District College category, Page 9
Saint Vincent hires Casey Goff as new football coach
Saint Vincent canvassed the country, searching far and wide for the best candidate to take over its football program. Coaches with NFL, Big Ten and NCAA Division II experience were considered, officials said. But at the end of the day, SVC was won over by a guy who got his...
After 3 decades, Rick Bertagnolli steps down as Cal (Pa.) softball coach
The man who turned Cal (Pa.) softball into a national power is leaving the dugout. Longtime coach Rick Bertagnolli is calling it a career after 30 years leading the Vulcans. The veteran leader won 71.4% of his games, compiling a record of 972-389 and leading Cal to back-to-back NCAA Division...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: GCC grad Matt Metrosky draws interest in transfer portal
Looking for a new college football team, Matt Metrosky could still end up playing close to home. The junior lineman, who was a member of the Pitt football team the last four years as a walk-on, recently entered the NCAA transfer portal and immediately got a nibble on the line....
New crop of players, new style of play have Saint Vincent women’s basketball team trending in right direction
Even a coach who has been on the bench for 15 seasons doesn’t know everything. So no one could blame Saint Vincent women’s basketball coach Jimmy Petruska if he wasn’t sure what to expect from his 2024-25 group. The previous team, which had gone 11-9 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference...
Burrell grad Brandon Coury finally getting his chance to contribute for Seton Hill men’s basketball team
Stardom in high school doesn’t always translate instantly to college. Sometimes, players who were standouts in high school have to grind just to get playing time in college. Such was the case for Burrell’s Brandon Coury. Coury was a Valley News Dispatch first-team all-star selection after his senior season, when...
Plum grads Reed Martin, Josh George set sights on NFL Draft
Plum graduates and former Mustangs football teammates Reed Martin and Josh George hope to live out their dreams of playing in the National Football League. Both recently indicated through social media posts that they will take the steps over the next couple of months to get on the radar of...
Hempfield grad Jordan Crupie excels leading off 200 medley relay for IUP women’s swimming
As a junior at Hempfield, swimmer Jordan Crupie posted a time of 57.57 seconds in the 100 backstroke. That was her personal best at the time, and she anticipated trimming a few more ticks from that mark before she headed off to IUP to continue swimming. But she remained stalled...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Norwin grad Mike Shanahan honored at Indiana
Indiana football assistant Mike Shanahan (Norwin) was named the FootballScoop Offensive Coordinator of the Year after helping the Hoosiers (11-2) reach the College Football Playoff, where they lost to Notre Dame, 27-17, in the first round. Shanahan, who played at Pitt and served as a two-year captain for the Panthers,...
Saint Vincent basketball coach D.P. Harris earns 400th career win
Back from a 10-day break, Saint Vincent knocked off the rust and helped longtime men’s basketball coach D.P. Harris to a milestone victory. Harris chalked up win No. 400 in his 19th season leading the Bearcats, who put up 39 second-half points to down visiting Adrian (Mich.), 68-57, on Monday...
Franklin Regional alum wins conference in 1st year as Penn State Behrend soccer coach
Making soccer memories is nothing new for Chris Ralph. The 2015 Franklin Regional graduate played soccer throughout school, continuing at Penn State Behrend. After a brief stint as an assistant coach for Mercyhurst men’s soccer, he joined his alma mater as an assistant before taking the reins this past season,...
In 2nd season with Saint Vincent men’s basketball team, Dev Ostrowski becoming more complete player
D.P. Harris was away from Saint Vincent for two years while he coached the St. Thomas men’s basketball team in Miami Gardens, Fla. But even while he was more than 1,100 miles from the Unity Township campus, he made a connection that would help him when he returned to the...
Kiski Area grad Seth Erwin turns IUP’s rugby club team into national powerVideo
Seth Erwin said he grew up like a lot of kids in Western Pennsylvania: with a passion for football. He was a standout at Kiski Area and, once he graduated, was prepared to continue playing football in college. But during his senior year with the Cavaliers, he suffered a compound...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Jeannette grad Marcus Barnes declares for NFL draft
Marcus Barnes always had NFL aspirations. When he was in high school, he and his teammates would talk about making it to “the league.” His father, Johnnie Barnes, was a ninth-round draft pick in 1992 and played wide receiver for the San Diego Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers, so he came...
Westmoreland Campus Clippings: Latrobe’s Holler helps Memphis win bowl game, set to turn pro
Trent Holler and Memphis smashed West Virginia. The result on the football field wasn’t terribly one-sided: Memphis 42, WVU 37. The smashing happened after the game. Following the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl, Holler, Memphis’ mammoth redshirt senior center, took a sledge hammer to a block of concrete painted with a...
Norwin grad Kate Botti making more contributions for Bethany women’s basketball team
When Kate Botti was playing for Norwin’s girls basketball team, she wasn’t called upon to score a lot of points. The Knights had plenty of that with the likes of, among others, Alyssa Laukus, Brianna Zajicek, Kendall Berger, Lauren Palangio, Ava Kobus, Jayla Wehner and Olivia Gribble. All of those...
A-K Valley Campus Clips: Freeport grad named volleyball All-American as freshman
Freeport graduate Josie Russo enjoyed a stellar high school volleyball career with all-state honors while leading the powerful Yellowjackets to PIAA gold. She made the transition to the college game this fall at Butler County Community College, and her production didn’t wane. Russo was one of just four freshmen from...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Seton Hill women’s basketball team continues to rise in rankings
The unbeaten Seton Hill women’s basketball team (10-0) jumped seven spots to No. 7 in the D2CSC poll, while remaining No. 1 in the Atlantic Region rankings. In addition, and perhaps more significantly, the Griffins vaulted seven spots to No. 14 in the WBCA Division II Coaches Poll. The 10-0...
Preparation, teamwork have Seton Hill women’s basketball team perfect after 10 games
For her second season as the Seton Hill women’s basketball coach, Maeve Gallagher wanted to increase the degree of difficulty in the Griffins’ nonconference schedule. The goal, of course, was to prepare them for the rigors of the PSAC West. So Gallagher loaded up the front of the schedule, opening...
Gateway grad Jordan Edwards steps into assistant coach role at Princeton
Jordan Edwards, a key member of the Gateway girls basketball team’s surge to the top, including helping the Gators win the WPIAL Class 5A title in 2018, is in her first season as an assistant coach for the Princeton women’s basketball team. She arrived on the Princeton campus after one...
Ferris State rallies past Slippery Rock in NCAA Division II semifinals
Kannon Katzer scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 69-yard run in the fourth quarter as No. 2 Ferris State didn’t give up a point in the second half and defeated Slippery Rock, 48-38, in the NCAA Division II semifinals Saturday. Ferris State (13-1) will meet top-seeded Valdosta State in the...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Seton Hill coach Ben Wilkins earns Division II honors
Third-year men’s basketball coach Ben Wilkins and his Seton Hill Griffins are finding ways to win again, and people are noticing. Wilkins recently was named the HoopDirt.com Division II Coach of the Week. The Griffins (9-2, 2-2 PSAC West) picked up wins over Pitt-Greensburg and Glenville State, the latter on...
Southmoreland grad Faryn Dewitt makes history for new Waynesburg women’s wrestling program
Regardless of what else she accomplishes as a college wrestler, Faryn Dewitt already has her name etched in Waynesburg history. On Nov. 3 against Cedar Crest’s Leilani Martinez at the East Stroudsburg Women’s Open, the Southmoreland grad registered the first victory in program history. Dewitt earned a 9-6 decision in...
Mount Union rallies to eliminate Carnegie Mellon from Division III playoffs
T.J. Shields passed for 218 yards on 23-of-30 passing, Tyler Echeverry rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns and the Mount Union defense sacked Carnegie Mellon quarterback Ben Mills on fourth down with 1 minute, 25 seconds left to secure a 24-19 victory Saturday in the Division III playoffs. The...
Slippery Rock avenges loss to Cal (Pa.) to earn spot in D-II football semifinals
Brayden Long sat inside a cramped, makeshift interview room high atop Cal (Pa.)’s Adamson Stadium quietly surveying his surroundings. As Slippery Rock’s record-setting quarterback swigged water from a bottle, his eyes darted back and forth as if to replay the day’s events. Thanks in large part to Long’s masterful approach,...
Latrobe grad Camille Dominick has new attitude for 2nd season with Pitt-Johnstown women’s basketball team
One hundred eighty-one days. That’s how long Camille Dominick went without playing basketball after a shoulder injury during junior high volleyball necessitated surgery and a long recovery. Not that she was counting. During the six months she was forced to sit out athletics, she realized what was most important to...
