A-K Valley campus clippings: Kiski Area grad Jalen Cloud among nation's best in triple jump

Jalen Cloud produced a highly successful indoor season with the Cal (Pa.) men’s track and field team, and those positive outcomes have carried over to the outdoors.

The Vulcans senior and Kiski Area graduate improved on his NCAA provisional mark in the triple jump Saturday at IUP’s Ed Fry Invitational.

He won the event with a personal record of 14.85 meters (48 feet, 8¾ inches) on his second attempt. He ranks in the top 15 on the Division II national performance list for the triple jump.

Cloud has hit the NCAA standard three times in the outdoor season.

He enjoyed a record-breaking indoor campaign and was selected the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Indoor Field Athlete of the Year.

Cloud is the first to receive such an honor in the history of Cal men’s or women’s track and field, indoor or outdoor.

He broke indoor school records in both the triple jump and long jump while collecting 22 points in the team standings at the PSAC Championships.

Track and field

Washington & Jefferson: Senior Faith Remich (Burrell) was selected the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Women’s Track Athlete of the Week after a winning performance at Saturday’s Westminster Invitational. She captured the 800-meter run in 2 minuets, 21.30 seconds, and the time matches W&J’s school record. It also currently ranks second on the league’s performance list for the season.

Senior Taylor Johnson (Burrell) helped the Presidents’ 1,600-meter relay (4:22.79) place third at the Westminster Invite. The time also ranks No. 2 in the PAC.

Baseball

Cal (Pa.): Senior infielder/pitcher Jake McCaskey is batting .398 (45 for 113) for second place on the team through 30 games this season. He owns 20 extra base hits — 10 doubles, three triples and seven home runs — and has a team-best 33 RBIs for the Vulcans (21-9, 6-5 PSAC). He has collected two or more hits in 14 games. On the mound, McCaskey is 3-0 in five appearances, all starts, with a 2.67 ERA and 34 strikeouts against 12 walks in 27 innings.

Saint Vincent: Sophomore first baseman Billy Perroz (Kiski Area) went 2 for 3 with two runs batted in and a run scored in an 11-6 victory over Thiel in the first game of a doubleheader Monday. In Game 2, he again went 2 for 3 and smacked a solo home run as the Bearcats completed the sweep with a 9-7 win. Perroz is second on the team in batting (.375) and owns 10 extra-base hits and 16 RBIs through 20 games.

IUP: Senior shortstop Markus Cestra (Plum) doubled in a run to help the Crimson Hawks top Cal (Pa.), 8-4, in a PSAC contest Monday. For the season, Cestra is batting .295 (26 of 88) with seven multi-hit games, 10 RBIs, nine doubles, two triples and two home runs for IUP (14-14, 6-5).

La Roche: Senior Jackson Rogers (Plum) earned Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Pitcher of the Week honors as he picked up his first win of the season with a complete-game shutout of Medaille College on April 2. He threw nine innings and surrendered just four hits while walking none and striking out 11 in the 4-0 triumph.

Softball

Robert Morris: Fifth-year senior outfielder Alaina York (Burrell) hit her first home run of the season for the Colonials in a 5-3 victory in Game 2 of a doubleheader against Northern Kentucky on Sunday. She now has 11 RBIs. RMU split the doubleheader to move to 18-13 overall and 7-3 in the Horizon League.

Pitt-Johnstown: Sophomore infielder Tori Radvan (Freeport) went a combined 4 for 7 with a home run in the Mountain Cats’ PSAC-opening doubleheader sweep of Slippery Rock on Monday. She is batting .500 (9 of 18) over her last six games with a double, two home runs and five RBIs. In 22 games, all starts, Radvan is batting .328 with three home runs, nine RBIs and 14 runs scored.

Men’s golf

Clarion: Sophomore Will Meyer shot a season-best round of 73 at Brown Golf Intercollegiate in Jackson Springs, N.C., to open the spring season. He finished the tournament in a tie for 33rd out of 138 golfers with a team-best two-day total of 153.

Gymnastics

West Virginia: Junior Abbie Pierson (St. Joseph) capped her season as an individual event specialist on the balance beam and floor exercise in the second round of the NCAA Norman Regional Championships on March 31. She earned a 9.9 on beam, just shy of her career best. The score placed her in a tie for third after both sessions. On floor, Pierson recorded her sixth 9.9 total of the season.

Women’s swimming

IUP: Sophomore Rachel Blackburn (Highlands) earned third-team all PSAC honors with the 200-yard freestyle relay that placed third at the league championships. She helped the relay finish in a time of 1:35.98, and the 54 points earned by the group helped the IUP women place second to West Chester in the team standings.

Men’s swimming

Gannon: Justin and Joey Decheck (Plum) were two of several WPIAL products to earn men’s PSAC honors from performances at the league championships. Justin Decheck picked up second-team honors in the 100 backstroke, while he and Joey Decheck garnered third-team honors for the Knights as part of the 200 free relay.