Westmoreland campus clippings: Hempfield grad Tara Zollinger guides Shippensburg to 5th national title

Tara Zollinger is a national champion — again.

The Hempfield alum guided Shippensburg to its fifth national title, the third since she took over the program in 2017, as the Raiders topped West Chester, 3-0, on Sunday in the title match.

Shippensburg (20-0) was the No. 1 seed in the tournament.

Zollinger is now 8-0 in NCAA Tournament games. She also led the team to titles in 2017 and ‘18.

The team won its first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference title since 2005 and Zollinger was tabbed the conference coach of the year. She is 68-14 with the team.

Zollinger won two NCAA Division I titles as a player at Maryland, and another as an assistant coach at Syracuse.

Shippensburg has won 11 straight NCAA Tournament games.

Men’s basketball

Bethany: Junior guard Asa Klimchock (Greensburg Central Catholic) scored 21 points in a 66-55 loss to Penn State Behrend. Klimchock and the Bison will host Pitt-Greensburg Tuesday afternoon. UPG is coached by his cousin, Chris Klimchock.

West Liberty: Sophomore guard Bryce Butler (Latrobe) scored a game-high 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds to pace the Division II No. 14-ranked Hilltoppers (4-0) to a 100-70 victory over Alderson Broaddus.

York: Senior guard Sean Kelly (Penn-Trafford) is averaging 5.0 points and 3.0 assists in four starts (27 minutes per game).

Football

Grove City: Sophomore Gabe Dunlap (Penn-Trafford) had three tackles and an interception as the Wolverines toppled Utica, 49-7, to win the ECAC Scotty Whitelaw Bowl and finish the season 8-3.

John Carroll: Senior defensive back Nate Leopold (Franklin Regional) was named to the All-Ohio Athletic Conference First Team. A presence on the team since he arrived as a freshman, Leopold had 47 tackles this season from his safety spot, with three pass breakups and two interceptions.

Saint Vincent: Junior quarterback Brady Walker set a program mark for passing yards with 4,200, breaking coach and SVC alum Aaron Smetanka’s team record of 4,117 with a 301-yard effort in the Bearcats’ 38-26 loss to Farleigh-Dickinson-Florham in the season-ending James Lynah Bowl.

Walker threw for two scores in the game as the Bearcats ended the season 5-6.

Sophomore receiver Molayo Irefin, meantime, caught seven receptions for 110 yards and a score, finished with 919 receiving yards to break D.J. Oceant-Kelly’s program mark of 881 set in 2016.

Villanova: Grad tight end Todd Summers (Franklin Regional) had two catches for 38 yards as the sixth-ranked Wildcats (9-2, 7-1 Colonial Athletic Conference) topped Delaware, 21-13, to win the Battle of the Blue Trophy and, more importantly, the CAA regular season title.

The title is the first for Villanova since 2012. They earned an automatic bid to the Division I FCS Championship.

The Wildcats are the No. 5 seed and have a first-round bye in the 24-team playoff tournament.

Summers, also a key blocker, has 21 receptions for 259 yards and three touchdowns.

Another local player on the roster is freshman wide receiver Ethan Carr (Penn-Trafford).

Youngstown State: Redshirt freshman Gianni Rizzo (Norwin) is leaving YSU and announced he will transfer to Duquesne.

A linebacker, Rizzo played in five games this season and registered two tackles.

Women’s basketball

Grove City: Junior guard Megan Kallock (Greensburg Salem) was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Player of the Week. She poured in a career-high 26 points in an 87-58 victory over Houghton.

It was the third straight game in which the Saint Vincent transfer established a career high.

Senior forward Allison Podkul (Hempfield) added eight points, six rebounds and six assists in the win, while freshman guard Mara Polczynski (Norwin) chipped in five assists.

Pitt-Greensburg: Freshman Melina Maietta (Greensburg Central Catholic) scored a career-high 18 points in just her fourth game in a UPG uniform, as the Bobcats defeated Mount Union, 62-50.

Senior Isi Palamone (Franklin Regional) had 12 points to pace Mount Union.

Westminster: Senior guard Magen Polczynski (Norwin) scored a game- and career-high 24 points (9-13 FGs) and grabbed six rebounds to pace the Titans to a 69-66 victory over Carnegie Mellon.

Wrestling

Bucknell: Senior Zach Hartman (Belle Vernon) won a title at 165 pounds, finishing 5-0 with three pins, at the Navy Classic.

Sophomore Kurtis Phipps (Norwin) took fourth place at 133.

Gannon: Senior Jacob Dunlop (Belle Vernon) was named PSAC Wrestler of the Week. He took third place at 125 pounds at the Findlay Open.

A returning All-American at 133, the ninth-ranked Dunlop wrestled back after a first-round loss to win six straight matches.

Pitt: Redshirt senior 133-pounder Micky Phillippi (Derry), ranked No. 5 in the nation, bounced back from an early-season loss to No. 24 Malyke Hines of Lehigh with a 5-0 win over King Sandoval of Maryland as the 15th-ranked Panthers downed Maryland, 26-7.

Also winning for Pitt was redshirt junior Luke Kemerer (Hempfield) at 149.

Men’s swimming

Allegheny: Sophomore Payne Rizzer (Franklin Regional) finished 11th in the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 22.08 seconds at the Oberlin Invitational.

Women’s swimming

Allegheny: Freshman Jennifer Hiles (Ligonier Valley) took 13th in the 100-yard breaststroke with a mark of 1 minute, 16.66 seconds at the Oberlin Invitational.

Washington & Jefferson: Senior Kimber Randolph (Hempfield) claimed two individual wins as the Presidents defeated Pitt-Bradford, 155-41. She took the 100-yard breaststroke in 1 minute, 18.13 seconds, and the 100 butterfly in 1:09.47.

Women’s cross country

Seton Hill: The Griffins competed in the NCAA Division II national championships for the second year in a row, finishing 32nd our of 34 teams in St. Leo, Fla.

Senior Sydney Wolf finished 129th in 22:31.9.