District College category, Page 74

Division III Waynesburg named Tim Fusina its next men’s head basketball coach. A Geibel graduate and Charleroi native, Fusina coached the last two years at California Lutheran in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Previously, he coached the men’s team at Centenary in Hackettstown, N.J. for five years. “I think each experience has...

Zach Trusky saved his best for last. His freshman football season at Grove City ended with the Wolverines playing in an ECAC Bowl game — the team’s first postseason appearance in 21 years. The Bishop Canevin grad carried only three times, but he gained 52 yards and scored on a...

A pair of former Pitt-Greensburg coaches landed lead positions at new programs. Sean Strickland, who led the UPG men’s basketball team for seven years before a two-year stint as women’s associate head coach at Penn State Beaver, is the new associate head coach of the women’s program at Muskingum in...

The Akron women’s soccer team is one of the youngest at the Division I level. Only one senior is on the 2019 roster: Plum graduate Ashley Amato. Amato, entering her fourth year as a starting defender, understands her time on campus is winding down, and she wants to do whatever...

Four years ago, a young girl named Lexie Meanor from Sewickley decided she was going to attend college. Not at Robert Morris, not at Pitt, but at Whittier, about 2,000 miles from her hometown. There, she began her collegiate career in lacrosse while making a name for herself in the...

College can open you up to many new experiences. For former WPIAL champion Jason Goodman, it introduced him up to the most multi-faceted of track and field events. Goodman was one of the best jumpers to come through Hampton, capping his career with a WPIAL title in the triple jump...

Virginia redshirt senior Bridget Guy will bring home a bronze medal from Italy. Guy, a former Hempfield standout, took third place in the pole vault while competing at the World University Games in Napoli. She cleared 14 feet, 1.75 inches. Guy came into the event with the sixth-best vault of...

Jordan Geist will throw the shot put July 26 at the U.S. Track and Field Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, and he heads into the event with momentum from a gold medal and a new record at a recent meet in Mexico. Geist, who also earned All-American honors with...

Someday, Julia Menosky plans to create not just her own business but her own empire. As she approaches her senior season with the Point Park volleyball team, the Bishop Canevin grad is thinking about how to use her degree in entrepreneurship once her playing days are over. She won’t reveal...

Incoming junior Derek Orndorff is leaving the Penn State baseball program to play closer to home. Orndorff recently announced on his Twitter account that he is transferring to play at Seton Hill. A utility player who starred at Connellsville — he was a second-team all-state player who hit .542 as...

An annual homecoming weekend match will be particularly special for the Seton Hill women’s volleyball team in the fall. On Oct. 12, when the Griffins host Bloomsburg at 1 p.m., the school will retire the No. 9 jersey of fallen teammate Maggie Murray. Murray, a 2018 graduate, died as a...

Tim Banner, the first baseball coach at Chatham University, has resigned after three seasons. Banner, who coached previously at North Allegheny and Woodland Hills, posted a 20-61 career record, 5-37 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. Banner was hired in 2014, and his first team was in 2015-16. Their first conference...

Fresh off a strong junior season at Seton Hill, third baseman Tommy Pellis is honing his skills in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, touted as the premier summer league in New York. A utility infielder for the Albany Dutchmen, Pellis was named a reserve for the PGCBL All-Star Game...

Three-year assistant coach Bobby Over was promoted to head coach of the Seton Hill track & field and cross country programs. “From day one, Seton Hill has felt like home to me,” Over said. “I am very excited to be able to continue to work with the athletes that make...

This week has been a real thrill for the “Trill.” Kenny Wells, a former Seton Hill relief pitcher with the social media name, “Kenny Trill,” signed this week with the Danville Braves, the Advanced-Rookie level affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. He made his minor league debut on the Fourth of...

When it comes to playing defense on the soccer pitch, Allie Ball still is relatively new. Gifted with natural speed, she spent most of her youth as a striker and midfielder. It wasn’t until the latter part of her time with the Chartiers Valley varsity that she moved to defense....

Mark Bollinger has joined the Saint Vincent men’s basketball staff as an assistant coach for new coach Terrance Smith. Bollinger spent the past six seasons at as assistant at NCAA Division III Ohio Wesleyan. He also coached at Bluffton and was the head coach at Piedmont College. He is a...

Patrick Gumto wasn’t consistently sharp with his curveball command entering his freshman year at Cal (Pa.). Getting Division II batters out with off-speed pitches required the Shaler Area graduate to dig in his memory. Gumto, with the guidance of Vulcans pitching coach Joey Noro, worked on improving his slider, a...

Sewickley Academy graduate and Notre Dame junior track and field athlete Summer Thorpe was overawed at her first NCAA Division I outdoor championship meet June 5-8 at Texas. Thorpe (13.51 seconds) placed 22nd in the women’s 100-meter hurdles and ninth in her heat. Notre Dame tied for 30th in the...

A college coach recruits only a handful of athletes each year, so each selection is crucial. So when you can get a two-for-one deal, your job gets a lot easier. That’s what softball coach Kristen Cramer got with Haley and Hannah Dietz at Grove City, and the results are paying...

After a solid freshman season with the Slippery Rock men’s soccer team, Chartiers Valley grad Sean Tinney was prepared to take the next step. Then, he got a double dose of the unexpected. First came a coaching change. Kevin Wilhelm stepped in as interim coach after previous coach Steve Small,...

Michael Palaschak has been a PIAA volleyball official for 13 years and has worked a number of local high school matches. But now the Norwin graduate is set to take over the women’s team at Westmoreland County Community College. The school announced it has hired him as head coach. “I...

Carolyn Appleby gathered numerous accolades after a prosperous senior season on the basketball court at IUP. So, what’s one more? Appleby on Tuesday was named the IUP Women’s Senior of the Year as part of the school’s Crimson and Gray athletic awards. She also took home the school’s postseason player...

Hempfield graduate Dom Nania, who wrestled at Wheeling Jesuit and was an assistant at Hempfield and Norwin with Vince DeAugustine, was recently added to the Seton Hill coach staff. Nania was a three-time captain at Wheeling Jesuit, where he compiled 98 wins and was a two-time NCAA Division II qualifier....

The Saint Vincent College women’s softball team, fresh off a Presidents’ Athletic Conference title, announced a six-player recruiting class for the 2020 season. Four are from Westmoreland County. They are Hempfield’s Hanna Pavsek and Jessica Persin, Franklin Regional’s Mallory Halleck and Greensburg Salem’s Sydney Tressler. Pavsek was part of four...