Westmoreland County campus clippings: Christiane Frye hits milestone for Seton Hill women

Seton Hill senior basketball player Christiane Frye scored her 1,000th career point as the Griffins (9-7, 6-4) rallied for a 66-62 victory Saturday over visiting Mercyhurst.

Frye finished with 18 points, eight in the fourth quarter, while sophomores Helene Cowan (17), Abby Mankins (Greensburg Salem, 12) and Hallie Cowan (11) also reached double digits in scoring.

Mercyhurst sophomore Bailey Kuhns (Greensburg Central Catholic) was dominant at times and finished with 21 points and 16 rebounds in her return to the area.

Women’s basketball

Chatham: Sophomore Alyssa Laukus (Norwin) had 16 points and five rebounds, shooting 7 of 12 from the field, in a 94-76 victory at Geneva.

Florida Tech: Junior guard Sarah Liberatore (Hempfield) tied a season high with 12 points against Tampa. Tech lost, 85-72.

Marietta: Junior guard Olivia Gribble (Norwin) scored a team-high 14 points over 20 minutes in an 84-57 victory over Heidelberg.

Pitt-Greensburg: Junior Melina Maietta (Greensburg Central Catholic) made 7 of 11 3-pointers and scored 23 points, but the Bobcats fell to Penn State Behrend, 88-73.

Maietta played all 40 minutes.

Saint Vincent: The Bearcats (9-9, 7-6) flipped a three-game losing streak into a three-game winning streak.

Senior Lizzie Bender and junior Emily Thompson scored 14 points apiece, while sophomore Camdon Bashor added 12 points and six assists, in a 58-49 win over Westminster.

Men’s basketball

Carlow: Junior guard Riley Comforti (Southmoreland) scored in double figures in five straight games, including a 20-point effort against Penn State Altoona. He also had 13 rebounds in that 98-92 loss.

Saint Vincent: The Bearcats sustained their first loss of the season, falling 90-80 at Westminster.

The Bearcats’ school-record 17-game winning streak came to an end.

Sophomore Dev Ostrowski had 19 points, senior Osyon Jones added 18 and sophomore Jaden Gales chipped in 17 for SVC (17-1, 12-1 PAC), which came in as one of only two unbeaten teams in Division III. Westminster had five players score in double figures.

Wrestling

Bucknell: Senior Kurt Phipps (Norwin), ranked No. 17 at 133 pounds, was dominant in a 20-3 technical fall against Morgan State. He followed with a 5-3 win as the Bison defeated American, 31-9.

He improved his season record to 16-2.

Pitt-Johnstown: Senior heavyweight Isaiah Vance (Hempfield) delivered a first-period pin, while sophomore 184-pounder Noah Gnibus (Mt. Pleasant), a redshirt freshman, picked up a technical fall as the 11th-ranked Mountain Cats handled American International, 55-0.

Saint Vincent: Senior heavyweight Jake Beistel (Southmoreland) moved to 8-1 with a pair of recent wins.

Thiel: Freshman 165-pounder Dominic Hartman (Penn-Trafford) and Frank Gill (Norwin), competing at 174, registered pins as the Tomcats defeated Pitt-Bradford, 42-12.

Men’s volleyball

Penn State: Senior opposite hitter John Kerr (Derry) posted a match-high 15 kills and a .480 hitting percentage to lead the seventh-ranked Nittany Lions (4-0) to a 3-0 win over King. Teammate Will Kuhns (Hempfield) came off the bench to record a personal-best nine kills in a loss to No. 1 UCLA on Saturday.

Saint Vincent: Sophomore Shawn McSwiggen had a game-high 11 kills, five aces and three blocks, and sophomore Zebadiah Wyant added nine kills and three blocks to pace the Bearcats to a 3-0 win over Chatham in the PAC Preview Tournament in Latrobe.

Freshman Rocco Marino (Latrobe) added three blocks for SVC.

Geneva also played in the event. Freshman Owen Kelley (Hempfield) is a key player and had 10 kills in a 3-1 loss to Saint Vincent.

Wyant had 11 kills for the Bearcats, and sophomore Zach Wyant dished out 38 assists.

Chatham was another team in the field. Freshman Tim McCabe (Norwin) plays for the Cougars. He had eight kills in a 3-0 win over Bethany.

Thiel: Sophomore Tyler Hussey (Norwin) contributed seven kills and two service aces in a 3-0 victory over Bethany.

Men’s swimming

Clarion: Freshmen Henry Miller (Southmoreland) and junior Austin Prokopec (Penn-Trafford) were members of the winning 200-yard medley relay (1:35.52) in a victory against Edinboro at the PennWest Duals.

Miller also took second in the 100-meter breaststroke in 58.64 seconds.

Saint Vincent: The Bearcats posted their third straight win, setting aside Bethany, 202-14, as they won every race.

Sophomore Alex Leskovansky won the 100-yard butterfly (55.79 seconds), the 50 free (23.29), and swam a leg of the winning 200 medley relay (1:40.15).

Freshman Liam Randolph (Hempfield) was named the PAC Newcomer of the Week. He won the 400 individual medlety in a pool-record 4 minutes, 25.47 seconds, and also took second in the 50 freestyle (25.07) and 100 free (53.48), while adding a second place with the 200 medley relay, in a win over Chatham.

He added wins in the 200 fly (2:03.09), 500 free (5:14.75) and 200 medley relay against Bethany.

Washington & Jefferson: Freshman Daniel Jeffries (Hempfield) took second place in the 100-yard backstroke (57.12 seconds) and in the 500-yard freestyle (5:25.63) as the Presidents fell to Grove City, 130-63.

Freshman Nathaniel Harden (Hempfield) was second in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:38.05).

Women’s swimming

Clarion: Junior Jordan Kutchak (Norwin) swam the anchor leg of the winning 200-yard freestyle relay team that finished in 1 minute, 39.25 seconds, in a two-meet sweep of Cal (Pa.) and Edinboro at the PennWest Duals.

Senior Corina Paszek (Penn-Trafford) finished third in the 200-yard individual medley.

Gannon: Senior Francesca Nemetz (Hempfield) placed fifth in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:15.99 at the Pidgeon Memorial Invitational at IUP.

Saint Vincent: SVC swept a PAC tri-meet with wins over Franciscan (168-93) and Bethany (198-48).

Junior Abby Leskovansky won the 50 freestyle (25.51 seconds), the 200 backstroke (2:24.20) and was a member of the first-place 200 medley relay (1:59.09).

Freshman Rachel Hutchinson won the 1,650 freestyle (19:07.75), 500 free (5:33.17), 200 IM (2:24.15) and was part of the winning 200 free relay (1:51.96).

Washington & Jefferson: Senior Amanda Graves (Penn-Trafford) was the runner-up in the 100-yard freestyle, in 1:74, in a loss to Grove City.

Men’s indoor track and field

Grove City: Senior Gabe Dunlap (Penn-Trafford) finished 12th in the long jump with a mark of 19 feet, 7.5 inches at the Youngstown State Collegiate Invitational.

Saint Vincent: Freshman Phillip McNeal broke the school record in the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.23 seconds, taking 12th overall, at the SPIRE Midwest Open.

Seton Hill: Freshman Jacy Willis was named the PSAC West Athlete of the Week. He finished third in the 400-meter run at th Youngstown State Collegiate Invitational in 48.85 seconds — the fastest time in the PSAC this season.

Westminster: Grad student Ryan Beard (Franklin Regional) took fifth place in the 60-meter dash with a time of 8.85 seconds at the Ohio Northern University fifth annual Larry Cole Invitational.

Women’s indoor track and field

Duquesne: Senior Hannah Seitzinger (Belle Vernon) and senior Sadie Wetzel (Latrobe) recorded first-place finishes at the season-opening Jud Logan Memorial at Kent State. Seitzinger won the 800-meter run in 2 minutes, 13.18 seconds to top a 25-runner field, while Wetzel cleared 1.68 meters on her third attempt to claim victory.

The Dukes also were strong in the next meet, winning the Youngstown State Invitational with five first-place finishes. Among them was Wetzel’s win in the high jump. Her mark of 1.70 meters is fourth-best in program history.

Freshman Cydney Blahovic (Hempfield) came in eighth in the 800 with a time of 2:24.31.

Seitzinger was second in the 400 (56.92).

Robert Morris: Junior Rayna Todero (Franklin Regional) took fourth place in the triple jump (11.11 meters) at the Gulden Invitational in Lewisburg.

Saint Vincent: Freshman Caroline Kozera broke a school record in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 10.04 seconds at the SPIRE Midwest Open in Geneva, Ohio.

Slippery Rock: Senior Kate Plassio (Norwin) won the 5,000-meter run at the Ashland Invitational, crossing the finish line in 18 minutes, 16.72 seconds.

Her teammate, junior Aleks Brozeski (Norwin), meantime, took second in the triple jump (10.70 meters).

Westminster: Sophomore Abigail Painter (Ligonier Valley) was fourth in the 400-meter run, finishing in a time of 1 minute, 9.14 seconds, at the fifth annual Larry Cole Invitational at Ohio Northern.

Wheeling: Junior Tara Perry (Derry) carded a fifth-place finish in the high jump with a mark of 1.55 meters. She took the gold medal in last year’s Mountain East Conference Indoor Championships.

Hockey

Saint Vincent: Four Bearcats scored goals in a 4-2 victory over Cal (Pa.). They were Jake Holtzman (Hempfield), Tyler Shigo (Norwin), Mike Ridilla (Latrobe) and Nate Loughner (Penn-Trafford).

Baseball

Seton Hill: The Griffins will open the 2024 season ranked No. 2 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Atlantic Region Preseason Poll.

Seton Hill, which begins the schedule Feb. 17 in Florence, S.C., went 48-13 last year and reached the NCAA Atlantic Super Regional.