimmer Jacob Dzurica came home with three All-American nods from the NCAA Division III Championships in Indianapolis. Dzurica, a Hempfield graduate, earned All-American honors in the 50-yard freestyle (19.79 seconds) as he finished fourth, the 100-yard freestyle (44.01), good enough for seventh — he swam a school-record...
Westmoreland County college notebook: Pitt-Greensburg’s Trent Rozich earns postseason honors
Trent Rozich had a senior season to remember at Pitt-Greensburg. The bulky, 6-foot-6 forward led the Bobcats in points (16.6), rebounds (5.6) and assists (4.3) per game. He was named to the D3Hoops.com All-Region Second Team. This weekend, the AMCC Player of the Year and All-AMCC first team selection will...
Bolstered by Westmoreland County players, Saint Vincent hockey returns to ACHA National Tournament
The formula for building a championship-winning roster is simple for the Saint Vincent men’s hockey team. Scout every team playing in Westmoreland County and a few neighboring districts, target a few players, find out who their hockey-playing friends are and recruit them, too. That strategy has turned SVC into a...
Westmoreland Campus Clippings: Seton Hill’s Norwin alum Whalen grabs PSAC all-time stolen bases record
Some say Jack Whalen was a recruiting steal for the Seton Hill baseball program. The Norwin alum has a record to prove it. Whalen, a senior outfielder, is now the all-time leader in stolen bases in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, with 118. Through 13 games this season, he had...
IUP women fend off Seton Hill in NCAA regional semifinals
Top-seeded and host IUP withstood a hot-shooting third quarter from Seton Hill to rally past the No. 4 Griffins, 94-87, on Saturday night in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region women’s basketball semifinals. IUP (28-3) advances to the regional championship at 7 p.m. Monday to play No. 3 Winston-Salem (28-3)....
Seton Hill women march into NCAA Tournament with ‘full head of steam’
An at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Tournament is an invitation. There is nothing automatic about it, and it is not promised to any team. That is why Seton Hill coach Maeve Gallagher wants her players to know they did indeed earn a spot in the national...
Westmoreland County campus clips: 1st-year Saint Vincent coach earns conference honors
Kam Gissendanner was the AMCC women’s basketball coach of the year five times in 12 years when she led LaRoche. She’s 1 for 1 at Saint Vincent. The first-year leader of the Bearcat women was named PAC coach of the year after guiding Saint Vincent to a conference runner-up season....
Seton Hill men’s basketball team overcomes spate of injuries to reach PSAC semis
The math doesn’t add up on how this conundrum of a college basketball team made the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference semifinals for the first time in program history. How a rash of injuries and corresponding tailspin dumped off Seton Hill in Afterthought City, only for the Griffins to hitchhike their...
Longtime Pitt-Johnstown men’s basketball coach Rukavina retires
Legendary Pitt-Johnstown men’s basketball coach Bob Rukavina, who has ties to the Alle-Kiski Valley, has retired after 37 seasons, 47 overall in coaching. “Coach Ruk,” a longtime Lower Burrell resident, registered 577 wins and a .580 winning percentage while guiding the Mountain Cats to five NCAA Division II Tournament appearances...
