Westmoreland County campus clippings: Penn-Trafford grad Horvat named Student-Athlete of the Year

Recent Washington & Jefferson graduate Tyler Horvat (Penn-Trafford), known for being one of the top utility baseball players in NCAA Division III, was named the Division III Commissioner’s Association Region VII Student-Athlete of the Year.

He is now eligible for the national DIIICA Athlete of the Year award, which will be announced later this month.

A finance major, Horvat had a 3.99 grade-point average and was the salutatorian for the Class of 2023.

A pitcher and outfielder for the Presidents, Horvat is a five-time All-American, earning the distinction from the American Baseball Coaches Association and D3baseball.com.

He also is a three-time academic All-American and was selected as the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Team Member of the Year as the top student-athlete in Division III baseball.

Horvat was both the PAC pitcher and player of the year. He had an 11-3 pitching record with 82 strikeouts in 93 1/3 innings, while tallying a program-record 29 career wins.

He also batted .387 with 54 runs and set school records with 30 stolen bases in a season and 62 for his career.

Horvat plans to play one more season, at Division I Bryant, where he will pursue a master’s in business administration.

Women’s soccer

Robert Morris: Sophomore forwards Malia Kearns (Penn-Trafford) and Paloma Swankler (Norwin) started the season opener for the Colonials, a 3-0 win over Virginia Military Institute.

Kearns had an assist and played 75 minutes, and Swankler had a pair of shots over 43 minutes of action.

Women’s basketball

Allegheny: A Saint Vincent alum and former player and coach is joining the staff at Allegheny.

Christina Davis, who began her coaching career with the Point Park men’s team, is set to begin a new coaching venture.

Davis played at Ford City and was later on an SVC team that finished 23-5 and won a PAC title.

Westmoreland County Community College: James Brymn resigned as head coach of the Wolfpack women after five years at the post.

Brymn actually coached for only three seasons, however: The Wolfpack could not compete in 2018-19 because of a shortage of players, and the 2020-21 season was wiped out by covid-19.

He finished with a record of 11-43.

Brymn said with WCCC joining National Junior College Athletic Association Division II, meaning more travel and weekend games, his work schedule would no longer allow him to coach.

Women’s cross country

Seton Hill: The university named Sarah Fowler head coach.

Fowler was the head cross country coach for two seasons at Minot State (N.D.) after coaching as an assistant at Illinois-Springfield and working as a volunteer assistant at Nebraska.

A decorated runner, she was a nine-time national qualifier and six-time All-American at Ohio Wesleyan.

She was a two-time North Coast Athletic Conference Runner of the Year.

Fowler also won eight individual track titles in the NCAC, to go with six team championships, and was the NCAC Runner of the Year in 2017.

Fowler also will serve as an assistant for the track and field teams.

“From our very first conversation, I could tell this university is a great place to be,” Fowler said in a news release. “Every person I spoke to was extremely welcoming, helpful, eager and positive. I can’t wait to contribute to this environment and to help grow the cross country and track programs.”