MEN\’S SWIMMING
LOS ANGELES, Cal. – Junior John Lytle of Clearfield sparkled for Notre Dame in its season-opening dual meet against Southern Cal Saturday by winning the 100-yard freestyle race, tying Hungarian Olympian Zoltan Povazsay for first in the 200 free and swimming the leadoff leg for the victorious Fighting Irish \’A\’ 400 free relay team.
However, the Fighting Irish won only two other events and went down to a 159.5-126.5 defeat in a very rare outdoor meet in the McDonald\’s Swim Stadium, site of the 1984 Olympics.
Lytle touched the wall in 45.43 seconds in the 100 and 1:39.88 in the 200 to tie Povazsay, who he competed against two years ago when the Hungary native was a standout for West Virginia.
In the relay, Lytle\’s 46.47 leg keyed Notre Dame\’s 3:06.65 first-place effort. With the meet wrapped up, the Southern Cal foursomes swam exhibition, the \’A\’ quartet posting a 3:03.10 time.
Lytle\’s achievements in the water and in the classroom have been recognized by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America with NCAA Division I Academic All-American Honorable Mention status for the 2008 Spring Semester.
Eligibility is limited to swimmers with at least a 3.5 grade-point average who recorded NCAA \’B\’ times during the 2007-08 season.
Lytle, one of four members of the 2008-09 Notre Dame team to qualify, earned a 3.933 GPA.
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CLARION, Pa. – Transfer sophomore Brandon Boyer of Clearfield debuted for Clarion with points in four individual events and two relays as the hosts finished behind runaway winner Grove City in the Clarion Classic Invitational in Tippin Natatorium Friday and Saturday.
Grove City amassed 1,078.5 points, followed by Clarion with 553, Westminster with 261.5 and Frostburg (Md.) State with 49. Former Clearfield Area High School and Clarion swimmer Kaymee Kelly is the interim head coach of the Frostburg men\’s and women\’s teams after guiding them for the second half of the 2007-98 season.
Boyer, who swam for Washington & Jefferson last season, was fifth in the 200-yard backstroke in 2:08, seventh in the 100 back in 58.70 seconds and eighth in the 50 free in 22.83 and the 100 free in 50.74. Those events had 18, 33, 49 and 48 entries, respectively.
He was first in the water for the medley relays, swimming the backstroke leg in 26.65 for the Clarion \’B\’ 200 foursome that placed fifth in 1:45.54 and 58.05 for the Golden Eagle \’C\’ 400 quartet that finished fifth in 3:52.79. There were 12 teams in both races.
Boyer also ended up 19th among the 33 entries in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:14.81.
Also competing in the season-opening meet for Westminster were twins Chris and John Bodle of Clearfield.
Chris placed 10th in the 1,650 free in 19:53.98 and 25th in the 100 back in 1:06.05, while Bodle was 12th in the 1,650 free in 20:18.76 and 12th in the 100 fly in 1:01.97.
Both were on Titan 200 free relay teams, Chris swimming a 25.31 third leg for the \’B\’ foursome that placed eighth and John posting a 26.01 anchor for the \’C\’ quartet that placed 10th in 1:40.19.
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FOOTBALL
INDIANA, Pa. – Shawn Sopic of Curwensville is the new tackles leader for the Clarion defense after making seven stops, including four solo efforts, in Saturday\’s 66-16 defeat by Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division rival Indiana in front of 2,901 Miller Stadium fans.
The sophomore free safety has a team-high 32 solo tackles and 22 assists.
In addition, he has made three of Clarion\’s five interceptions, broken up four passes and forced one fumble.
With the Golden Eagles (2-7, 1-5 PSAC-West) operating out of a spread offense more and more, starting running back Nick Sipes of Curwensville has been utilized more as a blocker and did not get any touches against the Crimson Hawks (6-2, 4-2).
Sipes still is Clarion\’s No. 2 ground gainer with 231 yards and two touchdowns in 41 carries. He has caught 11 passes for 90 yards.
The sophomore also is a regular on the Golden Eagle specialty teams and has made nine solo tackles with one assist. He was credited with a 28-yard return for a punt that he blocked.
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READING, Pa. – Quarterback/punter Tanner Kelly of Olanta (Clearfield Area High School) passed for one touchdown and pinned Wilkes near its goal line on three kicks as Albright remained in a tie for first place in the Middle Atlantic Conference with a 17-10 win at Shirk Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Only 250 fans saw the Lions post their fifth win in seven games to stay deadlocked with Lycoming, which surprised 22nd-ranked Delaware Valley 10-7, and Lebanon Valley, this week\’s opponent, at 3-1.
Kelly completed 10 of 19 passes for a season-low 113 yards and kept the ball six times for a net of six yards.
He averaged 40.2 yards for his five punts, including a 54-yarder for a touchback, a 50-yarder to the W-3, a 40-yarder to the W-1 and a 33-yarder to the W-1. That performance earned him honorable mention for MAC Special Teams Player of the Week consideration.
The redshirt junior leads the MAC with a 62.6 completion percentage and a 128.54 passing efficiency rating. He\’s tied for the lead in completions with 119 in 190 attempts. His 1,217 passing yards and 10 TD passes are third-best, while his 173.9 passing yards per game ranks fourth.
In total offense, Kelly is second with 1,424 yards and a 203.4 per-game average for 255 plays.
He\’s second in punting average, 36.6 for 31 kicks. Nine have pushed the opposition back inside their 20.
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HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Junior defensive back Beau Ryan of Clearfield made two solo tackles on kickoffs and had an assist on the punting unit for Juniata Saturday, but the Eagles\’ bid for a Centennial Conference upset was foiled when visiting Moravian tied the game with 30 seconds left in regulation and then pulled out a 23-17 victory in triple overtime before 950 fans at Knox Stadium.
The Eagles (1-7) fell to 1-5 in the conference. The Greyhounds (6-2) are in second place at 4-2.
Ryan has a dozen solo tackles among his 17 stops. He has one tackle for a loss of one yard and has broken up one pass.
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CALIFORNIA, Pa. – Redshirt junior linebacker Nate Sipes of Curwensville made one tackle and redshirt sophomore offensive lineman J.D. Skebo of Curwensville saw action with the extra point and field goal units in Slippery Rock\’s 31-10 loss to nationally ranked and Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division front-runner California Saturday afternoon.
An Adamson Stadium crowd of 3,000 saw the Vulcans, ranked No. 6 in NCAA Division II, raise their record to 6-0 in the PSAC-West and 8-1 overall while dropping The Rock to 4-5, 2-4.
Sipes has 14 solo tackles and eight assists. Two of his stops were for losses totaling eight yards.
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PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Janocko of Clearfield was the holder for two field goals and four extra points by Pitt placekicker Conor Lee against Rutgers in Heinz Field Saturday that boosted him into fourth place on the Panthers\’ all-time scoring list with 220 points.
Lee, who has made 97 consecutive PATs, booted field goals from 43 and 40 yards out after hitting the right upright on a 45-yarder, only his second miss in 13 attempts this season.
Late in the first quarter of a 7-7 game, Panther coach Dave Wannstedt opted for a fake field goal on fourth-and-two at the R-21, but good coverage by the Scarlet Knights forced Janocko to throw the ball away on the first pass of his collegiate career.
That decision backfired when senior quarterback Mike Teel immediately completed the second of his six school-record touchdown passes against a Pitt pass defense that went into the game ranked first in the BIG EAST Conference and 10th in the nation going into the game, and the Scarlet Knights went on to stun the 17th-ranked Panthers 54-34 and disappoint a crowd of 51,161.
Teel, the first BIG EAST player ever to throw five TD passes in the first half, was named the BIG EAST and USA Today National Player of the Week.
Rutgers had not beaten a nationally-ranked team on the road since a 21-16 upset of No. 15 Penn State on Sept. 24, 1988.
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MEN\’S SOCCER
ERIE, Pa. – Lucas Feathers of Clearfield gave Slippery Rock a 4-3 lead in the 78th minute with his fourth goal of the season and The Rock went on to edge host Gannon 5-4 Saturday in a pivotal Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division game.
Feathers\’ successful shot off one of Toby Bowser\’s four assists was followed by Jeremy Deighton\’s game-winner six minutes later as The Rock (3-3-3) jumped into the PSAC-West playoff chase with nine points, two behind co-leaders Lock Haven and Mercyhurst and one behind California.
Slippery Rock (12-4-1) was rewarded with the No. 22 spot in this week\’s National Soccer Coaches Association of America NCAA Division II poll. The Rock, which has won seven games in a row, is ranked third in the Atlantic Region.
Feathers, a junior forward, is third on the team in goals, assists (3), points (11), shots (33) and shots on goal (12). He has appeared in every game, 11 as a starter.
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LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Sophomore midfielder Mark Auman of Clearfield was credited with one shot on goal in Lock Haven\’s 5-0 non-conference win at Davis & Elkins (W.Va.) on Oct. 22 but did not play in a 3-2 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference loss to 23rd-ranked Mercyhurst at Erie on Saturday.
The latter game left the Bald Eagles (10-5-3) and the Lakers (9-4-2) tied for atop the PSAC-West with 11 points for identical 3-2-2 records and one game remaining.
Mercyhurst is ranked fourth and Lock Haven fifth in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region.
Auman has one assist in 14 games, seven as a starter. Three of his seven shots have been on goal.
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WASHINGTON, Pa. – John Lhota of Clearfield had two of Washington & Jefferson\’s 16 shots in a double-overtime scoreless tie with Grove City in a key Presidents\’ Athletic Conference showdown on Senior Day at Alexandre Stadium Saturday.
The Presidents (6-6-4, 2-1-1 PAC) needed a win over the Wolverines (5-9-3, 3-1-1) to grab second place and a home game for the first round of the PAC Tournament.
W & J, which finished with a nine-shot advantage, was coming off a 2-1 win over Thiel at Greenville four days earlier.
Lhota, a sophomore midfielder, has played in every game, including three as a starter, with one goal and nine shots, five on goal.
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NEW WILMINGTON, Pa – Sophomore defender Alan Baldwin of Clearfield saw action in a reserve role as Westminster clinched the top seed for the Presidents\’ Athletic Conference Tournament with wins at Bethany (W.Va.) 3-0 and at home against Waynesburg 4-1 last week.
He did not appear in the Presidents\’ 1-0 non-conference loss to Case Western Reserve at Cleveland, Ohio, Friday night.
Less than 24 hours after having its six-game winning streak ended, Westminster (13-5) padded its PAC record to 5-0.
Baldwin, who has one start in eight games, logged his second shot of the season against Waynesburg.
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WOMEN\’S SOCCER
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – Dani Struble of Lumber City (Curwensville Area H.S.) launched four shots in both of Westminster\’s victories at Bethany (W.Va) 2-0 on Oct. 21 and against visiting Waynesburg 4-1 Saturday that kept the Titans undefeated in the Presidents\’ Athletic Conference.
Westminster, 4-0-1 in the PAC, is 13-2-2 with a 10-game unbeaten streak.
Struble has scored one goal though ranking fourth on the team in shots with 25. Five of the sophomore midfielder\’s shots have been on goal.
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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Sophomore forward Juliana Howell of Clearfield had two shots on goal in a reserve role for Slippery Rock in a 2-1 loss to Mercyhurst Oct. 21 and returned to the starting lineup for the ninth time in a 5-1 setback against Gannon Saturday.
The Rock\’s Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference playoff hopes took a hit against the top two Western Division teams. Mercyhurst leads with 27 points for an 8-2-3 record, and Gannon is second with 25 points for an 8-3-1 mark.
Slippery Rock (7-4-1) slipped into third place with 22 points. The Rock is 11-5-1 overall.
Howell has two goals and one assist for five points in 13 games. Half of her 12 hits have been on goal.
