District College category, Page 18
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Saint Vincent captures PAC wrestling title in 1st season back
It was like Saint Vincent had been here before. But if there was a feeling of deja vu, it was probably driven by adrenaline, not history. The Bearcats, who resurrected their wrestling program after nearly five decades away, cleaned up in their first Presidents’ Athletic Conference Championships. Three wrestlers won...
Former Hampton standout making waves at Gannon
Former state champion Will Retsch graduated from Hampton as one of the most decorated swimmers in program history. He didn’t need long to make a splash in college. Retsch broke the Gannon school record in the 200 individual medley less than two months into his freshman season and is following...
WPIAL scoring champ Vinnie Cugini settling into role as freshman at Pitt-Johnstown
The WPIAL’s all-time scoring leader is making his point in other ways as a freshman at Pitt-Johnstown. Former Aquinas Academy star guard Vinnie Cugini is off to an encouraging debut season at the Division II PSAC school. Cugini, who scored a WPIAL-record 3,189 points at the tiny Catholic school in...
Plum grad Phillip McNeal starts college track career by setting pair of marks for Saint Vincent
Phillip “P.J.” McNeal might have taken awhile to find his footing as a track athlete. But it didn’t take the Plum grad long to find his place in the Saint Vincent record books. In his first college indoor meet, Dec. 1 at Youngstown State, McNeal ran the 200-meter dash in...
Greensburg Salem grad Abby Mankins ups her production in 2nd season with Seton Hill women’s basketball
Abby Mankins spent most of her freshman season with the Seton Hill women’s basketball team getting adjusted to the college game. Though she appeared in all 32 games, the Greensburg Salem grad’s contributions were modest as she averaged 1.3 points in just over 10 minutes per game. So as her...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Franklin Regional’s Michael Kemerer joins Brown coaching staff
Five-time All-American wrestler Michael Kemerer, a former standout at Franklin Regional and Iowa, is joining the coaching staff at Brown. Kemerer was an NCAA finalist in 2021 at 174 pounds. In December, he posted on “X,” formerly known as Twitter, that he planned to return from competitive wrestling “after some...
Gateway grad Sarah Corrie chasing PSAC indoor shot put title
Sarah Corrie is on a mission to bring home another Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference shot put title this winter, and the Gateway graduate is on her way to again challenging for gold. The Slippery Rock standout kicked off the indoor season Dec. 2 with a runner-up finish at the Youngstown...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Latrobe grad among Duquesne’s best high jumpers
Duquesne senior Sadie Wetzel (Latrobe) moved into a tie for second place on the Dukes’ all-time performance list in the the high jump with a third-place leap of 1.72 meters at the Akron Invitational. She tied Shannon Taub, who is an assistant coach for the Dukes. Wetzel has set a...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Southmoreland’s Brandon Stone turning pro
Former Southmoreland standout Brandon Stone has left the men’s basketball team at Delaware State and has set a course for the professional level. The 6-foot-11 forward hired an agent and will pursue potential opportunities overseas. He graduated in December. Stone played two seasons at Delaware State after transferring from Robert...
Penn State New Ken men’s basketball team seeking consistency for stretch run
This season has been a roller-coaster ride for the Penn State New Kensington men’s basketball team. Now, as the season heads into its final three weeks, the Lions hope to find the consistency that has eluded them for much of the past two months. “Yes, it’s definitely been up and...
AK Valley campus clippings: Freeport grad Heilman earns preseason honors
Freeport graduate Jarrett Heilman, a senior pitcher at Mercyhurst, has been tabbed a preseason All-American for Division II by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. The righty is coming off his best season as Laker. He logged 65 innings on the mound while posting a 1.38 ERA, the third-best in...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Seton Hill baseball picked to win PSAC West
Maybe you’ve heard this one before … Another outstanding season could be in store for the Seton Hill baseball team, which went 48-13 (26-2 PSAC) last season and reached the NCAA Atlantic Super Regional. For the fourth straight year, the team is favored to win the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference...
Freeport grad Alexis Schrecongost takes off with Edinboro swimming after transferring from ToledoVideo
Like a lot of athletes, Alexis Schrecongost had visions of being a Division I athlete. During her time as a swimmer at Freeport, she proved herself worthy of competing against the nation’s best, earning a scholarship to Toledo. But Schrecongost found out that being a Division I athlete sometimes it...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: GCC grad Nate Ward transfers to Duquesne
Nate Ward is coming home. After spending four years playing soccer in the Big Ten Conference at Indiana, the former Greensburg Central Catholic standout is set to play a fifth year at Duquesne. Ward, a former TribLive Westmoreland player of the year, graduated from Indiana in December. “I had an...
Westmoreland County freshmen making immediate impact on college hardwood
When Montevallo men’s basketball coach Anthony Komara came to Landon Butler and told the true freshman he would be starting in the season opener, Butler didn’t get sweaty palms. Even if the opponent was the defending NCAA Division II national champion, Nova Southeastern, the team his brother, Bryce, faced in...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Christiane Frye hits milestone for Seton Hill women
Seton Hill senior basketball player Christiane Frye scored her 1,000th career point as the Griffins (9-7, 6-4) rallied for a 66-62 victory Saturday over visiting Mercyhurst. Frye finished with 18 points, eight in the fourth quarter, while sophomores Helene Cowan (17), Abby Mankins (Greensburg Salem, 12) and Hallie Cowan (11)...
Penn Hills graduate refines shot put training, breaks records at Seton Hill
Seton Hill sophomore Angelo Allen went into offseason training with a refined focus. The Penn Hills graduate didn’t want to do things half-cocked. Allen wanted to be deliberate and cerebral with his approach. Allen’s dedication to focusing on technique and seeking advice from more experienced throwers produced big results. Allen...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Former Norwin QB Jack Salopek picks new school
Quarterback Jack Salopek found a new home for his final two years of college football. The Norwin graduate who entered the NCAA transfer portal in November announced he will sign with Elon (N.C.), an FCS program that plays in the Colonial Athletic Association. Salopek (6-foot-3, 186 pounds) said he felt...
Seton Hill assistant coach Connor Laverty dies at 25
Seton Hill is mourning the loss of men’s basketball coach Connor Laverty. The 25-year-old second-year assistant died Friday after a battle with lymphoma. Griffins head coach Ben Wilkins said Laverty combated the illness through five rounds of chemotherapy, but contracted hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, a systematic inflammatory syndrome. The rare immune deficiency,...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: GCC grad Melina Maietta surpasses milestone
With a reputation for scoring points in bunches, big things were expected of Melina Maietta at Pitt-Greensburg when the guard transferred from Coastal Carolina. The Greensburg Central Catholic alum has not disappointed. Maietta joined the UPG women’s basketball 1,000-point club in the team’s 98-53 loss to AMCC leader La Roche....
GCC grad Bailey Kuhns makes big jump in game to help Mercyhurst women’s basketball team contend
On the desk in her office at Mercyhurst, women’s basketball coach Brooklyn Kohlheim has a notebook belonging to sophomore post player Bailey Kuhns. Inside are the Greensburg Central Catholic grad’s jottings regarding her duties on the court. The notes are neatly written, underlined, highlighted and feature little arrows drawn here...
Knoch grad Mike Formica jumps to head of pack for IUP cross country, track and fieldVideo
As devastating as the covid-19 pandemic was for many, a lucky few found silver linings. Count Knoch grad Mike Formica as one of the lucky ones. With few other things to occupy his time during lockdowns, mask mandates and travel restrictions, Formica ran. And then ran some more. Practically overnight,...
Youth St. Vincent growing, defeats Waynesburg
Thursday was Youth Wrestling Night at Saint Vincent, and that is not a reference to the young Bearcats. Saint Vincent coach Dom Nania invited numerous youth wrestling clubs from Westmoreland County to Robert A. Carey Center for the Bearcats’ Presidents’ Athletic Conference match against Waynesburg. Wrestling returned to Saint Vincent...
Point Park making plans to lift its sports programs from NAIA to NCAA Division II
Point Park University is preparing to make a jump from NAIA to NCAA Division II, with the aim of starting competition in the 2024-25 academic year. The downtown Pittsburgh university has received a formal invitation to join the NCAA Division II Mountain East Conference. “We will, of course, pursue this...
Presidents’ Athletic Conference part of 2-game bowl series planned for Canton, Ohio, next season
Two more bowl games are coming to college football in 2024, but this time it’s Division III schools with the opportunity to extend their seasons. Four Division III conferences — the Presidents’ Athletic Conference, Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, North Coast Athletic Conference and Ohio Athletic Conference — announced Tuesday the...
