District College category, Page 28
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...
Seton Hill softball sweeps Wheeling in new coach’s debut
Pirates pitchers and catchers report to Bradenton on Wednesday, but the Seton Hill softball team already has two games under its belt. Seton Hill took advantage off a warm February day and opened the season Tuesday at home. The Griffins brought out the bats and swept a doubleheader against Wheeling...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Saint Vincent women’s bowlers enter national rankings
Saint Vincent has a nationally ranked women’s bowling team. For the first time, the Bearcats are listed among the best teams in the National Tenpin Coaches Association Division II/III National Poll. SVC (31-2) checked in a No. 13 in the latest poll. The Bearcats’ .939 winning percentage is the top...
Deer Lakes grad Armend Karpuzi earns big role as freshman with Pitt-Greensburg men’s basketball
When Greensburg native Chris Klimchock was hired to take over the Pitt-Greensburg men’s basketball program in July 2021, the recruiting class for the upcoming season already had been set. The Bobcats finished 10-15 overall and 8-8 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. Klimchock was able to bring in his first...
Franklin Regional grad Jo-Michelle Huczko believes best days are ahead as pole vaulter at CMUVideo
Two Richard Nixons. That’s the response Carnegie Mellon junior pole vaulter Jo-Michelle “JoJo” Huczko gave to some friends when they queried her about what height she would like to clear in her event. A bit of an explanation is required: Huczko, a Franklin Regional grad, is interested in politics and...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Frye ties Seton Hill’s single-game scoring record
Don’t plan on leaving Seton Hill women’s basketball games early. You might miss the best part. The Griffins have been taking games down to the wire lately: Four recent games were decided by a total of 10 points. They knocked off IUP, 65-60, at home during their 100th anniversary celebration,...
Cal (Pa.)’s Barry McGlumphy tunes into Super Bowl LVII with unique perspective
When the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles face off Sunday evening in Super Bowl LVII, Barry McGlumphy will tune in from an intriguing vantage point. McGlumphy, a professor in the Department of Exercise Science and Sports Studies at Cal (Pa.), has ties to Chiefs coach Andy Reid that go...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Franklin Regional grad takes triple jump title
With a hop, a skip and a jump, Rayna Todero earned herself a championship. Todero, a sophomore at Robert Morris and a Franklin Regional graduate, won the triple jump at the Bob Shannon Invitational at Denison. Her winning distance was 11.15 meters. Todero also finished second in the long jump...
Mercyhurst upsets No. 1 IUP
There’s nothing wrong with the Lakers this year. The Mercyhurst Lakers, that is. Mercyhurst pulled a stunner Monday night in Erie, upsetting unbeaten No. 1 IUP, 62-49, to end the Crimson Hawks’ 33-game regular-season winning streak. IUP is now 22-1 (16-1 PSAC West Division). The Lakers (17-3, 13-3) took down...
Ligonier Valley grad Olivia Miller has big goals for her final track and field seasons at CarlowVideo
During her senior season in 2021, Olivia Miller earned the designation of “team mom” from the freshmen on the Carlow women’s track and field team. The moniker was a playful jab at her “old age” as much as it was a nod to her experience and accomplishments. By that point,...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Norwin grad Austen Swankler riding 18-game scoring streak
Sophomore Austen Swankler, a Norwin graduate, was named the Central Collegiate Hockey Association Forward of the Month for a second time this season. Swankler extended his NCAA-leading scoring streak to 18 games. During that run, the Bowling Green forward has 11 goals and 20 assists for 31 points. He had...
