NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Senior John Lytle of Clearfield was one of more than 750 Notre Dame student-athletes honored for achievements in their sports as well as in the classroom during the athletics department’s ninth annual O.S.C.A.R.S. inside Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center April 28.
But the record-setting freestyle sprinter was one of only six to step into the Outstanding Student-Athletes Celebrating Achievements & Recognition Showcase spotlight to receive the Byron V. Kanaley Award.
The most prestigious honor for Fighting Irish student-athletes has been awarded each year since 1927 to senior monogram athletes who have been most exemplary as both students and leaders. Chosen by the Notre Dame Faculty Board on Athletes, the award is given in honor of the 1940 graduate who played baseball and went on to a successful banking career in Chicago and served as a lay trustee until his death in 1960.
Lytle, just the eighth swimmer to receive the Kanaley Award, also was the honored with the Notre Dame Monogram Club Most Valuable Player Award and the Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley Rockne Student-Athlete Award for the men’s swimming team.
Previously, he was named the 2009-10 BIG EAST Conference Men’s Swimming Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
During his outstanding four-year career, Lytle earned all-Big East Conference recognition for a Notre Dame-record 22 events, helping the Fighting Irish win team championships in 2008 and 2009 and finish second in 2007 and this year.
He was all-conference in the 100-yard freestyle, 200 free, 400 medley relay, 200 free relay, 400 free relay and 800 relay at the 2010 championships in February.
When team awards were handed out recently, Lytle also received the Blanchard Award given annually since 1965 to the swimmer or diver who, by performance, inspiration and leadership, has exemplified the personal qualities of former Notre Dame swimmer and Irish captain Charles W. Blanchard.
Lytle departs with Fighting Irish records for three individual events (50 free, 100 free and 200 free) and four relays (200 free, 400 free, 800 free, 400 medley).
He was is a two-time College Swimming Association All-Academic Team honorable mention selection and a member of Notre Dame’s Rosenthal Leadership Academy and Academic Honors for Student-Athletes Program.
The finance major has been named to the dean’s list four times.
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MEN’S TRACK & FIELD
ERIE – Junior John Bowman of Clearfield broke the Penn State-Behrend hammer throw record for the fourth time this season in placing fourth at the 2010 Mason-Dixon Outdoor Track and Field Conference Championships at Salisbury (Md.) State April 30.
His 134-1 (40.88 meters) throw was nearly four feet better than his previous best of 129-3 (39.39m) in the Carnegie Mellon Invitational April 10.
Bowman entered the season with the school record of 107-9 (32.85m) and erased it in the opening Salisbury State Spring Classic March 6 and again at the Coastal Carolina (S.C.) Invitational a week later.
He was All-Conference first team in the javelin, taking third with a throw of 169-5 (48.89), and second team in the hammer throw.
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SOFTBALL
CRESSON – Sophomore second baseman Alanna Luzier of Frenchville (Clearfield Area High School) and freshman outfielder Jenessa Stiles of Curwensville were two of the top hitters for Penn State-Altoona in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament at Mount Aloysius Friday and Saturday.
Luzier was 6-for-15 with hits in all four games while Stiles was 3-for-10 with two doubles, her first extra base hits of the season, as the designated hitter in three games.
They accounted for more than a third of the Penn State-Altoona runs with four apiece.
The Lady Lions, seeded fourth, nipped fifth seed Medaille (N.Y.) 3-2 in eight innings and held a 3-0 lead over regular season champion Mount Aloysius before losing 4-3. They ousted third seed Pitt-Bradford 10-8 in eight innings but were eliminated by Medaille 16-7.
Frostburg (Md.) State defeated Medaille 7-1 in the title game.
Luzier stole two bases in the tourney to end the season 17-for-18, third in the AMCC in steals and attempts.
Last year, she led conference with 16 stolen bases in 17 attempts.
Luzier raised her final batting average to .333, which was eighth on a team that compiled a .349 average.
In 41 games, 38 as the starter at second, she was 41-for-123 with eight doubles, one home run and 10 runs batted in.
She was third in runs with 32, tied for fourth in doubles and fourth in hits.
Her fielding average was .956 with six errors in 135 chances.
Stiles saw action in left field, right field and third base as well as designated hitter, starting 22 of the 25 games she played.
She ended her rookie season with a .293 batting average (17-for-58) and drove in seven runs.
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LOCK HAVEN – Junior first baseman Brittany Pataky of Clearfield hit .276 and was among the team leaders in most offensive categories for Lock Haven.
Pataky was second in at-bats (127), tied for second in hits (35) and doubles (6), tied for third in home runs (2) and tied for fourth in runs batted in (16).
She was fourth in runs scored with 15.
Pataky committed only three errors in 275 chances for a .989 fielding average.
She tied for 10th in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference in putouts with 250.
The Lady Eagles, third in the Central Division, opened the first round of the PSAC Playoffs with two upsets before losing back-to-back 5-4 games to West Chester to finish 22-21.
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BASEBALL
BROCKPORT, N.Y. – Freshman pitcher-outfielder Ben McGary of Curwensville was hitless in two trips to the plate as Pitt-Bradford closed the season with an 11-2 loss to 2010 State University of New York Athletic Conference champion Brockport State May 4.
The Panthers (19-20) played their finale without seven of their eight seniors, including right fielder Bart McGary of Curwensville and catcher George Solley of Grampian.
The Curwensville Area High School graduates hit .434 and .327, respectively, in wrapping up their four-year careers.
Ben McGary saw action in the field for the fourth game.
The left-hander (0-1) pitched 21.2 innings in 13 games. His 12 relief appearances are tied for third in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference as teams continue in the playoffs.
Two losses to Medaille (N.Y.) cost Pitt-Bradford a berth in the AMCC Tournament. The teams were tied for sixth place at 12-8.
MEN’S SWIMMING