District College category, Page 5
Plum grad Ta’Rasi Means reaches 1,000 career points for Penn State New Kensington men’s basketball
When he played basketball at Plum, Ta’Rasi Means was not a 1,000-point scorer. Means didn’t get any varsity time as a freshman, so that reduced his chances of reaching the coveted milestone. At Penn State New Kensington, three years has been more than enough for Means to hit the millennium...
Women step into head coaching positions for area men’s volleyball teams, part of what could be a growing trend nationwide
When Kate McCauley was hired as the Saint Vincent men’s volleyball coach in October 2021, she couldn’t help but feel like she was on an island. A woman coaching a man’s sport, after all, was rare. McCauley hardly thought of herself as a trail blazer, but she did harbor hope...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Norwin grad Brianna Zajicek hits career-high in comeback win
A 15-point halftime deficit meant nothing to Brianna Zajicek. The Cedarville junior basketball player led a fervent comeback with a career day as the Yellow Jackets rallied past Findlay, 81-80, in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Zajicek, a Norwin alum, poured in a career-high 25 points on 7-of-13 shooting and...
Franklin Regional grad Kadyn Hannah helps steady ship after Cal (Pa.) men’s basketball team is ravaged by injuries
As a senior — one of only three on the roster — with two years of experience, Kadyn Hannah figured to take on a larger role with the Cal (Pa.) men’s basketball team this season. After spending his freshman season at La Roche then having his share of ups and...
Burrell grad Niko Ferra building skills, confidence under coach Vince DeAugustine with Seton Hill wrestling
The 2023-24 season might have been Vince DeAugustine’s first as a college wrestling coach, but after overseeing the Hempfield (16 years) and Norwin (two years) wrestling programs, he is no stranger to the talent around the WPIAL. So when he assumed the helm of Seton Hill’s program last season, he...
Gateway grad Jordan Edwards relishing opportunity on Princeton coaching staff
Jordan Edwards didn’t waste any time hitting the ground running after she was hired last June as an assistant coach for the women’s basketball team at Princeton. “Summer is the big evaluation period, and there is a lot of recruiting that goes into it,” said Edwards, a standout player at...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Seton Hill women’s basketball moves up to No. 5 ranking
Seton Hill vaulted four spots in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Division II Coaches Poll, taking the No. 5 spot in the top 25. The Griffins (17-2, 11-1 PSAC) continue to look impressive in what has been one of their best regular seasons. The team also ranks fifth in the...
New Saint Vincent football coach Casey Goff comfortable with putting life into struggling programs
Casey Goff grew up the youngest of three brothers, so it would have been natural for him to try to keep up with the other two. In actuality, Goff, the new football coach at Saint Vincent, said he didn’t even try. Even the younger of his two older siblings was...
Kiski Area grad Abbie Johns shows plenty of promise in freshman season with Shippensburg women’s basketball
As college debuts go, Abbie Johns couldn’t have asked for much more. The Kiski Area grad opened her freshman season with the Shippensburg women’s basketball team by scoring 14 points in just 16 minutes against then-No. 10 Fayetteville State. In fact, Johns made her first shot: a 3-pointer late in...
Pitt-Greensburg men’s basketball team rights ship after rocky start, hopes to contend in AMCC
After winning its first two games, including a nail-biting overtime victory over Grove City in the opener, the Pitt-Greensburg men’s basketball team looked like it was on its way to a fast start. Then came the next seven games. The Bobcats won only one of them, a string that included...
A-K Valley grads help form foundation as Mercyhurst women’s bowling moves into Division I
Ask a college freshmen about the biggest differences between their current level and high school, and the answers often are similar. Athletes are more accomplished. Game is faster. There’s more depth on rosters. But when Deer Lakes grad Tia Germanich donned a Mercyhurst bowling jersey and walked into her first...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: GCC grad Bailey Kuhns among NEC’s best at Mercyhurst
Holding a spot on a Division I roster and being a Division I player are different things. It’s about actions and results that go beyond landing a spot at a school. Bailey Kuhns found herself on a Division I team when Mercyhurst jumped from the D-II PSAC. Now, the junior...
Saint Vincent hires Casey Goff as new football coach
Saint Vincent canvassed the country, searching far and wide for the best candidate to take over its football program. Coaches with NFL, Big Ten and NCAA Division II experience were considered, officials said. But at the end of the day, SVC was won over by a guy who got his...
After 3 decades, Rick Bertagnolli steps down as Cal (Pa.) softball coach
The man who turned Cal (Pa.) softball into a national power is leaving the dugout. Longtime coach Rick Bertagnolli is calling it a career after 30 years leading the Vulcans. The veteran leader won 71.4% of his games, compiling a record of 972-389 and leading Cal to back-to-back NCAA Division...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: GCC grad Matt Metrosky draws interest in transfer portal
Looking for a new college football team, Matt Metrosky could still end up playing close to home. The junior lineman, who was a member of the Pitt football team the last four years as a walk-on, recently entered the NCAA transfer portal and immediately got a nibble on the line....
New crop of players, new style of play have Saint Vincent women’s basketball team trending in right direction
Even a coach who has been on the bench for 15 seasons doesn’t know everything. So no one could blame Saint Vincent women’s basketball coach Jimmy Petruska if he wasn’t sure what to expect from his 2024-25 group. The previous team, which had gone 11-9 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference...
Burrell grad Brandon Coury finally getting his chance to contribute for Seton Hill men’s basketball team
Stardom in high school doesn’t always translate instantly to college. Sometimes, players who were standouts in high school have to grind just to get playing time in college. Such was the case for Burrell’s Brandon Coury. Coury was a Valley News Dispatch first-team all-star selection after his senior season, when...
Plum grads Reed Martin, Josh George set sights on NFL Draft
Plum graduates and former Mustangs football teammates Reed Martin and Josh George hope to live out their dreams of playing in the National Football League. Both recently indicated through social media posts that they will take the steps over the next couple of months to get on the radar of...
Hempfield grad Jordan Crupie excels leading off 200 medley relay for IUP women’s swimming
As a junior at Hempfield, swimmer Jordan Crupie posted a time of 57.57 seconds in the 100 backstroke. That was her personal best at the time, and she anticipated trimming a few more ticks from that mark before she headed off to IUP to continue swimming. But she remained stalled...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Norwin grad Mike Shanahan honored at Indiana
Indiana football assistant Mike Shanahan (Norwin) was named the FootballScoop Offensive Coordinator of the Year after helping the Hoosiers (11-2) reach the College Football Playoff, where they lost to Notre Dame, 27-17, in the first round. Shanahan, who played at Pitt and served as a two-year captain for the Panthers,...
Saint Vincent basketball coach D.P. Harris earns 400th career win
Back from a 10-day break, Saint Vincent knocked off the rust and helped longtime men’s basketball coach D.P. Harris to a milestone victory. Harris chalked up win No. 400 in his 19th season leading the Bearcats, who put up 39 second-half points to down visiting Adrian (Mich.), 68-57, on Monday...
Franklin Regional alum wins conference in 1st year as Penn State Behrend soccer coach
Making soccer memories is nothing new for Chris Ralph. The 2015 Franklin Regional graduate played soccer throughout school, continuing at Penn State Behrend. After a brief stint as an assistant coach for Mercyhurst men’s soccer, he joined his alma mater as an assistant before taking the reins this past season,...
In 2nd season with Saint Vincent men’s basketball team, Dev Ostrowski becoming more complete player
D.P. Harris was away from Saint Vincent for two years while he coached the St. Thomas men’s basketball team in Miami Gardens, Fla. But even while he was more than 1,100 miles from the Unity Township campus, he made a connection that would help him when he returned to the...
Kiski Area grad Seth Erwin turns IUP’s rugby club team into national power
Seth Erwin said he grew up like a lot of kids in Western Pennsylvania: with a passion for football. He was a standout at Kiski Area and, once he graduated, was prepared to continue playing football in college. But during his senior year with the Cavaliers, he suffered a compound...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Jeannette grad Marcus Barnes declares for NFL draft
Marcus Barnes always had NFL aspirations. When he was in high school, he and his teammates would talk about making it to “the league.” His father, Johnnie Barnes, was a ninth-round draft pick in 1992 and played wide receiver for the San Diego Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers, so he came...
