WASHINGTON, Pa. – Rebecca Shiner of Clearfield ran the 800 meters in a record-breaking 2:18.67 at Washington & Jefferson\’s Cameron Stadium Saturday to help the Westminster College women\’s track and field team win the Presidents\’ Athletic Conference championship for the first time.
The Titans\’ junior middle distance runner, who finished nearly three seconds in front of the runner-up, broke the school mark of 2:24.0 set by Katie Spehar in 2003 and the PAC standard of 2:21.30.
In doing so, Shiner qualified for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Championships at Springfield (Mass.) College May 15-16.
Shiner also was a member of the 4×400 relay quartet that won in 4:00.79 for another Westminster record that was good enough to qualify for the ECAC meet. The previous Titan standard was 4:02.65, set a year ago.
The 800 title was Shiner\’s third in as many PAC Championships appearances. She won the 800 in 2:24.04 as a freshman and the 1,500 as a sophomore, when she placed eighth in the 800 in 2:36.93.
Led by the meet\’s outstanding track (sprinter Megan Harding) and field (jumper Jessica Cooper) athletes, Westminster won eight events and broke nine school and five PAC records in piling up 145 points. Defending champion Washington & Jefferson edged out Thiel 120-116 for second place among the six teams.
Westminster first-year coach Tim McNeil was named PAC Coach of the Year.
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BRADFORD, Pa. – Phil Solley of Grampian came through with his biggest hit of the season in Pitt-Bradford\’s 6-5 comeback win over Medaille Saturday that clinched a berth in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Baseball Conference Playoffs.
The Curwensville Area High School graduate ripped a two-out single into left center to end the twice-delayed, four-hour contest in the bottom of the seventh inning.
\”Phil looked so calm and relaxed up there,\” Panther coach Bret Butler told Bradford Era sports writer Greg Clark. \”He hit that ball about as hard as you can hit it.\”
Solley also drove in a run with a grounder as the Panthers rallied from a 5-2 deficit in their lone game of the week.
Tuesday\’s 4-3, eight-inning victory over Medaille of Buffalo, N.Y., locked up home-field advantage for Pitt-Bradford in the first round of the AMCC Playoffs. The fourth place Panthers (17-16, 10-8 AMCC) will host fifth place Penn State-Greensburg (15-16, 9-9) in a best-of-three set Saturday, with the first game at 10 a.m.
Third place Lake Erie (Ohio) College (15-24, 10-8) will entertain sixth place Penn State-Altoona (19-21, 8-10) in the other series.
The winners advance to the double-elimination championship tourney hosted by regular season champion Penn-State Behrend (28-9, 17-1) the following weekend. The Lions and runner-up Frostburg (Md.) State (20-12, 14-4) get first-round byes.
Solley, who has 25 starts in 31 games, is the third leading hitter for the Panthers at .345, second in hits with 29 and runs batted in with 23. The sophomore right fielder also is in the top five in walks with 14.
Bart McGary of Curwensville had one hit Saturday to up his average to .320 on 24 hits. The sophomore infielder has scored 12 runs and driven in 14. He tops the Panthers in walks with 18.
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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Early April injuries have limited the playing time Clearfield Area High School grads Scott Hugney of Frenchville and Adam Jury of Bigler at Slippery Rock University, which won three of four games with Clarion over the weekend to earn a spot in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference baseball playoffs.
Hugney tweaked a hamstring that he pulled earlier in the season, while Jury suffered a broken thumb.
Hugney, a senior, did get three at-bats as The Rock\’s designated hitter in two games last week, driving in one run with a sacrifice fly.
In 21 games, Hugney has 15 hits, including four doubles, for a .283 average. He\’s driven in seven runs.
Jury, a freshman, did not play. His average is .409 for nine hits in 13 games.
Slippery Rock (25-21) got a big assist from Indiana to qualify as the No. 3 team in the Western Division at 12-8, beating out California in a tie-breaker.
Indiana (36-17, 13-7) claimed second place by winning three of four games with California, which entered the weekend No. 1 in the West. Shippensburg (33-21, 14-6) swept a pair of twinbills from Lock Haven to cop the division title.
The PSAC Championships get under way Thursday in Clipper Magazine Stadium at Lancaster.
Slippery Rock plays East Division champ Millersville (22-24, 12-8 PSAC-East) in the 10 a.m. opener.
Kutztown (25-23, 11-9) and West Chester (38-12, 11-9) are the other two East representatives.
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GREENSBURG, Pa. – Andrew Kirsch of Clearfield was limited to one pinch-hitting appearance for the Seton Hill University baseball team last week.
The senior outfielder\’s average dipped slightly to .282 on 31 hits. He has seven doubles, two triples and one home run. His 25 runs batted in are third-best for the 22-23 Griffins.
Seton Hill received two forfeits from Point Park and split with Slippery Rock, winning 10-9 and losing 0-2.
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LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – James Zimmermann of Woodland (Clearfield Area H.S.) completed his rookie season for the Lock Haven University baseball team with a .232 batting average and a .945 fielding average.
He hit at a .269 after moving into the Bald Eagle lineup at second base in late March, finishing 22-for-95 with two doubles, one home run and 11 runs batted in. He struck out only seven times, drew two walks and was hit by a pitch once.
In the field, Zimmermann ranked third on the team in assists with 47 and fourth in chances with 110.
The Bald Eagles finished 5-15 in the PSAC-West and 16-34 overall.
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LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Lock Haven University freshman Brittany Pataky of Clearfield has become one of the premiere softball pinch-hitters in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
Last week, she delivered three times in four at-bats, one a two-run single against Indiana, to raise her average to .382.
Pataky has eight hits in 13 pinch-hit appearances for the season, a .615 average.
She started the first nine games at first base before Lady Eagles coach Kelley Green turned to sophomore Krystin Montoro of Coatesville (Downingtown West H.S.). Montoro started 51 of Lock Haven\’s 57 games in 2007.
Pataky, who has 13 hits and eight RBIs, did get two starts in the Lady Eagles\’ run to the PSAC Western Division championship.
Lock Haven (40-6) rolled to a 19-1 division record and will host the three-day PSAC Championships at Lawrence Field, where the Lady Eagles have won 55 games in a row.
The double-elimination tourney gets under way Thursday with West runner-up California (26-14, 12-8) meeting East Stroudsburg (17-28, 11-13) at 10 a.m. and West third place qualifier Indiana (16-24, 12-8) taking on East runner-up Bloomsburg (44-7, 19-5) at noon.
Lock Haven, looking for a repeat behind two-time NCAA Division II Pitcher of the Year Kristin Erb, and East champ Kutztown (44-10, 21-3) received byes and will play in the afternoon games.
Lock Haven is ranked No. 3 in NCAA Division II by the National Fast-Pitch Softball Coaches Association, while Bloomsburg is 10th and Kutztown 17th.
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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Nikki Collins of Clearfield was part of a record-breaking softball team in her first year at Slippery Rock University.
The Rock finished 27-15, one more win than the previous standard established by the 2006 squad.
Collins earned second base job in preseason and started in 38 of the 39 games she played.
She collected 17 hits in 70 at-bats for a .242 average, scored 16 runs and drove in nine runs. Six of her hits were doubles and one was a triple.
Slippery Rock was 7-13 in PSAC-West games.
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CLARION, Pa. – Dana Johnson of Grampian (Curwensville Area H.S.) overcame a slow start to hit almost .300 in her last 13 games for the Clarion University softball team.
She started nine games behind the plate and eight as the designated-hitter for the Golden Eagles, who were 0-20 in the PSAC-West and 4-31 overall.
Johnson\’s final average was .176 on nine hits in 51 at-bats. She had two doubles, one triple and five RBIs.
Her fielding percentage was .962.
