District College category, Page 28
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Latrobe grad Bryce Butler helps West Liberty reach Sweet 16
Junior Bryce Butler is known for his ability to get double-doubles on the basketball court for West Liberty. He also likes to double up on awards. The junior from Latrobe, who has led the Hilltoppers into the NCAA Division II Sweet 16, repeated as the Division 2 National Association of...
Norwin grad hits ground running with Chatham women’s basketball team
Aside from simply knowing where she was going to college, Alyssa Laukus was surrounded by unknowns when she arrived at Chatham. How would she adapt to her class schedule and student life? She was even more inquisitive as far as basketball went. “I didn’t quite know what to expect coming...
Latrobe grad Bryce Butler again earns Region Player of the Year honors at West Liberty
Bryce Butler is known for his ability to get double-doubles on the basketball court at West Liberty. He also likes to double up on awards. The 6-foot-5 junior from Latrobe repeated as the Division 2 National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Atlantic Region Player of the Year, while also...
Grove City pitcher from Pine-Richland throws perfect game in Florida
Nick Guidas was up bright and early in Davenport, Fla., never knowing he was going to have a perfect day. The Grove City baseball pitcher tossed a perfect game Thursday morning as the Wolverines blanked Illinois College, 6-0, at Northeast Regional Park. Guidas, a junior from Pine-Richland, retired 27 batters...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Pitt-Greensburg’s Sidney McCully earns pair of AMCC honors
Senior Sidney McCully is one of those players who makes an impact on both ends of the basketball court. The coaches in her team’s conference second that assertion. McCully, a point guard at Pitt-Greensburg, picked up a pair of awards for her standout play as she was named the Allegheny...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Seton Hill baseball to honor championship teams
Seton Hill is getting the band back together to celebrate its baseball benchmarks. The Griffins will honor some of its top teams as part of its 20th anniversary celebration. On March 18, the program’s first championship team will be welcomed back to campus — the 2006 NAIA World Series team...
After up-and-down freshman year, Plum grad Melanie Mienke expects better showing for UPG softballVideo
Like a lot of athletes experiencing their first year of college competition, Plum grad Melanie Mienke had her share of nerves. As a freshman pitcher/outfielder with the Pitt-Greensburg softball team, she wasn’t quite sure what to expect. One thing was pretty clear, though: There weren’t going to be many places...
Zambruno sisters hope season together with St. Francis (Pa.) golf team breeds successVideo
St. Francis (Pa.) golf coach Chris Cascino spotted sisters Abby and Meghan Zambruno leaving Immergrun Golf Course after a recent practice round, and he called to them with a familiar question: Had Abby beaten Meghan? Meghan, a freshman, shook her head “no.” Abby, a senior, wasn’t about to let her...
Franklin Regional grad flashing speed in final track season at Westminster
Ryan Beard likes to shave seconds off his track times. The grad student at Westminster continues to shine in the Division III Presidents’ Athletic Conference on a journey that began with soccer and will end at the finish line of a track meet. Beard won the 200-meter dash in record...
Penn-Trafford grad looking for big season on mound, at plate for Washington & Jefferson
Tyler Horvat is beginning his final season for the Washington & Jefferson baseball team. But it probably won’t be his final year of collegiate baseball. The Presidents team captain plans to enter the transfer portal and play on the Division I or Division II level. Horvat is the ace of...
With love of swimming rekindled at Edinboro, Penn Hills grad heads to nationals
Stephanie Sipple didn’t make the move from the NCAA Division I level at Cleveland State to Division II at Edinboro would because it might make it easier for her to qualify for nationals. After years of high-level training, Sipple went to Cleveland and saw her enjoyment for the sport fade....
Saint Vincent women ousted from NCAA Tournament
Saint Vincent’s fourth trip to the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Tournament was short lived. The Bearcats fell to Cortland, 62-51, in the first round Friday at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. Cortland (24-4) built a double-figure advantage late in the second quarter and held back SVC, which ends the...
La Roche finds 5 words to live — and win — by on its way to NCAA Division III Tournament
Eight years ago, the basketball players at La Roche University — stung by a 1-24 record — met with coach Hermie Carmichael to figure out what went wrong. “They came to us and said, ‘Coach, we don’t have an image,’ ” Carmichael said. “’We don’t have a certain way that...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Mt. Pleasant’s Hutter named MAC Player of the Week
College softball, meet Katie Hutter. A freshman from Mt. Pleasant, Hutter has jumped on Division I pitching early on at Bowling Green. She was lauded with the Mid-American Conference Player of the Week award after a big weekend at the plate. Hutter, an outfielder, reached base 10 times in 17...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Latrobe grad sets track & field record at Allegheny
Allegheny senior Jacob King likes to throw with a baseball hat on his head. He put a cap on the PAC Track and Field Championships with a title. King, a Latrobe product, won the weight throw and broke the meet record in the process. His heave of 16.85 meters shattered...
Saint Vincent women to open NCAA Tournament Friday
After winning their third Presidents’ Athletic Conference championship in five years, the Saint Vincent women’s basketball team gathered in the Cary Center lounge Monday afternoon to watch the NCAA Division III selection show. The next order of business awaits the Bearcats (22-4), who learned they will face Cortland (N.Y.) in...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Norwin grad Brianna Zajicek finds home at Illinois-Springfield
When Brianna Zajicek left Norwin, she thought she had her college basketball future mapped out. But a coaching change prompted her to reroute her plans. She arrived at Illinois-Springfield and is proud to call that school home these days. Zajicek was leading all freshmen in the Great Lakes Valley Conference...
Kiski Area grad Jared Curcio battles back from mono to win PAC wrestling title
If you think Craig Thurber, the highly driven wrestling coach at Thiel College, is just blowing smoke by calling Jared Curcio “a tough kid,” think again. If you suspect Curcio, the prosaic former Kiski Area athlete who continues to participate in football and wrestling for the Division III Tomcats, is...
Emotional sendoff on senior night ‘nothing short of a dream’ for Pitt’s Aidan Fisch
Since the moment he arrived on campus in Oakland, Aidan Fisch dreamed of wearing a Pitt uniform and contributing to a winning team. His contributions began early on as a team manager for the men’s basketball team. Flash ahead to Saturday night, and Fisch was pinching himself as he scored...
Saint Vincent women rally in PAC championship vs. Chatham, earn NCAA Tournament bid
No matter what happens from here, Jimmy Petruska’s 13th season as women’s basketball coach at Saint Vincent just might be his most special. In a reversal from a year ago, when the Bearcats were tabbed as the Presidents’ Athletic Conference preseason favorites but flopped, there was no sign of a...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Belle Vernon’s Bailey Parshall off to hot start for Penn State
Penn State had its first five softball games of the season canceled because of inclement weather at the season-opening Coastal Carolina Tournament. The Nittany Lions had their patience tested, but they took out their frustration on the next opponent. Led by “Queen B,” as she has become known around the...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Latrobe grad Jacob King earns 3rd career win at Allegheny
As the only senior from Allegheny to make the trip to Cleveland, Jacob King showed his young teammates how it’s done. King, a Latrobe graduate, earned his third career victory, and first in the weight toss, at the Ed Finnigan Greater Cleveland Colleges Invite at Case Western Reserve. King’s winning...
Norwin grad Mara Polczynski hopes to lead Grove City women’s basketball to top of PACVideo
There usually isn’t a whole lot that can add further zest to a Grove City-Westminster sporting event. Separated by only 15 miles of Route 208, the Division III schools are natural rivals. But Irwin’s Andrew Polczynski found another angle in the schools’ women’s basketball matchups last season. It was easy...
Seton Hill opens season with new coach but same expectations
It was quite a season in 2022 for the Seton Hill softball team. The Griffins won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division title and advanced to NCAA Division II World Series in Denver after winning the Atlantic Regional and Super Regional. They finished 42-12. But the 2023 team faces...
Gateway grads Shelly Jones, Sarah Corrie continue to find success as college throwers
Shelly Jones and Sarah Corrie shared the bright lights of the WPIAL throwing stage several times as track and field teammates at Gateway. The duo capped their high school careers with PIAA-qualifying performances at the 2019 WPIAL Class AAA championships at Baldwin High School. Jones took third in the shot...
