Westmoreland campus clippings: Another Big Ten title for Penn State's Holmberg

A pair of Hempfield alums were crowned conference champions at the NCAA Division I level Saturday.

Penn State grad student Maddie Holmberg won the heptathlon at the Big Ten Championships with a score of 5,839 points. Holmberg finished first in the long jump (6.16 meters) and the 200-meter dash (24.5 seconds), took second in the shot put (13.35 meters) and 800 (2:15.11), was fifth in the 100-meter hurdles (13.7) and javelin (35.73), and finished seventh in the high jump (1.62).

DePaul sophomore Mackenna Orie won the shot put title, finished second in the discus and took sixth in the hammer throw at the Big East Championships in Geneva, Ohio. Her winning throw traveled 15.10 meters. She was named the top field athlete of the meet.

Navy: Senior Sam Orie (Hempfield) broke her school record in the hammer throw with a toss of 199 feet at the IC4A/ECAC Championships in Springfield, Mass. She finished third in the event.

•••

Softball

Alderson Broaddus: Junior Meadow Uncapher (Mt. Pleasant) was a two-way contributor this season for the Battlers (1-23). She hit .310 with 18 hits and two home runs and finished 1-6 as a pitcher, with a 4.17 ERA and 27 strikeouts.

Gannon: Junior Rebecca Tatone (Latrobe) was named to the All-PSAC West second team. She started 14 games and made 19 appearances in the circle, finishing with a career-best 11 wins, 83 strikeouts and a 2.33 ERA.

Mercyhurst: Senior outfielder Sarah Koscho (Penn-Trafford) was named to the All-PSAC West first team. Koscho had 21 extra-base hits and homered 11 times, while hitting .319 for the Lakers. She led the team with 30 RBIs and scored 20 runs.

Mt. Aloysius: Junior Lydia DeFazio (Penn-Trafford) helped the Mounties reach the AMCC championship series, where they finished runner-up to Penn State Behrend.

Mt. Aloysius won twice, 1-0 and 2-0, to take the title.

DeFazio led the Mounties with a .392 average and 30 hits to go with 18 RBIs and 17 runs. She earned All-AMCC first team honors. She was the conference’s preseason player of the year.

Pitt-Greensburg: Junior shortstop Brittany Dunn (Burrell) was named to the All-AMCC first team. Dunn led UPG with a .376 average, 12 runs, eight doubles and 22 RBIs.

Sophomore Corrin Parquette made the second team.

Saint Vincent: Three Bearcats were named to the All-PAC second team. They were sophomore outfielder Jessica Persin (Hempfield), junior outfielder Kelsey Tobin (Hempfield) and junior designated player Abbey Ginter.

•••

Baseball

Kansas State: Junior outfielder Zach Kokoska (Latrobe) continued his assault on the fences, hitting his team-leading 14th home run as the Wildcats beat Kansas, 6-2.

Penn State: Redshirt freshman Josh Spiegel (Penn-Trafford) delivered a two-run triple as the Nittany Lions (15-20) won their third straight game, 4-3 over Rutgers.

Spiegel has started 31 games and is hitting .252 with nine doubles, 19 RBIs and 16 runs.

Penn State Greater Allegheny: Sophomore Tyler Elliott (Jeannette) is hitting .329 with 20 runs and 15 RBIs for the Lions (14-11).

There also are four Norwin players on the team. Sophomore Nick Krevo had eight RBIs and three doubles in 24 games. Freshman Derek Turcovski appeared in 19 games as a two-way player and was 1-0 as a pitcher, freshman Brian Woods was hitting .420 (21 for 50) with 18 RBIs in 17 games and freshman pitcher Clay Shelander was 1-0 with a 3.94 ERA in four appearances for the Lions (14-11).

•••

Men’s soccer

Saint Vincent: Freshman Joel Quiroz Mansilla was named to the All-PAC first team. The midfielder scored a pair of goals this season for SVC (4-5).

•••

Women’s soccer

Saint Vincent: Freshman midfielder Tanisha Grewal was named to the All-PAC second team. She led the Bearcats (2-5-2) with three goals during this abbreviated season.

•••

Men’s track & field

DePaul: At the Big East Championships in Geneva, Ohio, senior Alex Murray (Hempfield) put a cap on his conference career as he finished third in the shot put, was fifth in the discus and ended up eighth in the hammer throw.

High Point: A pair of local freshmen won a conference title in their first season. Distance runners Dominic Spatolisano (Norwin) and Jake Tarosky (Norwin) were part of the program’s first Big South Conference championship.

In the finals, Tarosky finished eighth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.