District College category, Page 12
Plum grad Tristan Ralph ramping up contributions for Pitt-Johnstown men’s soccer
Tristan Ralph wasn’t the first player from the Plum boys soccer team’s Class of 2024 to be recruited by Pitt-Johnstown. Two of his teammates, Ethan Andrejeski and Tyler Yurisinec, had connected with UPJ coach Eric Kinsey during their junior years and set the wheels in motion to potentially join the...
On campus: Gateway grad Courtney Jackson shines at Arkansas State
Courtney Jackson again has shown himself to be a top receiving threat for the Arkansas State football team. The Gateway graduate, who also returns punts for the Red Wolves, caught 16 passes for 169 yards through five games. He recorded a season-best five receptions for 69 yards in the opener...
District college football roundup: Led by dominant defense, Grove City knocks off No. 10 CMU
Grove City’s defense held No. 10 Carnegie Mellon to minus-9 yards rushing, intercepted two passes and scored on a fumble recovery in a 17-10 victory in PAC football Saturday. Ryan Montgomery scored the defensive touchdown by recovering a fumble forced by Ben Bladel at the 3-yard line. Logan Pfeuffer threw...
Plum grad Magnusen goes into Penn State Behrend Hall of Fame for volleyball accomplishments
Phil Pisano has a photo on the wall of his office at Penn State Behrend, a memento from his time as the school’s women’s volleyball coach. It depicts the team in the aftermath of its victory in the 2013 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference title match. Pisano, now the men’s volleyball...
Bill Shay, who coached for nearly 4 decades at Community College of Allegheny County, dies
Players from all over western Pennsylvania wanted to play for one man. That one man was Bill Shay. The winningest basketball coach in Western Pennsylvania history, Shay died on Friday. He was 88. “A soldier has passed,” said Larry DiCicco, a North Side native who lives in Mt. Lebanon, and...
Point Park University unveils proposal for sports and recreation venue
When he was named Point Park University president last year, Chris Brussalis touted his school’s potential to spark a “Downtown Renaissance 3” with targeted development including a new venue for sports and recreation. On Thursday, Brussalis unveiled a sizable part of that vision for the Golden Triangle. He and the...
Hempfield grad Arin DeLattre plays key role in abrupt turnaround for Thiel women’s volleyball team
From a personal standpoint, Hempfield grad Arin DeLattre was pretty pleased with her freshman volleyball season at Thiel. The middle blocker played in all 25 matches, averaged 1.61 kills, 0.78 blocks and 0.88 digs per set. From a team standpoint, however, the season couldn’t have been more trying. Four matches...
Springdale grad Logan Dexter switches positions but maintains solid play for Edinboro football team
Logan Dexter didn’t waste any time making an impression on Edinboro football coach Jake Nulph. Nulph remembers it well: The first rep Dexter, a defensive back, took in practice as a freshman, he had an interception. Nulph knew he had a potential play-maker on his hands. But with the Springdale...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Seton Hill’s Rick Hall earns 800th victory
Longtime Seton Hill women’s volleyball coach Rick Hall reached a career milestone as his team swept a PSAC West match against Slippery Rock. The win was the 800th for Hall, who is on his 40th season with the program. Hall, a Griffins hall of famer, is now 800-434. The Latrobe...
District college football roundup: Slippery Rock beats IUP on last-minute touchdown pass
Brayden Long hit Mike Solomon with an 11-yard touchdown pass with 12 seconds left to lead No. 9 Slippery Rock to a wild, 33-32 PSAC win over IUP on Saturday afternoon. Karst Hunter connected with Hilton Ridley on a 10-yard touchdown pass with 1:35 to play to give IUP a...
Saint Vincent linebacker Wiley Purry continues to pile up tackles, takeaways
Ask Saint Vincent senior linebacker Wiley Purry what he misses most about his native California, and the expected answers are given: his family and the beach. But he admitted southwestern Pennsylvania has its perks, too. “I love the atmosphere nature-wise. A whole bunch of trees,” he said. “It looks so...
Once skeptical of La Roche, Leechburg grad Kalli Grine now key part of Redhawks volleyball team
La Roche women’s volleyball coach Nicole Bajuszik remembers the first time she saw Kalli Grine play. Grine, a sophomore at Leechburg at the time, was taking part in a volleyball showcase when she was spotted by Bajuszik and a host of other coaches. “Every coach wanted her,” Bajuszik said. With...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: 4 athletes to join Seton Hill Athletics Hall of Fame
The 2024 Seton Hill Athletics Hall of Fame Class is small, but it packs quite a punch with only four people. This year’s inductees are Brett Craig (Class of 2019, lacrosse), Perry Dellavalle (‘18, baseball), Emily LoPresti (‘19, soccer) and Emma Simmers (‘19, lacrosse). The talented foursome will be honored...
District college football roundup: Carnegie Mellon completes comeback in OT vs. Washington & Jefferson
Ben Mills and Reece Kolke connected on their third touchdown pass of the game in overtime to lead Carnegie Mellon to a 30-27 comeback victory over Washington & Jefferson in PAC football Saturday afternoon. Washington & Jefferson (3-1, 3-1), which led 24-5 at the half, took a 27-24 lead when...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Latrobe’s Bryce Butler takes on coaching role
Bryce Butler had planned to play professional basketball after college, but an ailing knee made him reconsider playing overseas. Sealing off his career as a player was tough, but it led him to the next best thing: coaching. The former Latrobe star circled back to his college home, West Liberty,...
Norwin grad Riley Morningstar becomes a reliable presence in goal for Penn State Behrend women’s soccer
There might not be a moment in sports that creates more tension than a keeper facing a penalty kick. The odds are greatly stacked against the keeper. Data suggests only about 15% to 20% of penalty kicks are saved. Now ramp up the pressure: facing penalty kicks in a shootout...
Kiski Area grad Lexi Colaianni becomes key member of Penn State Altoona tennis team after year away
Lexi Colaianni never intended to play two sports at Penn State Altoona, let alone have tennis be one of them. The Kiski Area grad was recruited to play basketball for the Lions. A second-team Valley News Dispatch All-Star as a senior, Colaianni set a Cavaliers school record by making nine...
District college football roundup: Ky’Ron Craggette leads 4th-quarter rally for Seton Hill
Ky’Ron Craggette’s 12-yard touchdown run with 1:03 left in the game gave Seton Hill a 27-24 comeback victory over West Chester in a PSAC crossover game Saturday. Craggette rushed for 132 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Jake Cruz threw for 237 yards and a touchdown for Seton Hill (2-2), which...
Big plays abound as Eastern Michigan shuts out St. Francis (Pa.) 36-0Video
YPSILANTI, Mich. — David Carter Jr. scored on a 99-yard fumble return, Zyell Griffin caught an 89-yard touchdown pass and Eastern Michigan rolled past St. Francis (Pa.), 36-0, on Saturday. Carter grabbed a loose ball out of a goal-line pileup and raced 99 yards for a touchdown to give the...
Hampton grad Dawson Dietz hoping for ‘amazing’ final season at Washington & Jefferson
Hampton graduate Dawson Dietz is already among the most decorated Washington & Jefferson football players in the past 25 years. This season, he can join an elite list on the national level. After earning first-team All-American honors by D3Football.com each of the past two seasons, the senior defensive tackle is...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Penn-Trafford grad Cade Yacamelli running with opportunity
As his production increases and his confidence grows, Cade Yacamelli is looking more the part of a Division-I running back. But it didn’t start out that way. Wisconsin’s redshirt sophomore initially was slotted as a defensive back when he left Penn-Trafford for Madison, a loop that surprised him but also...
Greensburg C.C. grad Mark Mizerak, healthy again, developing into cornerstone of Clarion offensive line
Mark Mizerak Jr. was the quintessential big fish in a small pond. To his Class A opponents, Mizerak, at 6-foot-4 and near 300 pounds, must have looked like an eclipse in shoulder pads. Regardless of whom he was facing, Mizerak, who attended Monessen before graduating from Greensburg Central Catholic, was...
Knoch grad Ethan Wymer aims to build toward another strong finish for Saint Vincent cross country
Every distance runner knows the value of a good finishing kick. Having some fuel left in the tank for a final push can be the difference in where a runner — and his or her team — ultimately finishes. Ethan Wymer certainly knows how to finish strong. But for the...
District college football roundup: Seton Hill scores last-play touchdown to beat Bloomsburg
Todd Phillips caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Jake Cruz on a fourth-and-4 play with nine seconds left to lead Seton Hill to a 15-14 comeback victory over Bloomsburg in a PSAC crossover game Saturday afternoon. Phillips’ touchdown capped a 15-play, 62-yard drive for the Griffins (1-2). Ky’Ron Craggette ran...
Saint Vincent mourns the passing of longtime athletic director Rev. Myron Kirsch, O.S.B.
When Rev. Myron Kirsch, O.S.B., was a student at Saint Vincent, he was an outstanding baseball player in the Latrobe area. And before he became the school’s athletic director in 1983, he served as an assistant baseball coach from 1980-83. Kirsch oversaw numerous projects and changes at the school during...
