A-K Valley campus clippings: Another top honor for Knoch grad Jordan Geist at Arizona

Jordan Geist enjoyed another banner season in the throwing events for the University of Arizona.

The Knoch graduate and Wildcats junior picked up his third Pac-12 postseason award, earning Men’s Field Athlete of the Year for the second time (also in 2019).

Geist also was named Men’s Freshman of the Year in 2018.

He returned this spring and added nationally ranked distances in the hammer throw to his already high marks in the shot and discus.

Geist won his third consecutive Pac-12 shot put title with a season-best of 66 feet, 9.25 inches.

The distance ranked him fifth in the NCAA.

He also finished runner-up in the hammer throw with a personal-best of 235-6. It was the second-best toss in school history and ranks seventh in the NCAA.

Up next for Geist is the NCAA West Region Preliminaries on May 27 at Texas A&M.

He finished third in the shot put at the 2019 NCAA championships (20.31 meters). He was fifth in 2018 (20.32).

Leia Ross (Fox Chapel)

The Edinboro freshman earned first-team All-PSAC honors because of her conference title in the 100-yard backstroke with a school-record time of 56.74 seconds April 24 in York. Ross also earned a pair of third-team honors based on helping the 200 medley relay (1:48.04) and 200 free relay (1:38.04) pick up bronze medals. Ross added to her PSAC haul in her championships debut with a fourth-place finish (2:05.69) in the 200-yard backstroke.

Brittany Dunn (Burrell)

The Pitt-Greensburg junior shortstop earned first-team All-Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference honors. This is Dunn’s first all-conference selection. In 28 games (26 starts), she led the team with a .376 average (32 of 85) with 13 runs, eight doubles, one triple and a team-high 22 RBI. She had nine multi-hit games and seven games with two or more RBIs.

Abbegail Froehlich (Plum)

The Westminster sophomore pitched three innings of scoreless relief in the Titans’ 1-0 loss to Bethany in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference elimination game May 8. She surrendered four hits and walked none while striking out two. Froehlich appeared in seven games (one start) and went 1-0 with a 0.46 earned-run average in 15 1/3 innings.

Jocelyn Gillette (Highlands)

The senior defender on the Westminster soccer team earned first-team All-Presidents’ Athletic Conference honors after helping the Titans defense post the best goals-against average (0.37) in the conference and the fewest amount of goals (four) over 10 games (6-1-3). It is Gillette’s third all-conference selection and second to the first team. Westminster lost to Chatham, 4-2, on penalty kicks in the PAC semifinals.

Libby Conlon (Knoch)

The Washington & Jefferson freshman made an impact for the tennis team in her collegiate debut. She earned Presidents’ Athletic Conference honorable-mention selection for her efforts at fifth and sixth singles. Conlon went 5-0 on the season with three wins at No. 5 singles and two more at No. 6.

Nikki Scherer (Burrell)

The Pitt sprinter will run the 400-meter dash at the NCAA East Preliminary on May 27 in Jacksonville. She owns a season-best and personal-record 53.75 seconds in winning the event at the Tennessee Relays on April 11. She was 12th at the ACC Championships (54.95).

Maria Taliani (Deer Lakes)

The Gannon senior outfielder earned Division II College Coaches Association All-Atlantic Region second-team honors. Taliani became the fourth player in program history to earn that recognition. She finished the season with a .391 batting average and a team-best 54 hits while also leading the team in doubles (12).

Allison DeJidas (Freeport)

In her first season with the Mercyhurst soccer team, DeJidas picked up Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West second-team recognition at first base. She batted .339 with eight home runs and six doubles. She recorded a .409 on-base percentage, drove in 25 runs and scored 20.

Jake McCaskey, Anthony Venezia (Deer Lakes)

McCaskey, a junior shortstop, and Venezia, a senior utility player, represents Cal (Pa.) as first-team All-PSAC West selections. McCaskey led the PSAC with 48 RBIs and finished seventh with 10 home runs. His .357 batting average led the team. Venezia split 41 starts between shortstop and second base. He led the team and finished third in the league with 18 stolen bases. He also was second on the team with 35 runs scored.

Payton Goodwin (Plum)

The Westminster sophomore midfielder assisted on his team’s lone goal in a 2-1 loss to Washington & Jefferson in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference championship game April 30. The Titans finished their spring season 6-4 overall. Goodwin started nine of the 10 games and also scored in a 3-1 win over Chatham on April 9.