District College category, Page 43
Westmoreland campus clippings: Klimchock picks up 1st UPG win
After a slow start to his debut season, Chris Klimchock (Greensburg Salem) picked up his first win as men’s basketball coach at Pitt-Greensburg. JoJo France had a lot to do with the maiden victory as the senior guard poured in a season-high 34 points to pace the Bobcats to an...
Norwin grad Gianni Rizzo, other former Westmoreland County standouts make transfer plans
Youngstown State will play Duquesne next football season, but Gianni Rizzo will change his uniform and allegiance long before kickoff. Rizzo, a redshirt freshman linebacker out of Norwin, announced recently he is leaving Youngstown State and will transfer to Duquesne. A want to see the field more and a belief...
WCCC working to rebuild men’s, women’s basketball programs
The goal of the Westmoreland County Community College men’s basketball team, simply put, is to be competitive. Then, perhaps, the victories will come. “We’re getting better in practice,” coach William Tyler Johnson said. “I’m not trying to control too much right now. It’s all just about teaching, having the guys...
Kiski Area grad Roscosky off to strong start for W&J wrestling
Brayden Roscosky wants to win every match he wrestles. He also has a firm grasp on reality, and the Washington & Jefferson freshman lets that guide his mindset. “If I’m not going to win, I want to lose that match in style,” Roscosky said. “If I’m going to lose. I’m...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Hempfield grad Tara Zollinger guides Shippensburg to 5th national title
Tara Zollinger is a national champion — again. The Hempfield alum guided Shippensburg to its fifth national title, the third since she took over the program in 2017, as the Raiders topped West Chester, 3-0, on Sunday in the title match. Shippensburg (20-0) was the No. 1 seed in the...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Derry grad Justin Huss earns All-PAC honors
Justin Huss did some things on the football field at Derry you might call “special.” A tightrope-run down the far sideline for a huge gain. A defense-defying cutback for a touchdown. A breakaway run up the middle for six. His field vision was one of his best attributes and it...
Gateway grad, John Paul Kromka off to fast start this season for Pitt-Johnstown
Two seasons ago, as a sophomore on the Pitt-Johnstown men’s basketball team, Gateway graduate John Paul Kromka averaged 15 points and 8 rebounds a game as the Mountain Cats went 22-9 overall, 15-7 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, and made it to the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. Kromka...
District college football roundup: Slippery Rock falls in Division II playoff opener
Chris Brimm threw three touchdown passes and Idris Lawrence ran 26 times for 164 yards as No. 6 Notre Dame College held off No. 19 Slippery Rock, 33-25, in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs Saturday afternoon. Brimm hit Devana Conliffe for a 40-yard touchdown pass to...
Covid-19 cases force Carnegie Mellon to withdraw from NCAA football playoffs
Carnegie Mellon’s journey in the NCAA football playoffs is over before it started. The university announced Friday that several football players tested positive for covid-19, so the team will withdraw from the NCAA Division III playoffs. The Tartans (8-2) were scheduled to play a first-round game Saturday against North Central...
With more depth, Penn State New Kensington men’s basketball happy to be back on court
Sometimes patience can be a virtue. At least that’s what Brant Mack hopes is the case. Mack was an assistant for Penn State New Kensington’s men’s basketball program for three years before taking over the head coaching job before last season. However, the season was canceled because of covid-19. But...
Seton Hill men’s basketball looking for turnaround season
Downplaying a last-place prediction by his coaching peers in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division, Kendrick Saunders chooses to teach patience to a Seton Hill men’s basketball team that was itching to get back on the court after a season of inactivity. The Griffins, with three games in four...
Seton Hill women’s basketball gets early start on 2021-22 season
When the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference coaches cast their ballots this year for the league’s preseason women’s basketball poll, Seton Hill’s Mark Katarski again was among those with a vote. Not swayed by the predictions that landed Seton Hill fifth among nine teams in the PSAC West Division, Katarski instead...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Westminster’s Brooke Horvath earns PAC Soccer Newcomer of the Year
Presidents’ Athletic Conference women’s soccer teams, get used to the name. Brooke Horvath didn’t waste any time making an impact at the NCAA Division III level, adding leverage to the lineup at Westminster. The Franklin Regional graduate was lauded for her instantly impressive performance, earning PAC Newcomer of the Year....
Saint Vincent’s young lineup prepares for PAC men’s basketball schedule
Shortly after the Presidents’ Athletic Conference men’s basketball coaches picked Saint Vincent to finish eighth among the league’s 10 teams, the Bearcats proceeded to lose their regular-season opener by 60 points. Mt. Union, which began the season ranked No. 21 in NCAA Division III, made sure of it with a...
Defending PAC champion Saint Vincent again favored to claim women’s basketball title
It appears it could be another typical season in women’s basketball at Saint Vincent. The Bearcats are overwhelming favorites to repeat as Presidents’ Athletic Conference champions after completing an abbreviated 10-0 schedule a year ago, capped by a victory over Washington & Jefferson in the PAC Tournament championship game. “Typical...
PSU New Kensington women’s basketball continuing program’s construction
In basketball, a “brick” is typically not a good thing. But for Meaghan Volek and the Penn State New Kensington women’s basketball team, they’re hoping to pile them up. “Our slogan for our program is that we’re building brick by brick,” said Volek, a Kittanning grad who coached at Burrell....
Westmoreland campus clippings: Siblings excel for college teams
Sibling rivalries are a thing of the past for a number of Westmoreland area brothers and sisters who are rooting for one another to succeed at the college level. At Grove City this season, the men’s soccer team had the Kimmich brothers, Matt and Luke, from Franklin Regional. Both defenders...
4 PAC football teams earn bowl bids
Four football teams from the Division III Presidents’ Athletic Conference will continue their seasons Saturday with bowl games. The Eastern College Athletic Conference announced its eight-game lineup Monday. The schedule is as follows (some times to be announced): • Asa S. Bushnell Bowl Hobart (8-2) at Westminster (8-2), 1 p.m....
Saint Vincent receiver Molayo Irefin has breakout seasonVideo
Molayo Irefin’s sophomore season ended on the Saint Vincent bench Saturday. Injured on the second play of the previous week’s game against Westminster, the wide receiver from Maryland only could watch as the Bearcats routed Bethany, 52-7, to finish 5-5. So Irefin played essentially only eight games this season. That...
Greensburg Salem grad Chris Klimchock ready for 1st year leading UPG men’s basketball
Chris Klimchock is happy to be home. But now it’s time to get to work. Klimchock is in his first season as Pitt-Greensburg’s men’s basketball coach, making a return to an area where he starred in high school and college. After spending eight years as an assistant, including the last...
With normalcy back, coach Kelsey Oddis and UPG women’s basketball team motivated
Kelsey Oddis and her team got sick of waiting. They were more than ready to get back to normal and get back to basketball. Oddis, who is in her second year — but first full season — as Pitt-Greensburg’s women’s basketball coach, took over the program shortly before finding out...
Slippery Rock, Carnegie Mellon earn bids into NCAA football playoffs
Slippery Rock received an at-large bid from the NCAA on Sunday, joining Carnegie Mellon as the only Western Pennsylvania college football teams qualified for the Division II or III playoffs. Carnegie Mellon already was assured a spot in the 32-team Division III playoffs as an automatic qualifier from the PAC,...
District college football roundup: CMU wins share of PAC title, earns NCAA bid
Carnegie Mellon is sending longtime football coach Rich Lackner out with a trip to the NCAA Division III playoffs. Tre Vasiliadas ran 38 times for 191 yards and a touchdown to become the fourth CMU player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season as the Tartans defeated Case Western,...
Norwin graduate Declan O’Brien playing big role for Allegheny football
Declan O’Brien is hungry for more. The Norwin graduate has emerged as one of Allegheny’s top receivers as a sophomore, and he credited some of his success to a bulkier frame. After being listed at 138 pounds as a high school junior, he entered college at 150. Now, he said...
College football preview capsule: Bethany at Saint Vincent
NCAA Division III Presidents’ Athletic Conference Bethany (1-8, 1-7) at Saint Vincent (4-5, 3-5 PAC) 1 p.m., Saturday, Chuck Noll Field, Unity Series: Bethany leads, 12-5 Last meeting: March 26, 2021: Saint Vincent 35, Bethany 6 About Bethany: The Bison enter this week on a three-game losing skid and were...
