Westmoreland campus clippings: Seton Hill pitchers earn preseason honors

A pair of Seton Hill senior relief pitchers received preseason plaudits from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Nash Bryan was named to the first team, and Caiden Wood was an honorable mention selection.

Bryan led the PSAC with seven saves in 17 appearances and closed five postseason games. He had a 1.13 ERA in 24 innings. Wood went 6-1 and led the Griffins with six wins and a 1.07 ERA.

The Griffins won their second NCAA Atlantic Regional title last season. The team received all 14 first-place votes to take the No. 1 spot in the NCBWA Preseason Atlantic Regional Poll.

Wrestling

Washington & Jefferson: Senior Jaden Datz (Southmoreland) was named the PAC Wrestler of the Week. He went 3-0 at 174 pounds, with a pin and two major decisions, as he improved to 21-3.

Men’s tennis

Penn State: Sophomore Loren Byers (Greensburg) registered his first collegiate win, defeating Oliver Tobisch of Old Dominion, 6-3, 6-3, but the Nittany Lions dropped their spring season opener to the Monarchs, 5-2.

Men’s volleyball

Penn State: Junior 6-foot-6 opposite-side hitter John Kerr (Derry) has played 12 sets in five matches so far for the Nittany Lions (4-2).

Thiel: Freshman JC Govanucci (Norwin) had 13 kills and 13 digs as the Tomcats opened the season with a 3-1 victory over Trine.

Men’s swimming

Grove City: Senior Joe Astrab (Norwin) won the 200-yard individual medley in a time of 2 minutes, 7.62 seconds as the Wolverines took care of Washington & Jefferson, 148-63, in PAC action.

Westminster: Junior Baylee Horvath (Franklin Regional) helped the 200-yard medley relay finish second in 1:57.76 in a 169-111 loss to Saint Vincent.

Women’s swimming

Clarion: Sophomore Corina Paszek (Penn-Trafford) took second in the 400-yard individual medley in 4:47.29 at the Pidgeon Memorial Invitational.

Paszek teamed with another local product, freshman Jordan Kutchak (Norwin), to grab another runner-up finish, in the 400 free relay (3:48.80).

Saint Vincent: Junior Lauren Connors was named the PAC Swimmer of the Week. She posted three individual wins when the Bearcats defeated Westminster, 169-111. Her teammate, freshman Abby Leskovansky, was named the PAC Rookie of the Week after she won a pair of events in the victory over Westminster.

Washington & Jefferson: Sophomore Amanda Graves (Penn-Trafford) won the 100-yard backstroke (1:03.64) but the Presidents were defeated by Grove City, 151-88.

Women’s indoor track and field

Cal (Pa.): Junior Malia Anderson (Greensburg Salem) ran a leg of the winning 1,600-meter relay at the Marietta Pioneer Invitational. The foursome finished in 4:26.82. Freshman Tatum Hoffman (Ligonier Valley), meantime, achieved a PSAC qualifying mark in the high jump (5 feet, 3 inches).

Duquesne: Sophomore Emily Brozeski (Norwin) finished sixth in the long jump (17-7.5) at the Nittany Lion Challenge at Penn State.

Robert Morris: Freshman Rayna Todero (Franklin Regional) finished sixth in the triple jump (11 meters) at the Gulden Invitational at Bucknell.

Seton Hill: First-place finishers for the Griffins at the Marietta Pioneer Invitational were sophomore Sarah Gilliam (shot put), junior Alyson Taylor (300 hurdles), senior Sydney Wolf (mile), junior Darby Roth (800) and freshman Hannah Smrcka (3,000 meters).

Slippery Rock: Sophomore Katie Plassio (Norwin) posted an eighth-place finish in the 5,000-meter run at the Youngstown State Collegiate Invitational. Her time was 19:46.

Men’s indoor track and field

Allegheny: Junior Jacob King (Latrobe) won the weight throw for the Gators with a toss of 14.34 meters at the Wooster Fighting Scots Invitational.

Dickinson: Junior Luke Sternick (Hempfield) was 14th in the 400 (55.68 seconds) at the Collegeville Classic.

Saint Vincent: Sophomore Joey Bujdos won the 800 at the Marietta Pioneer Invitational with a time of 1:58.35, a qualifying mark for the All-Atlantic Region championships.

Seton Hill: The Griffins posted six first-place finishes at the Marietta Pioneer Invitational: senior Alex Martin (shot put), junior Hunter Martin (Belle Vernon) in the long and triple jumps, freshman Gabriel McConville (mile run), junior Josh Piper (Latrobe) in the 55-meter hurdles, and junior Zakharee Williams (Latrobe) in the 400.