A-K Valley campus clippings: Burrell's Scherer off to fast start at Pitt

Nikki Scherer got off to a fast start in the new year.

The former Burrell track and field star, a sophomore at Pitt, won the 400-meter run at Saturday’s Nittany Lion Challenge at Penn State.

Scherer ran a season-best time of 56.23 seconds to claim Pitt’s lone individual title at the meet.

Freshman Caelan Miller (Fox Chapel) teamed with Emily Burd, Erin Keelan and Erin O’Connell to claim first place in the 3,200 relay with a time of 9 minutes, 26.35 seconds.

Waynesburg: Sophomore Ryan VanTine (Valley) finished second out of 22 competitors in the shot put at Saturday’s Marty Pushkin Track Classic at West Virginia. VanTine’s 12.64-meter throw was tops of all Division III competitors.

Men’s basketball

Allegheny: Senior Billy Urso (Fox Chapel) dished out a season-high nine assists and committed just one turnover in a 98-95 win over Denison on Saturday.

Penn State New Kensington: The Local Lions began the year with three consecutive losses in Penn State Unversity Athletic Conference play, dropping a road game at Penn State Fayette and home games with Penn State Beaver and Penn State Greater Allegheny. Junior Jamison Nee (Highlands) scored a team-high 23 points and had seven rebounds in a 115-85 loss at Penn State Fayette.

Women’s basketball

IUP: Junior Natalie Myers (Burrell) had her best game of the season in Saturday’s 90-54 win over Slippery Rock. Myers posted a double-double (16 points and 12 assists), hitting four 3-pointers with three blocked shots.

St. Francis (Pa.): Senior Courtney Zezza (Plum) tied a career high with eight blocks in Saturday’s 80-66 win at LIU Brooklyn, bringing her season total to 43 (2.9 per game). She added eight points and 10 rebounds in the victory.

Swimming

Allegheny: Freshman Megan Munzek (Kiski Area) placed second in the 100-yard backstroke in the Gators’ 227-61 win over Saint Vincent, touching the wall in 1:08.76.

Wrestling

Penn State: A week after becoming the program’s all-time record holder in pins, senior Jason Nolf (Kittanning) earned his 100th career victory with a 19-7 victory over No. 3 Ryan Deakins of Northwestern in the 157-pound bout of the Nittany Lions’ 33-8 dual meet win Friday. Nolf added a 101st win with a technical fall over Wisconsin’s Devin Bahr in Penn State’s 24-13 win Sunday.

Pitt-Johnstown: Sophomore Matt Siszka (Kiski Area) and senior Corey Falleroni (Burrell) were two of five UPJ wrestlers to record pins in the team’s 49-3 win over East Stroudsburg. Siszka pinned Jared Altan at 133 pounds and Falleroni pinned Marquan Payne at 157 pounds. Senior Steve Edwards (Burrell) won by a 12-0 major decision over Collin Stevens at 174 pounds.

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Doug at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.