A-K Valley campus clippings: KA grad Kuhn earns All-American honors for Slippery Rock

On the heels of one of the most successful seasons in Slippery Rock football history, several members of the team were honored with selection to the Associated Press Division II All-America team.

Kiski Area grad Chad Kuhn, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound redshirt junior defensive lineman, was a second-team pick after he led the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and finished ninth in the nation in sacks with 11 1/2. That total was the sixth most in a season in the history of Slippery Rock football.

Kuhn finished the season with 17 tackles for loss and was fifth overall on the Rock defense with 58 tackles to go with two forced fumbles and a team-high 11 quarterback hurries.

Kuhn adds his AP honor to similar All-American recognition from the D2 College Coaches Association. He also earned selection to the D2CCA All-Region and All-PSAC West first teams.

Slippery Rock finished the 2019 season 13-1 overall, its best record in program history. The Rock suffered a 58-15 loss to Minnesota State in the NCAA semifinals Dec. 14.

Allegheny: Chase Balla (Valley) earned a spot on the D3football.com All-North Region Third Team as a kick returner after a season that saw the junior rank fourth in the North Coast Athletic Conference with a 23.9-yard average on 20 kick returns. Balla was a first-team All-NCAC pick at linebacker and kick returner. He ranked third on the team in tackles (77) and second in tackles for a loss (9.5).

Indoor track and field

Pitt: Nikki Scherer (Burrell) kicked off her 2019-20 indoor season in style earlier this month with a second-place finish in the 400-meter dash at the Youngstown State Ice Breaker. Scherer led four Panthers runners in the top six with a time of 54.28 seconds. The time surpassed the previous meet record of 54.86 established in 2013 and was one one-hundredth of a second behind event winner Bethany Evankovich, a senior from Duquesne. It also was more than a second and a half faster than her 400 time at last year’s YSU meet (55.85).

Chatham: Carlee Domke (Plum) broke 10 seconds and placed sixth in the 60 hurdles at the Mount Union Indoor Invitational on Dec. 7. She recorded a preliminary time of 10.12 seconds then lowered it to 9.97 in the finals. Domke also teamed with fellow Mustangs alum Cara DeGrano in taking second in the 800 relay (1:55.30).

Point Park: Kiera Cutright (Deer Lakes) made her collegiate track and field debut at the Mount Union Invitational and reached the finals of the 60 hurdles. The two-time WPIAL Class AA 300 hurdles champion placed ninth with a time of 10.60 seconds. She also helped the Pioneer women win the 1,600 relay (4:38.67).

Wrestling

Bucknell: Noah Levett (Kiski Area) won a 10-5 decision at 141 pounds to help Bucknell defeat Bloomsburg, 24-13, in a nonconference matchup Dec. 5. Levett rallied in his match and took the lead for good with a takedown and two back points.

The sophomore is 6-5 overall this season and 2-1 in duals. Two days after the Bloomsburg match, he went 3-2 at the Patriot Open at George Mason with a pin and two decision victories.

Women’s Basketball

Saint Vincent: Kayla Slovenec (Fox Chapel) is averaging 7.7 points and 4.3 rebounds as a starting senior guard for a Bearcats team that is 6-3 overall and 2-0 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. She scored 10 points in Friday’s 72-71 nonconference loss to Gettysburg. Slovenec, a fourth-year starter, scored a season-best 13 points in a key 82-71 overtime PAC victory over Grove City on Dec. 7.

Mercyhurst: Despite missing the past two games because of injury, Eliza Oswalt (Burrell) has been a key player for the Lakers. In eight games, two of them starts, the 5-foot-7 junior guard averaged 8.3 points and 3.1 rebounds and was 20 of 24 (83.3%) from the free throw line. She recorded a season-best 20 points off the bench in Mercyhurst’s 76-69 PSAC victory over Millersville on Nov. 23.

Men’s Basketball

Chatham: Shawn Erceg (Highlands) started all 10 games for the Cougars (7-3 overall) heading into Saturday’s matchup with Carnegie Mellon, and the 6-5 sophomore forward was averaging 4.7 points and 4.6 rebounds. His season highs of 10 points and nine rebounds came in a Nov. 26 victory over Penn State Greater Allegheny.