District College category, Page 13
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Former Seton Hill basketball player headed to Greece
From Seton Hill to Alabama to Greece, basketball is taking Samuel Tabe around the globe. Tabe, a former go-to scorer at Seton Hill, signed to play professionally with AE Psychiko Athens of the Greek Elite League. The 6-foot-5 guard played his last college season at South Alabama, a Division I...
From gridiron to groundstrokes, Kyle Murray uses athleticism to tackle 2 sports at Saint Vincent
When asked about Kyle Murray’s skills as a tennis player, Saint Vincent coach Brian Niemiec readily admits the rising junior isn’t the most polished. Murray admits it, too. And yet, what Murray might lack in technical proficiency, he makes up for with athleticism and tenacity. Niemiec recalled a match last...
Deer Lakes grad Madison Friess named captain for Pitt-Greensburg women’s volleyball after huge freshman season
Pitt-Greensburg women’s volleyball coach Kevin Conroy didn’t wait long to name one of his captains for the 2024 season. Immediately after the 2023 season concluded — the Bobcats went 6-21 overall and 3-6 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference — he pulled freshman Madison Friess aside. The job was hers,...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Franklin Regional grad Dan Luko transfers to Grove City
Seeking a better comfort zone and opportunity to play, Franklin Regional baseball alum Dan Luko announced he plans to transfer from John Carroll to Grove City. Luko was one of 63 players on the JCU roster and more were expected to be added. He did not appear in a game...
Despite health issues, Seton Hill volleyball’s Catie Flohr raked in accolades, now turns to sophomore season
Catie Flohr loves a challenge. Like seeing a blocker — or blockers — elevate on the opposite side of the volleyball net. Like refurbishing a tractor. Over the summer, the Seton Hill middle hitter helped with the restoration of a decades-old Massey Ferguson tractor. With boyfriend Anthony Lehoski, a rising...
Plum grad Luke Gildea heads into final season with Slippery Rock men’s soccer hoping to lead The Rock to postseasonVideo
Luke Gildea has to laugh. He has no choice. Even he admits the nickname he received from his Slippery Rock men’s soccer teammates, Gramps, is fitting. The Plum grad is the oldest player on the team, the last of his class who came in during the covid year (2020-21). At...
Slippery Rock picked No. 1 in PSAC-West football preseason poll
Fresh of a trip to the NCAA Division II quarterfinals last season, Slippery Rock was tabbed the preseason favorite in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division. The Rock received six first-place votes in the PSAC-West preseason poll conducted by the conference’s coaches. Slippery Rock returns plenty of talent after...
Things looking up for Presidents’ Athletic Conference; Grove City picked to repeat
Things are changing for the good in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. The conference will grow to 12 teams beginning in 2025-26 when Hiram returns as a full-time member. Conference President Joe Onderko discussed Tuesday at the PAC Media Day at Saint Vincent College the conference’s plan next year to divide...
Hempfield grad Sydney Patrick leads Slippery Rock women’s soccer into 2024 season eager to finish big
In her day, 10th-year Slippery Rock women’s soccer coach Jessica Giegucz was a pretty fair player. She was a four-time all-conference forward who amassed 34 goals and 20 assists in her career at Division III Dickinson. But ask Giegucz to compare herself to current Rock forward Sydney Patrick, and she...
Apollo-Ridge grad Jake Nulph, Edinboro football eager to start 2024 season fresh after injury-plagued ’23
There might have been times last fall when Edinboro football coach Jake Nulph considered resorting to unconventional measures. Throwing salt over his shoulder. Wearing a necklace made from garlic. Hanging a horseshoe in his office. Consulting a shaman. Surely the Apollo-Ridge grad had run afoul of the gridiron gods. How...
Saint Vincent names D.P. Harris full-time athletic director
Saint Vincent ensured stability in its sports programs with the promotion of D.P. Harris to full-time athletic director. Harris, who will continue as the men’s basketball coach, had served as interim AD for the past year. SVC president Father Paul Taylor, O.S.B. called the move a “pivotal decision.” “He has...
Jeannette grad Toby Cline in line to play big role for Edinboro football, which looks for a turnaround season
Though he graduated from Apollo-Ridge, Jake Nulph has an appreciation for the type of football played at Jeannette. The program’s tradition of producing athletic players who also are hard-nosed isn’t lost on the fifth-year Edinboro coach. So it’s easy to understand why Nulph is enamored with senior safety Toby Cline....
Kiski Area grad Alyssa Poleski leads charge as Mercyhurst women’s soccer moves to Division I
When Rich Wall arrived to take over the Mercyhurst women’s soccer program in December 2022, Kiski Area grad Alyssa Poleski wasted no time in making an impression. Wall remembers it vividly. In his first January 2023 training session with the players, he put them through a fitness test, and rising...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Jeannette grad Marcus Barnes on East-West Shine Bowl watch list
Expectations are high for Jeannette alum Marcus Barnes, who is primed for his senior football season at William & Mary. A safety, Barnes was selected to the East-West Shrine Bowl 1,000, a watch list for the annual senior all-star game set for Jan. 30 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas....
Norwin alum Noah Czajkowski commits to Pitt baseball team
When he put his name into the national free-agent database known as the NCAA transfer portal, pitcher Noah Czajkowski hoped to garner interest from Division I baseball programs nearer to where he grew up. That one such suitor was Pitt came as a pleasant surprise and a welcome bonus. Czajkowski,...
RB Ky’Ron Craggette wants to be Seton Hill football’s ‘No. 1’ option after breakthrough seasonVideo
When Dan Day took over as football coach at Seton Hill in 2019, he inherited a program that had mostly struggled since its inception in 2005. The former Griffins offensive lineman wanted to do everything possible to create a winning culture. One of the ideas Day and his staff hatched...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Julie Bolden named UPG’s women’s basketball coach
Pitt-Greensburg has a new women’s basketball coach. Julie Bolden will take over the Bobcats after two seasons as an assistant and recruiting director at Division I Dayton. She also worked as a video coordinator at Hofstra for one year. An Ohio native, Bolden replaces Darien Lantz, who coached for two...
Seton Hill, WVU pitchers chosen on 3rd day of MLB Draft
Two pitchers from district universities were drafted Tuesday on the third day of the MLB Draft. Seton Hill right-handed pitcher Aidan Layton, a graduate of Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, was chosen by the Oakland Athletics at No. 496 overall, the first pick in the 17th round. At 6-2,...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Norwin grad up for NCAA Woman of the Year award
Duquesne’s Emily Brozeski (Norwin) is one of 17 graduating student-athletes from the Atlantic 10 Conference nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year award. A track and field standout, Brozeski will look to advance with the winner’s fate in the hands of a selection committee. The NCAA award originated in...
Heading into her 40th season, Saint Vincent women’s volleyball coach Sue Hozak remains enthusiasticVideo
A few lines of type. That’s what started Sue Hozak down the road to a long and distinguished coaching career at Saint Vincent. Hozak has been at the helm of the Bearcats women’s volleyball team since its inception in 1985, and this fall, she begins her 40th season on the...
Jeannette’s Ciara Gregory soars to coaching position at Kentucky
The astonishment of what she is doing, the gravity of the situation she finds herself in, is not lost on Kentucky assistant women’s basketball coach Ciara Gregory. Sometimes at practice, she looks around Rupp Arena and pinches herself. The dream-chasing kid from Jeannette continues her ascent in the college coaching...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Norwin grads Ty Stecko, Noah Czajkowski transferring
A pair of former Norwin baseball players from the class of 2022 are changing college programs. Both tested the waters of the NCAA transfer portal. Ty Stecko, who began his college career at Mount St. Mary’s, recently announced a commitment to Eastern Michigan. The rising junior infielder leaves the Metro-Atlantic...
Freeport grad Ben Perka working toward another season of improvements for Geneva cross country, track and field
Asked what kind of music he listens to during training runs, Ben Perka pauses. His tastes in music are varied, and he doesn’t really have a go-to. Just put in the ear buds and hit shuffle. Perka needs something to keep him energized during the scores of miles he covers...
College notebook: Latrobe grad Butler set for 3×3 Nations League Americas tournament
Bryce Butler has shown over the years that he is made for big moments on the basketball court. Whether he’s finding ways to score, creating offense off the ball or setting up teammates, the Latrobe product is an all-around talent. Which makes the college graduate an ideal pick for the...
Tim Keefer stepping down as Carlow men’s basketball coach after 10 seasons
Results, Tim Keefer said, did not always come in the form of wins and losses on the court. The only men’s basketball coach in Carlow University history didn’t try to squeeze everything into one bay. A narrow thinker he is not; a bloodhound who detects the hardest workers on the...
