District College category, Page 58

Clarion’s Shae Bloom, one of most successful high school wrestlers in Pennsylvania during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, died Thursday, Clarion officials said. Bloom was 22. The cause of death was not disclosed. During his two years as an active wrestler at Clarion, Bloom compiled a 15-6 record in 2018-19...

Roland Rivers III saw no reason to ease into his pro day last month. The former Slippery Rock quarterback’s first throw in front of representatives from 21 NFL teams was a deep post — 65 to 70 yards — off a play-action. The pass connected, and it set the tone...

A quartet of former WPIAL football players are in elite company. Cal (Pa.) products Rontez Miles and Eric Kush, along with Slippery Rock’s Brandon Fusco and Marcus Martin, were selected to the D2Football.com All-Decade Team on Tuesday. Miles, a 2012 grad, was a first-team selection at defensive back. Kush, also...

Latrobe graduate Jake Biss has been named Shippensburg’s male student-athlete of the year. A junior point guard, Biss led the Raiders with 15.9 points per game and was fourth in the PSAC with 4.4 assists per game. He shot 40.3% from 3-point range and 89.9% from the free-throw line. Shippensburg...

Edinboro wanted a coach for its defensive line. So why not hire one who knows what it’s like to sack a quarterback? Coach Jake Nulph found Keith Willis, a veteran coach with college and pro experience, and one of the most prolific sack artists in Pittsburgh Steelers history. Willis, named...

Penn-Trafford alum and University of Chicago freshman diver Logan Sherwin looked on the bright side after this month’s NCAA Division III championship meet was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. “I’m just thankful I am not a senior,” he said. “I still have three more years to try and compete.”...

Pitt-Johnstown’s wrestling team lost out on a legitimate chance at a team title when the NCAA Division II national championships were canceled due to coronavirus. Three of its top wrestlers, all WPIAL graduates, received some consolation Thursday in the form of a postseason award. Brendan Howard, Jacob Ealy and Chris...

The Saint Vincent men’s volleyball team finally was showing signs of progress in its inaugural season when college sports shut down amid growing concerns over the spread of coronavirus. The Bearcats were 0-13 and won only three sets all season. Coach Scott Wisneski said the team’s improvement was evident nonetheless....

Two former Vulcans are reuniting in the desert. Veteran offensive lineman Eric Kush (Chartiers Valley) tweeted that he is joining the Las Vegas Raiders. Kush was an All-PSAC performer over his career at Cal (Pa.) from 2008-12. Kush’s former college teammate, safety Erik Harris, is entering his fourth season with...

They grew up as best friends, a pact that continued through their high school careers at Baldwin. College sophomores Taylor Dadig and Carly Santillo, teammates since the first grade, opted to travel in different directions for their college careers. Dadig is a fleet shortstop/center fielder at George Mason while the...

John Paul Kromka made a splash last year as a freshman with the Pitt-Johnstown men’s basketball team. The Gateway graduate led the team in rebounds per game (7.7) and total blocks (76) and finished second in scoring (14.9 ppg.), total assists (80) and free-throw percentage (80.3 percent). His play helped...

North Allegheny graduates Taylor Lake and Brynn Serbin earned top honors in women’s college basketball conferences. Lake, a Chicago senior, was named University Athletic Association Player of the Year and first-team all-UAA. Lake, a 5-foot-10 forward, finished the season averaging 14.1 points and 5.8 rebounds a game. She led the...

Four players — one each from Penn State, West Virginia, Duquesne and Robert Morris — were named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Division I all-district teams. Penn State’s Lamar Stevens and West Virginia’s Oscar Tshiebwe were named first team District 7 and 8, respectively. Duquesne’s Marcus Weathers and...

Derry alum and Saint Vincent junior swimmer Zach Baum worked hard all season to make the NCAA Division III championship, only to see it canceled because of the coronavirus scare. “It was pretty disappointing for both of us,” Bearcat coach Josh Gurekovich said. “I was only able to talk with...

Spencer Lee won’t get to go for a three-peat at the NCAA Division I wrestling championships, but he ended the season with a perfect record and that carries plenty of weight for candidates who are up for a national award. Lee, a junior 125-pounder at Iowa and a Franklin Regional...

North Allegheny grad Ann Juneau and Oakland Catholic alum Courtney Coghill were instrumental in George Washington women’s swimming and diving earning its first Atlantic 10 title. Juneau, a sophomore, posted personal-best times in the 200-yard breaststroke (2 minutes, 21.64 seconds), 200 individual medley (2:04.76) and 400 individual medley (4:31.36) in...

Michael Heinl thought there might be a chance everything would be normal. The 149-pound Washington & Jefferson senior wrestler already had made the trip with teammate Hunter Neely to the NCAA Division III national championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. But Heinl found out less than 24 hours before the tournament...

College athletes throughout the country saw their spring seasons come to a sudden end and winter championships halted before completion as the NCAA and NAIA, within a couple of days, canceled all athletic activities amid the widening range of safety measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic. But before the...

A former Cal (Pa.) women’s basketball standout is considered one of the country’s young, on-the-rise coaches. Kaitlynn Fratz, an assistant at Maryland, was named to the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association 30-under-30 list for the 2019-20 season. Fratz was selected for meeting the criteria of “involvement in community service, mentorship and...

The ACC announced Tuesday it is shutting down all athletic-related activities, including all competition and practices, through the end of the 2019-20 academic year. It was a unanimous decision made to mitigate the further spread of coronavirus. Each university will continue to work in accordance with its school and state...

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and the National Junior College Athletic Association waited as long as they could to make a decision on their spring sports seasons. But, like so many other organizations around the country, both were swept under the current caused by coronavirus. The NAIA and NJCAA...

In all her years of playing basketball, Penn State Beaver senior Cheyenne Lopez never cut down a net. That changed last Wednesday, and in earning that privilege, Lopez and the Lions might have become the answer to a trivia question. What was the only women’s basketball team to win a...

Shippensburg basketball standout Jake Biss had a career season, and his efforts were recognized. The junior from Latrobe was named to the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) All-Atlantic Region First Team. Biss, who was the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division Athlete of the Year, was the point guard...

Penn Hills graduate Kimani Gregory happily took on a new event as a freshman on the nationally ranked North Carolina State men’s swimming team. Gregory competed in the 100-yard breaststroke, as well as the 50 and 100 freestyles, in the ACC championship meet Feb. 26-29 in Greensboro, N.C. He ranks...

North Allegheny graduates Jack Wright and Jerry Chen were top contributors to their teams at the ACC men’s swimming championship meet Feb. 26-29 in Greensboro, N.C. Wright, a Virginia freshman, made the A final of the 200-yard freestyle, the only freshman in the 12-team field to do so. He placed...