W&J to induct 6

Washington & Jefferson has announced six new members who will be inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame. The 2013 class features Tom Benic (wrestling), Carrie Banaszak (volleyball), E. Lee North (Robert M. Murphy Award Winner), Kaitlyn Orstein (swimming), Frank Pilato (football) and James White (wrestling and tennis coach).
The induction ceremony will take place Oct. 11 in the Rossin Campus Center Allen Ballroom. The 2013 induction class also will be recognized at halftime of the Presidents’ football game against Thomas More the following evening at Cameron Stadium.
Benic (Class of 1967) finished his career with 50 victories in 59 matches, which is the fourth-best career winning percentage in W&J wrestling history. Benic won Presidents’ Athletic Conference championships in 1965, ‘66 and ‘67. At the time of his graduation, he was only the second President to win three league titles. Since then, only eight others have accomplished the feat.
Banaszak (1999) played two years of volleyball for the Presidents after transferring from Westminster. She became one of NCAA Division III’s top players, leading the Presidents to a 55-10 record and two PAC championships. She also led W&J to a pair of ECAC Division III tournament titles, the first two in program history. The 1998 CoSIDA Academic All-American and ECAC tournament MVP, Banaszak finished with 613 kills (.439 hitting percentage) and 180 blocks.
North (1946) wrote the definitive book on Washington & Jefferson football, “Battling The Indians, Panthers, and Nittany Lions”. The book, which chronicled the first 100 years of Presidents football, was published in 1991 and described in detail many of the people and stories W&J is so proud of today. Following graduation, North, who was a Red & Black editor as a student, spent two years as the school’s publicity director and has written 13 books.
Orstein (2008) dominated NCAA Division III swimming during her four years as a President. She won eight national championships, including the 200 individual medley (2005, ’07 and ’08), 400 individual medley (’05 and ’06), 200 breaststroke (’07 and ’08) and 100 breaststroke (’08). She holds the national record in the 200 IM (2:00.27) and finished her career as a 14-time All-American. A 25-time PAC champion, Orstein set 10 conference records.
Pilato (2005) is one of 10 football players in W&J history to earn Associated Press Little All-America status. He is also just one of two players to be twice named to the American Football Coaches Association Division III All-America Team. Pilato holds the W&J record with 18 interceptions despite not moving to the safety position until his sophomore year. The Presidents posted a 41-7 record with Pilato and his teams made three NCAA Division III playoff appearances, including a school-record 12 victories in 2004 as W&J advanced to the national quarterfinals.
White spent 33 years as a head coach at W&J in wrestling and tennis. A 1994 inductee into the Washington-Greene chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, White retired with the most combined victories as a W&J head coach (576) and has only been passed by 2012 inductee Vicki Staton. White led the wrestling program to three PAC titles (1965, ’66 and ‘95), while guiding the tennis team to four league championships (1967, ‘68, ’69 and ‘86). White coached 25 PAC individual champions, five NCAA All-Americans and two of the college’s 36 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans.
For more information on attending the induction ceremony, contact the W&J athletic office at 724-223-6054.

Pitt's ACC basketball opponents determined

Pitt’s inaugural season in the Atlantic Coast Conference will feature home games against both Duke and Syracuse as the league announced its opponents and game sites for the 2013-14 men’s basketball season Tuesday.

Pitt will open Atlantic Coast Conference play next year with an 18-game regular season schedule and will face each of the possible 14 opponents at least once. Additionally, Pitt will face four of those schools on two occasions: Clemson, Maryland, North Carolina State and Syracuse.

Pitt will play nine home games and nine away contests during league regular season competition. Home opponents at the Petersen Events Center will include Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Maryland, North Carolina State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Syracuse. Pitt will host Duke for the first time since January 26, 1980.

The Panthers’ 2013-14 road opponents are Clemson, Boston College, Maryland, Miami, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Notre Dame and Syracuse.

The 2014 ACC men’s basketball tournament is scheduled for March 12-16 at Greensboro Coliseum.
Pitt’s entire 2013-14 men’s basketball schedule will be released at a later date.

New look for WVU

West Virginia's football team will have a new look on next season, and we're not talking about having to replace Geno Smith at quarterback. The Mountaineers will be wearing new uniforms. Check 'em out ....

http://www.nikeblog.com/2013/04/20/new-west-virginia-football-uniforms-2/

Cal women's golf wins 19-team tournament

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- California University won its third team women's golf title of the season, and the first of the spring campaign, by winning the NC4K Classic by one stroke on Monday afternoon.
The Cal women's team tied for the lowest score in the final round, finishing at 61-over 637 (313-324) after entering Monday in second place in the team standings. Grand Valley State placed second with a 62-over 638 (310-328).
Senior Maria Lopez of Bogota, Colombia, led the Vulcans and placed fourth overall with an 11-over 155 (75-80). Fellow seniors Kim Thomas of Bel Air, Md., and Lorena Aranda of Trujillo, Peru, finished tied for 10th place at 16-over 160.

Waynesburg women win CMU Mini-Invite

The Waynesburg University women’s track & field team won the five-team Carnegie Mellon Mini-Invite Saturday with 171 points, 42 more than the host team, which placed second.

The Yellow Jackets were led by senior Carly Schubert (pictured) and junior Rebecca Rapp, who placed one-two in the discus and qualified for the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships. Schubert won the event with a top throw of 36.76 meters (120-7) and Rapp followed closely behind at 36.53 meters (119-10).

Schubert was also tops in the 19-woman shot put, which she won with a throw of 11.45 meters (37-6.75). Waynesburg added another top-three performance in the event as junior Megan Sowers took the bronze at 10.70 meters (35-1.25). For the second-straight week, Sowers dominated in her specialty, the javelin, winning by a remarkable 10.93 meters with a toss of 40.07 meters (131-05).

Senior Rhea Huwe had a productive day in the sprints, winning both the 100 and 200-meter dashes. She posted times of 13.13 seconds and 27.18 seconds and was also part of the Yellow Jackets' 4x100-meter relay squad. That quartet was completed by sophomore Ashley Cole, sophomore Amanda Hobe and senior Lauren Wagner. Cole also was second in the 100-meter hurdles (16.8) and third in the 400-meter hurdles (1:11.05).

 

The Yellow Jacket runners got a victory from senior Megan Fortna in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:31.81. That time was more than 50 seconds faster than the second-place finisher.

Freshman Megan Ferrick placed third in the 5,000 meters (19:53.10) and Hobe was second in the long jump (5.05 meters, 16-7).

Cal's Dinzeo sets school record

Aaron Dinzeo set the California University record in the 5,000-meter run and the Vulcans' men's track & field team qualified eight entries for the (PSAC Championships while competing at the NC State Raleigh Relays and Washington& Jefferson Invitational over the weekend.

At the Raleigh Relays, Dinzeo posted the fastest time in NCAA Division II this season in the 5,000 meters and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships. He crossed the finish line in 13:58.37 to break the school record set by All-American Christopher Clark in 2009 by 0.14 seconds.

College notebook

Four local athletes helped the Grove City College women’s team place ninth at the NCAA Division III Championships in Shenandoah, Texas. It was Grove City’s best finish at the national event.

Leading the way for the Wolverines were seniors Angela Palumbo and Kait Riesmeyer, sophomore Lauren Cassano and freshman Megan Bilko.

Palumbo, a senior from Washington and a Trinity graduate, finished her career as a 15-time All-American and had six top-15 finishes this year in individual and relays events. Palumbo helped Grove City to three sixth-place finishes in the relays (200-, 400- and 800-yard freestyles) and had a top individual finish of sixth in the 200 freestyle. Palumbo set the Grove City record in the 200 freestyle at 1:51.75 during the preliminaries.

Palumbo also finished 14th in the 50 freestyle and 15th in the 100 freestyle. In the 50 freestyle, Palumbo broke her own Grove City record with a time of 23.66.

Riesmeyer, a junior from McMurray and a Peters Township graduate, also was part of the three freestyle relay teams and the 200 medley relay that placed 19th. She earned her 11th career All-American honor by placing seventh in the 200 butterfly.

Cassano, a sophomore from Venetia and a Peters Township graduate, earned a pair of All-America honors and was on the 200 medley relay team that placed 19th. Bilko, a freshman from Canonsburg and a Canon-McMillan graduate, earned All-America honors in the 800 freestyle.

In track & field

Mikayla Sonneborn, a freshman at Tulane and a West Greene graduate, won the 2,000-meter steeplechase at the Tulane Team Challenge, her first outdoor meet with the Green Wave. Sonneborn won the event with a time of 7:22, and she placed second at the same meet in the 3,000-meter run in 11:18.

Sonneborn also won the 3,000 meters at the McNeese State Cowboy Relays “Bob Hayes Louisiana Challenge” with a personal best time of 10:36.67. It was the ninth-fastest outdoor 3,000 meters in Tulane history. She won the race by more than 29 seconds.

The only freshman on the Tulane women’s cross country team last fall, Sonneborn finished among the top four Tulane runners in five of six meets and ran a personal best 19:17 at the Conference USA Championships. She completed her cross country season at the NCAA Division I Regional Championship, running the 6K in 23:25.38 at Fayetteville, Ark.

She also ran on the Green Wave’s indoor track team, competing in the mile run and posting a top time of 5:11.

Marshall’s Amanda Kennedy, a junior from Bentleyville and Bentworth High School, has a pair of top-5 finishes in early season meets. Kennedy placed fourth in the javelin at the Florida State Relays with a throw of 139-11, and was fifth at the South Florida Bulls Invite with a toss of 140-11.

In baseball

Matt Pierpont is in his second season as a starting pitcher for Winthrop.

A senior right-hander from Canonsburg, Pierpont has a 2-3 record and 2.95 ERA for the Eagles. Pierpont has 40 strikeouts and only six walks in 42 2/3 innings. He has a current streak of 17 consecutive innings without allowing a walk. Pierpont threw a nine-inning complete game March 22 against Presbyterian, allowing eight hits and one run. He struck out six and did not walk a batter in that game.

Pierpont is a Canon-McMillan graduate and helped the Big Macs to the 2008 PIAA Class AAAA championship.

Evan Bukowski, a senior catcher for Penn State Behrend, was named the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Player of the Week for March 17-23 and the conference’s Male Athlete of the Week.

Bukowski, a Trinity graduate, led the Lions to a 2-2 record by hitting .700 (7-for-10) with three walks, three runs and a stolen base. Defensively, Bukowski did not allow a stolen base while throwing out two baserunners.

For the season, Bukowski is batting .390 with a team-high 16 hits.

In basketball

Former Observer-Reporter Boys Basketball Player of the Year Mike Lamberti is a redshirt freshman on the West Liberty team that will play today in the NCAA Division II semifinals in Louisville, Ky.

A South Fayette graduate, Lamberti has played in 22 games and averages 3.5 points for the Hilltoppers, who have a 34-1 record and average 103 points per game. Lamberti is shooting 61 percent from the field.

West Liberty plays Metro State today in the national semifinals. The game will be televised live by CBS Sports Network.

In tennis

Otterbein’s Julie Stroyne, a junior from Venetia and a Peters Township graduate, has won two consecutive Ohio Athletic Conference Player of the Week awards.

Stroyne continued her dominant play this season by going 10-0 last week Otterbein went 4-1 on its Florida trip. She won all five of her singles and all five of her doubles matches, improving to 22-0 (11 singles wins, 11 doubles wins.) She dropped only 13 games on the trip and did not yield a set to any of her opponents.

This marks the sixth career OAC weekly honor for Stroyne, the reigning two-time conference Player of the Year.

In swimming

Swarthmore junior John Flaherty set the school record in the 400 individual medley at the Centennial Conference Championship in Lancaster.

A Peters Township graduate, Flaherty swam the 400 IM in 4:09.95 to place fourth overall. Flaherty was Swarthmore high scorer at the conference meet, placing third in the 200 IM and fourth in the 200 backstroke.