MEN\’S SWIMMING
NOTRE Dame, Ind. – Junior freestyle sprinter John Lytle of Clearfield and the Notre Dame men\’s swimming team got off to a flying start to the 2008-09 season with championship performances in the annual Dennis Starks Relays at the Rolfs Aquatic Center on Oct. 3.
Lytle contributed to a pair of meet record-setting efforts by the Fighting Irish, who amassed 255 points to outdistance Oakland (204), Ball State (162), Cleveland State (106) and Marquette (74).
He set the tone for the 200-yard freestyle relay with a 21.11-second leadoff leg, and Marshall Sherman, Thomas Van Volkenburg and David Anderson kept up the pace for a 1:25.02 finish.
Lytle swam the race\’s fastest leg in the meet-closing 400 relay, anchoring the Notre Dame quartet with 45.23 split that stopped the clock at 3:06.21. Andrew Hoffman, Danny Lutkus and Joshua Nosal put him in position to help set the record.
Lytle enters his third season as the Notre Dame record-holder for the 100 free (44.76) and 200 free (1:38.06), both times breaking standards that he had set previously.
The 6-0, 180-pounder earned All-Big EAST honors in five events as a freshman and six events as a sophomore.
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FOOTBALL
READING, Pa. – Quarterback Tanner Kelly of Olanta (Clearfield Area High School) passed for 156 yards and one touchdown as Albright grabbed a share of first place in the Middle Atlantic Conference by shutting out King\’s 16-0 in Shirk Stadium Saturday.
The Lions (4-2) are joined atop the MAC at 2-1 by Lycoming, Delaware Valley, Lebanon Valley and Wilkes.
Kelly\’s 50-yard scoring pass to Nate Romig with 5:21 remaining in the first quarter ended the scoring except for an Albright field goal in the third quarter.
The redshirt junior completed 16 of 27 passes and also carried three times for 39 yards, including a 32-yarder that was his longest run of the season. His TD aerial also was his longest completion of the year.
In addition, Kelly averaged 39 yards on five punts, booming one 57 yards that was the second longest in the MAC this season.
Kelly leads the MAC in completions with 109 and completion percentage at 63.7 for his 171 attempts. He is third in TD passes with nine, fourth in passing yards with 1104 and fifth in passing efficiency with a 129.5 rating.
His 35.9-yard average for 26 punts ranks fourth.
Kelly shows 201 net yards for 59 carries. A dozen of those plays were sacks that cost him 69 yards.
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LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Sophomore fullback Nick Sipes and sophomore free safety Shawn Sopic of Curwensville helped Clarion halt its five-game losing streak with a come-from-behind 24-21 win over Lock Haven in front of 2,017 fans in Hubert Jack Stadium Saturday night.
Sipes caught three passes for 39 yards and also made a trio of solo tackles for Golden Eagle specialty teams, while Sopic keyed the last line of the defense with three solo tackles, two assists and his third interception of the season as Clarion (2-6) notched its first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference victory in five games.
Sipes also blocked a punt that the Golden Eagles recovered for an apparent touchdown and a three-touchdown lead in the second quarter, only to have the play nullified because of a holding call. He had blocked a punt against Slippery Rock the previous week.
Sipes is Clarion\’s No. 2 ground gainer with 231 yards for 41 carries. He has caught 11 passes for 90 yards and made 10 tackles.
Sopic leads the Golden Eagle defense with 28 solo tackles and is tied for third in total stops with 47. He has broken up four passes and forced one fumble.
PSAC statistics show Sopic as one of eight PSAC players with three interceptions.
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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Redshirt junior linebacker Nate Sipes of Curwensville was one of Slippery Rock\’s top tacklers with five stops, including three solo tackles, and redshirt sophomore offensive lineman J.D. Skebo of Curwensville also saw action in a 35-14 loss to 16th-ranked Edinboro in N. Kerr Thompson Stadium Saturday afternoon.
A Homecoming crowd of 4,500 saw The Rock suffer its fourth loss in eight games and dip to 2-3 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division, while the Fighting Scots keep alive their title hopes at 4-1 and move to 7-1 for the season.
Sipes was involved in three consecutive tackles in one series late in the fourth quarter, including one for a loss of six yards. His earlier stops were on the punt and kickoff units.
Sipes has made 13 solo tackles and assisted on eight stops. He has two tackles for losses of eight yards.
Skebo is The Rock\’s second-unit center as well as a regular on the field goal and extra point units.
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HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Beau Ryan of Clearfield turned in his best performance of the season for the Juniata secondary, albeit in a losing cause Saturday as Gettysburg escaped Knox Stadium with a 24-20 Centennial Conference victory.
Ryan made five solo tackles, one of a loss of one yard, and broke up one pass for the Eagles, who tumbled to 1-4 in the conference and 1-6 overall.
The junior defensive back doubled his season total for solo stops. He also has assisted in four tackles.
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ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Janocko of Clearfield was the holder for Conor Lee\’s six extra points against Navy Saturday that moved the Pitt senior placekicker into sole possession of fifth place on the school\’s all-time scoring list.
Lee, who has never missed a PAT in 93 attempts, broke a tie with recent All-American wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald on his first conversion and now has 210 career points.
He has 18 PATs and is 9-for-10 in field goal tries this season with Janocko spotting the ball.
The 17th-ranked Panthers (5-1) are riding a five-game winning streak with a 2-0 start in the Big EAST Conference.
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GROVE CITY, Pa. – Sophomore tailback Tyler Kirkwood of Frenchville (Clearfield Area H.S.) played in his seventh game for Grove City Saturday, but Presidents\’ Athletic Conference front-runner Thomas More (Ky.) spoiled the afternoon for the Homecoming crowd of 3,800 at Robert E. Thorn Field by rolling to a 35-14 win.
Grove City slipped to 4-3 with its second loss in three PAC outings.
Thomas More (5-1) is off to a 4-0 start in the PAC.
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MEN\’S SOCCER
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Lucas Feathers of Clearfield ended a nine-game scoring drought with two assists in Slippery Rock\’s 4-0 non-conference win over Alderson-Broaddus (W.Va.) on Oct. 15.
The junior forward set up Jeremy Deighton\’s game-winning goal in the 11th minute and teamed with Deighton for assists on Anthony Paganie\’s goal in the 48th minute.
The Rock (10-4-1) followed up with a 1-0 squeaker at Davis & Elkins (W.Va.) on Saturday to extend its winning streak to five games.
Feathers has recorded three goals and three assists for nine points in 14 games.
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CALIFORNIA, Pa. – After missing two games, sophomore midfielder Mark Auman of Clearfield returned to action for Lock Haven Sunday as the Bald Eagles came from behind to down California 3-1 to move into first place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division.
The Bald Eagles, who disposed of District of Columbia 6-0 in a non-conference home game Friday, are 3-1-2 in the PSAC-West for 11 points and 9-4-3 overall. Cal (8-6-2, 3-3-1) fell to second place with 10 points.
Auman has apppeared in 13 games, eight as a starter. He has one assist.
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WASHINGTON, Pa. – Sophomore midfielder John Lhota of Clearfield saw action as a reserve for Washington & Jefferson, which edged host Thomas More 3-2 in its Presidents\’ Athletic Conference opener at Crestview Hills, Ky., on Oct. 14 and but was nipped 1-0 by first-place Wesminster at New Wilmington on Friday.
Lhota has scored one goal for the 5-6-3 Presidents. He has started three times.
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WOMEN\’S SOCCER
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – Dani Struble of Lumber City (Curwensville Area H.S.) finally broke into the scoring column in her 12th start for Wesminster Oct. 15.
The sophomore midfielder, who was the main offensive threat at Pitt-Greensburg last year, found the net on a breakaway in the 58th minute to pad the Titans\’ cushion to 5-0 in their 8-0 victory over winless Thiel (0-10-3). She had two other shots in the Presidents\’ Athletic Conference game.
Struble got off one shot Friday when Westminster (11-2-2, 2-0-1) remained atop the PAC with a scoreless, double-overtime tie against Washington & Jefferson (9-5-1, 1-1-1).
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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Sophomore forward Juliana Howell of Clearfield was credited with two shots in Slippery Rock\’s crucial 3-1 win at Indiana Saturday that lifted The Rock into a first place tie in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division.
The Rock, which prevailed 2-0 at Edinboro on Oct. 14, shares the top spot with Gannon. Both teams have 7-2-1 records and 22 points. IUP (7-3, 21 points) fell into a third place tie with Mercyhurst (6-2-3).
Howell has two goals and one assist in 11 games for Slippery Rock, which boasts an overall record of 11-3-1 after going into last week tied with IUP, Gannon and East Stroudsburg for seventh place in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Poll.