Westmoreland campus clippings: Saint Vincent's Lauren Connors shines at PAC meet

Saint Vincent made quite a splash at the Presidents’ Athletic Conference women’s swimming and diving championships.

Junior Lauren Connors won four individual championships and earned the meet’s most valuable performer, the first woman in team history to earn the honor.

The Bearcats’ Josh Gurekovich, meantime, was named PAC coach of the year.

Saint Vincent collected 765.5 points to finish second in the team standings, matching its best finish at the finals in program history.

Connors won the 200-yard backstroke for the third straight season in a time of 2:07.20, the 200 individual medley (2:12.94), and the 100 backstroke (58.37 seconds).

Steele won the 50 freestyle (24.21), and junior Sara Basala took the 100 breaststroke (1:07.47).

Also for the Bearcats, freshman Madison Cassidy (Greensburg Salem) won the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:28.39, while another freshman, Sarah Alexander, won the 1,650-yard freestyle in 18 minutes, 34.65 seconds.

The 200 freestyle relay of junior Erica Steele (Greensburg Salem), Connors, junior Cara Luallen and junior Katie Kozy also posted a win in a school-record mark of 1:35.56.

Men’s basketball

La Roche: Freshman Kadyn Hannah (Franklin Regional) was named the AMCC Athlete of the Week after playing well in a pair of wins. He tallied 32 points and 13 rebounds in a win over Alfred State, and added 17 points and nine rebounds against Mt. Aloysius.

Women’s swimming

Grove City: The Wolverines’ PAC title winning 200-yard freestyle relay featured Junior Erica Steele (Greensburg Salem). The team finished in a time of 1:35.66.

Washington & Jefferson: Senior Kimber Randolph (Hempfield) and sophomore Amanda Graves (Penn-Trafford) were teammates on the 200-yard medley relay that took fourth at the PAC Championships in 1:57.62.

Graves added an eighth-place finish in the 100 backstroke (1:03.09) and took fifth in the 100 butterfly (1:00.86).

Randolph was seventh in the 100 breaststroke (1:13.36) and eighth in the 400 individual medley (5:18.63).

Randolph and Graves also were part of the 400 medley relay that came in fourth (4:16.94).

Westminster: Junior Baylee Horvath (Franklin Regional) swam a leg of the second-place 800-yard freestyle relay at the PAC Championships. The team touched the wall in 8:13.30.

Horvath also was a member of the third-place 200 freestyle relay in 1:43.05.

Men’s indoor track and field

Allegheny: Junior Jacob King (Latrobe) took second in the shot put with a toss of 13.11 meters, and also placed fourth in the weight-throw (14.88) at the Baldwin Wallace Mid-February Meet.

Grove City: Freshman Joe Whipkey (Penn-Trafford) finished eighth in the mile-run in a time of 4 minutes, 40.86 seconds at the Baldwin Wallace Mid-February Meet.

Thiel: Junior Isaac Evans (Belle Vernon) took second with the 1,600-meter relay team in 3:38.74 at the Baldwin Wallace Mid-February Meet.

Saint Vincent: Sophomore Tim Patterson was named the PAC Rookie of the Week. Patterson won two distance races at the Baldwin Wallace Mid-February Meet, taking the 3,000-meter run in 8 minutes, 58.83 seconds, and followed with a win in the 5,000-meter run in 15:38.57, a program indoor record.

Seton Hill: Freshman Gabriel McConville broke a school record in the mile with a time of 4:19.47 and finished sixth at the Doug Raymond National Qualifier.

Washington & Jefferson: Freshman Hayden O’Bryon (Norwin) took sixth in the triple jump with a mark of 12.09 meters at the Baldwin Wallace Mid-February Meet.

Women’s indoor track and field

Clarion: Junior Jenna Uncapher (Hempfield) placed third in the 55-meter hurdles (9.16 seconds) and added another bronze in the 400-meter run (1:04.33) at the Baldwin Wallace Mid-February Meet in Ohio.

Saint Vincent: Senior Sydney Green (Latrobe) was the runner-up in the mile (5:22.38) and finished fourth in the 800 (2:30.45) at the Baldwin Wallace Mid-February Meet.

Seton Hill: Senior Sydney Wolf finished second in the mile (5:07.79) and fourth in the 800 (2:17.71) at the Doug Raymond National Qualifier.

Waynesburg: At the Baldwin Wallace Mid-February Meet, sophomore Joula Anderson (Greensburg Salem) was 15th in the 1,000-meter run in a time of 5:53.65.

Baseball

Allegheny: Junior Bobby Kusinsky (Penn-Trafford) was named the NCAC Pitcher of the Week. He pitched five quality innings in relief to earn the win as the Gators defeated Brevard, 11-9.

Kusinsky allowed one earned run in five innings.

Men’s lacrosse

Seton Hill: Grad attacker McGarity Harper had four goals and two assists, grad midfielder Thomas Hanulak had three goals and two assists, and freshman Colin Socker added three goals as the Griffins defeated Molloy, 18-5.

Men’s golf

West Virginia: Fifth-year senior Mark Goetz (The Kiski School/Greensburg) placed 10th with a 2-under-par total of 208 at the Gators Invitational in Gainesville, Fla. He carded rounds of 69, 69 and 70 at Mark Bostick Golf Course.

The Mountaineers finished 10th.

Women’s bowling

Saint Vincent: Sophomore Monique Koehler was named the AMCC Bowler of the Week after helping the Bearcats to an 8-0 week. She averaged 203.3 at the two-day AMCC Round Robin in Bradford, with a strike average of 53.3 (32 for 60).

She rolled a career-best 236 in a win over New Jersey City.