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LATROBE — There was a lot of parity in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference in 2011, and the prevailing sentiment Thursday afternoon was to expect more of the same in 2012.
Unfortunately for Westminster, Grove City and Thiel, conference coaches, members of the media present and sports information directors picked them to finish 7th, 8th and 9th, respectively, at the 2012 PAC Football Media Day at Saint Vincent College.
“There are no easy games in the PAC anymore,” PAC commissioner Joe Onderko said. “There’s a lot of parity in the conference now and the bottom teams are moving up. Last year, seven of our nine teams finished between 5-3 and 3-5 (in conference play).”
Four-time defending PAC champion Thomas More (7-1, 9-2) was picked to capture the conference title again this year by receiving 23 of 25 first-place votes with Wayneburg (5-3, 5-5), which finished 3rd in the voting behind Washington & Jefferson (5-3, 6-4), receiving the other 2 first-place votes. Bethany (3-5, 5-5), Saint Vincent (5-3, 6-5) and Geneva (4-4, 6-4) were picked to finish 4th, 5th and 6th.
“It’s a privilege and an honor to be preseason number one,” Thomas More coach Jim Hilvert said. “It’s a credit to our past players’ and coaches’ hard work to get the Thomas More football program to this point. I am a firm believer that preseason polls do not mean anything. It is about championship intensity that we have to have, every day, to achieve the lofty goals that the football team has set in 2012.”
After winning 5 of the first 7 games, Westminster finished the season by losing 3 straight games to Thomas More (27-10), Saint Vincent (21-9) and Geneva (23-10). But the Titans return 15 starters and 33 letterwinners, including former West Middlesex standout Kyle Allen, former Slippery Rock standout Derrick Orloski and former Wilmington standout Sean Christofferson.
“We had some things that fell our way the first half of the season,” Westminster coach Jeff Hand said. “Those same things didn’t fall our way the second half of the season. Things like staying healthy. We started to accumulate injuries towards the end of the year. We need to work on our strength and conditioning and keeping guys healthy. We need to maintain depth, so if guys get hurt, we have the depth to have someone else step in.”
Grove City’s Wolverines’ season couldn’t have went any different, however. After dropping the first 6 games, Grove City rebounded to win 3-of-4 to end the season, including wins over Saint Vincent (21-16), W&J (24-21) and Thiel (35-3). Coach Chris Smith’ Wolverines return 32 letterwinners in 2012, which includes 15 starters.
“We had a season last year where we thought we could be pretty good,” Smith said. “It didn’t turn out that way because of some injuries. We were able to maintain our focus. I give our players and coaches a good deal of credit for staying the course (in 2011) and righting the ship. Our goal is to take what happened last season and not make it a season to remember, but to continue.”
Unlike the Titans and Wolverines, Thiel’s Tomcats struggled mightily all season, going 0-10 in 2011 and hope to turn it around this year.
Thiel has 20 letterwinners returning and boasts many other players ready to step into more prominent roles in 2012.
“No one wants to go through what we have the past two years,” coach Kurt Reiser said. “I give credit to the kids for persevering and we’re starting to turn the corner. It’s that kind of character that’ll help us do that.”
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TMC picked to finish 1st at PAC Media Day
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Herald-Tamie junior tourney set Thursday-Friday
THEY SAY THAT “The best things in life are free.” Well, one of those “best things” is the annual Herald-Tam O’Shanter Junior Golf Championships every summer.
The event, which has been free to boys and girls in the Shenango Valley since it’s inception in 1949, will be held Thursday and Friday at Tam O’Shanter Golf Course in Hermitage.
It has been the premier youth tournament for decades and some of the top players ever to come out of this area have participated. But you don’t have to be a great young golfer to take part. It’s a wonderful opportunity for every youngster to get a free round of golf on a great course, which is in immaculate shape this season. -
Hickory lists 2013 scholar-athlete award winners
Hickory High Athletic Director Barb Dzuricsko recently announced that a total of 213 students (grades 9-12) earned Don McKay Scholar-Athlete awards.
To be eligible, students must maintain an A (93 percent or higher) grade-point-average through the academic year’s third 9-week grading period and compete in a PIAA-sponsored sport.
A total of 375 students competed in athletics this past year, Dzuricsko noted, meaning almost 57 percent qualified for the McKay Scholar-Athlete Award. Since the award’s inception, this is the highest total number of students to earn the honors, she reported. -
SCHOLASTIC NOTEBOOK: Hearns to continue golf career in college; Petty to be honored
RECENT HICKORY High alumna Rosy Hearns will continue her education and golf careers at the State University of New York-Albany. Hickory links coach Craig Antush said Hearns recently signed a letter-of-intent.
Hearns’ Hickory career concluded as one of the finest on the links — male or female — in Mercer County annals. -
Bowlers compete in Senior Games
The bowling portion of the annual Mercer County Senior Games was held Wednesday at Grove City Bowlodrome. That followed horseshoes and shuffleboard competitions earlier in the week.
Following is the rest of the schedule: -
COLLEGIATE NOTEBOOK: Ex-Hickory great Richards has great spring track season
FORMER HICKORY HIGH standout Morgan Richards enjoyed a successful spring season for the University of North Carolina-Charlotte track & field team. The female 49ters won the Atlantic 10 Conference outdoor track & field team title.
“Morgan kept her stride as she transitioned into the outdoor season, running top times in several events among (Atlantic 10) freshmen and on Charlotte’s all-time top 10 lists,” assistant coch Edwin T. Schlichter wrote in a recent e-mail to The Herald. “Morgan finished just one spot (9th) out of scoring at the 2013 A-10 Championships in the 3000-meter steeplechase, despite this being her first year ever attempting the event, and running 11:02.22 which was 2nd among all freshmen in the A-10 and 5th all-time for UNC-Charlotte.” -
SPORTVIEW: Hickory tri-athletes deserve special recognition
EVERY YEAR we receive a photo from the Hermitage School District of a group of student-athletes that I am thrilled to receive and run in the paper.
The photo is of Hickory High School “tri-athletes,” boys and girls who participate in sports during each of the fall, winter and spring seasons. But there is more to it than that. Each of these athletes also must maintain an 85 percent B average during the first three 9-week grading periods of the year. -
TIDBITS: Scurpas make college choices; Matthews, Norris, Bonner part of great Clarion recruiting class; Lewis earns national medal
SHARPSVILLE HIGH volleyball standouts Kristen and Paige Scurpa, who are cousins, will continue their education and athletic careers at California University of Pa. and Penn State-Behrend, respectively.
The duo, both of whom were named to the All-State team in Class A by the Pa. Volleyball Coaches Association, led the Blue Darlings to the District 10 title game in November. Sharpsville, Region 1 champs the past 4 years, suffered a 3-1 loss to Cochranton in that match and finished the season 16-4. -
Sharpsville falls in D-10 title game
SLIPPERY ROCK — Monday was a pretty good day for Saegertown High School.
Just mere hours after the Lady Panthers won the District 10 Class A softball championship, the Saegertown baseball team (19-2) captured its third straight D-10 Class AA title with a convincing 10-3 victory over Sharpsville (15-6) at Slippery Rock University’s Jack Critchfield Park.
“We knew going into the game that Saegertown’s a pretty good team and they’ve been a pretty good team for the past few years,” Blue Devils coach Mike Sikorski said. “I think they’ve been in the District 10 Championship the past four years. They’re a solid team, a very good team. They’re very patient at the plate and when they get their pitches, they hit them.” -
STATE TRACK NOTEBOOK: WM seniors leave legacy of greatness
WEST MIDDLESEX High always has had a proud athletic heritage, and this past weekend’s PIAA Class AA Track & Field championship will only add lustre to that legacy.
According to available archives at The Herald, only the 1954 boys’ basketball team and Coach Bob Morris’ boys’ cross country team from earlier this decade previously had won commonwealth crowns. -
Allen wins 4 gold medals to lead WM to PIAA team title
SHIPPENSBURG — Clay Allen said he had to explode out of the starting blocks for his 100-meter dash showdown with Hickory’s DeShawn Coleman. But Allen — all afternoon — was getting the jump on his competitors during the annual PIAA Track & Field Championships.
By approximately 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Shippensburg University, Allen annexed 4 gold medals — 100- and 200-meter dashes, long jump, and as part of the sprint-relay. The workload West Middlesex High’s senior exhibited enabled the Big Reds to record the Class AA commonwealth crown. - More Sports Headlines
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Herald-Tamie junior tourney set Thursday-Friday
