Duquesne assistant women’s basketball coach Vanessa Abel was selected to participate in the Next Generation Institute by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

Abel is a former Southmoreland standout and a Duquesne alum.

The second-year institute is an educational program for experienced assistants who have aspirations to be head coaches in the NCAA.

Coaches must have at least five years of assistant coaching experience and must be nominated by their head coach.

Abel, in her fifth year on the bench, is one of 32 coaches to be chosen from all three NCAA divisions. She is one of three from the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Abel was an All-Atlantic 10 third teamer as a junior when the Dukes went 24-9. The team was 88-41 in her time as a player.

She also served as an assistant coach at Western Michigan and St. Francis (Pa.).

Men’s swimming

Clarion: Junior Austin Prokopec (Penn-Trafford) finished fifth, and freshman Henry Miller (Southmoreland) ended up 11th in the 50-yard freestyle at the PAC Championships in Carlisle.

Prokopec followed his NCAA B-cut qualifying time of 20.45 seconds in the preliminary race with a 20.58 in the finals. He added a victory in the 400 medley relay as the group broke a school record with a time of 3:16.74.

Miller was part of the third-place 200 free relay. He also was seventh in the 100 breaststroke.

Prokopec also was part of the runner-up 400 free relay (3:00.52), while Miller also recorded a 10th-place finish in the 200 breaststroke (2:05.77).

Clarion finished second in the team standings behind West Chester.

Grove City: Freshman Charlie Cratty (Latrobe) touched the wall in 2 minutes, 42 seconds to finish third in the 200-yard backstroke at the PAC Championships.

Saint Vincent: Sophomore Jacob Dzurica (Hempfield) won an individual title in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 50.79 seconds at the PAC Championships.

The 200-yard mdley relay foursome of Dzurica, freshman Liam Randolph (Hempfield), sophomore Colin Spehar (Latrobe) and sophomore Alex Leskovansky finished second at the PAC Championships.

Dzurica finished second in the 50 freestyle (20.60) and 100 freestyle, while Randolph took fourth in the 200 IM (1:58.46), and sophomore Jacob Bacasa (4:59.15) was second in the 1,650-yard freestyle and fifth in the 500 freestyle.

The 200 free relay (Dzurica, Spehar, Randolph, Leskovansky) was the runner-up in 1:26.78.

Gallagher also set a school record in the 100 breaststroke.

Washington & Jefferson: Freshmen Daniel Jeffries (Hempfield) and Nathaniel Harden (Hempfield) swam the first two legs for the 200-yard medley relay that came in third at the PAC Championships in a time of 1 minute, 36.59 seconds.

Harden also took fifth in the 100 breaststroke (1:00.18). Jeffries also was sixth in the 200 backstroke (2:03.95).

Women’s swimming

Chatham: Junior Ali Cowan (Derry) won the 1-meter diving title at the PAC Championships with a score of 397.05. Cowan is an NCAA Division III qualifier (435.45).

Clarion: Junior Jordan Kutchak (Norwin) and senior Corina Paszek (Penn-Trafford) helped the 800-yard free relay team to a fourth-place finish, with a time of 7 minutes, 44.44 seconds at the PAC Championships. Kutchak also helped the 200 medley relay to a second-place finish (1:45.89).

Gannon: Junior Madalyn Myers (Franklin Regional) was part of the 800-yard freestyle relay that earned all-conference honors and took fifth place (7:43.19) at the PSAC Championships.

Penn State Behrend: Freshman Camryn Watters (Hempfield) won the 200-yard backstroke in record-breaking fashion at the AMCC Championships in Rochester, N.Y. Her time of 2 minutes, 6.33 seconds set team, meet and AMCC open records.

Saint Vincent: Freshman Rachel Hutchinson had a productive time at the PAC Championships, coming home with the conference newcomer of the year award. She won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5 minutes, 18.40 seconds and followed with a title in the 1,650-yard freestyle in 18:19.62.

Junior Abby Leskovansky took second in the 50-yard freestyle in 24.33 seconds and was third in the 100 freestyle.

Sophomore Emma Martz (Hempfield) ended up third in the 200-yard individual medley (2:16.62).

SVC’s 200-yard medley relay of junior Leskovansky, junior Lily Holsey, Martz and junior Sarah Alexander finished fourth with a time of 1:53.44.

Hutchinson, Alexander, freshman Teresa Grimm and freshman Brook McDermott took third in the 800 freestyle relay in 8:23.09.

Shippensburg: Senior Alyssa Tomb (Penn-Trafford) finished third in the 400-yard individual medley to earn all-conference honors with a time of 4:31.9 at the PSAC Championships. She also took fifth in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:24.11, marking four straight top 12 finishes for her in the event at the PSAC finals. She also was eighth in the 200-yard individual medley.

Junior Gracie Wetzel (Latrobe) finished 16th in the consolation final of the 200 breaststroke.

Washington & Jefferson: Senior Amanda Graves (Penn-Trafford) swam a leg of the 200-yard medley relay that finished that took fifth place at the PAC Championships.

Men’s volleyball

Penn State: Grad student John Kerr (Derry) had 10 kills and five blocks as the ninth-ranked Nittany Lions defeated No. 15 Princeton, 3-1.

Saint Vincent: Sophomore outside hitter Shawn McSwiggen was named the AMCC Offensive Player of the Week. He had 31 kills, five digs and two aces, while hitting .422, in a five-set win over Penn State Altoona. Halfway into the regular season, McSwiggen leads the AMCC with 182 kills and is third with 22 aces.

Men’s indoor track & field

Cal (Pa.): Senior Mason Jobe (Greensburg Salem) posted a time of 1 minute, 56.41 seconds in the 800-meter run to take fourth at the PSAC Championships.

Men’s lacrosse

Seton Hill: Graduate student Peyton Gensler was named to the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Division II Team of the Week. He had three goals in an 11-10 win at Molloy to open the season, two coming in the final minute.

The Griffins checked in at No. 11 in the latest USILA Division II Coaches Poll.

Senior attacker Vincent Cogliandro was named the Great Midwest Conference Offensive Player of the Week, while sophomore goaltender Will Cody was tabbed the top defensive player.

Cogliandro had two goals and an assist, while Cody made 15 saves in a 16-3 win over Roberts Wesleyan.

Saint Vincent: Senior Caleb Hawkins became the 12th player in program history to reach 100 goals.

Baseball

Seton Hill: The Griffins rebounded from two straight losses to open the season by rallying past Francis Marion, 13-8, in a nine-inning game.

Seton Hill (1-2), which trailed 6-2, scored 11 times in its last four at-bats, with junior Jared Downey delivering a two-out, two-run double to tie it 6-6 in the sixth.

Grad student Owen Sabol (Norwin) added a two-run double, and freshman Jakob Haynes (Penn-Trafford) gave the Griffins a 9-8 lead with an RBI double.

Haynes drove in three, while grad student Jack Oberdorf (Greensburg Salem) had two RBIs.

There certainly is not a reason to panic with the early losses. The Griffins returned from a trip south last year at 7-6, then won 31 of their next 32 games, including 24 straight PSAC wins.

Seton Hill, which played its 1,000th game last year and win its third PSAC title, has 14 straight 30-win seasons.

The Griffins went 48-13 last season and hosted the Atlantic Regional for the first time since joining the NCAA in 2007.

Softball

Marist: Grad student pitcher Kiley Myers (Latrobe) struck out 10 and walked three in a complete game while posting her first win of the season, 4-3 over Abilene Christian in Abilene, Texas.

Penn State: Junior outfielder Haylie Brunson (Mt. Pleasant) doubled and drove in two runs as the Nittany Lions earned a 5-4 win over Kansas. Brunson went 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored in a 6-2 win over Coastal Carolina to tie the program’s best start at 7-0.

Saint Francis (Pa.): Senior second baseman Ashley Orischak (Hempfield) is hitting .250 in seven games for the Red Flash. She has a double, a triple and three RBIs.

Also for the Red Flash, freshman pitcher Olivia Kolowitz (Belle Vernon) earned her first win, holding Rhode Island scoreless for five innings in an 11-0 victory. Kolowitz gave up five hits and walked two.

Kolowitz was named the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week.

Seton Hill: Sophomore outfielder Camryn Murphy was named the PSAC West Athlete of the Week, while senior pitcher Lauren Dellett was tabbed the division’s pitcher of the week.

Murphy helped the Griffins to a 4-0 start, hitting .467 with a double, two triples, four runs, and nine RBIs. She went 4 for 7 with three RBIs, a homer and two triples against Barton.

Dellett went 2-0 with a save over three appearances, allowing one earned run in 12 innings with 15 strikeouts. She tossed a complete-game one-hitter against Barton, and also went 3 for 5 with two RBIs with a bat in her hands.

Upike: Grad pitcher CJ Alincic (Mt. Pleasant) struck out nine and walked three in her season debut, but fell to Alice Lloyd, 1-0.

Women’s bowling

Saint Vincent: Freshman Natalie Coughenour was named AMCC Bowler of the Week. She was named MVP at the Brother Pat Lacey Memorial, where she posted a 200.80 average that included a career-high 213.

Football

Maine: Grad student running back John Gay (Penn-Trafford) announced he is declaring for the NFL Draft.

Gay ran for 224 yards and a touchdown this season, appearing in 11 games for the Black Bears.

He played in 11 games in 2022 and 10 in 2021, rushing for 17 yards. Gay spent two seasons at Lafayette where he played in 14 games and made the All-Patriot League Second Team as a kick returner. He played at Air Force Academy Prep School in Colorado straight out of high school.

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