Westmoreland County campus clippings: Norwin, Franklin Regional grads earn PAC awards

A pair of local products claimed major awards in Presidents’ Athletic Conference basketball.

Grove City senior guard Mara Polczynski (Norwin) was named the conference defensive player of the year, while Washington & Jefferson freshman guard Cam Rowell (Franklin Regional) claimed newcomer of the year honors.

Polczynski, known for her ability to force turnovers in the backcourt, had 80 steals and led the Wolverines with 3.0 per game. She also was named to the All-PAC second team.

She averaged 9.8 points and had a team-best 82 assists.

For her career, Polczynski racked up 235 steals, a number that ranks third in program history. Her 366 assists also rank second.

Rowell, who was the TribLive Westmoreland Player of the Year in 2024, took the PAC by storm in his debut season. He averaged 10.7 points and 4.2 rebounds, and his 60 steals were second on the team.

He scored in double figures in half of the games he played (14). Rowell is the first W&J player to win conference newcomer of the year since Michael Bigley in 2021-22.

Men’s basketball

Pitt-Greensburg: Sophomore Trent Rozich was named to the All-AMCC first team, and junior teammate Matthew Marinchak (Ligonier Valley) made the second team.

Rozich led the team and conference with a 36.9-minute average and led the Bobcats with 15.5 points a game while shooting 58.1%.

He also was second in the AMCC with 4.6 assists.

Marinchak, a career 1,000-point scorer, tied for the conference lead with 69 3-pointers and was a fraction behind Rozich with a 15.3-point average.

Saint Vincent: Junior guard Dev Ostrowski was named to the All-PAC first team, and senior guard Mike Iuzzolino made the second team.

Ostrowski averaged 16.1 points and 4.5 rebounds, and Iuzzolino produced 14 points a game for SVC (20-6).

Grad student Osyon Jones was an honorable mention pick for the Bearcats.

Seton Hill: Sophomore Kedrick Curtis and grad student Ryan Meis were named to the All-PSAC West second team.

Curtis averaged 14.5 points and 7.4 rebounds for the Griffins (16-14).

Meis averaged 15.4 points and set a school record for 3-pointers in a season with 108.

Women’s basketball

Mercyhurst: Forward Bailey Kuhns (Greensburg Central Catholic) was named to the All-Northeast Conference first team after a dominant junior season. Kuhns averaged 19.9 points and registered 13 games of 20 or more points.

Saint Vincent: Junior Makenna Maier was named to the All-PAC second team. The forward averaged 10.8 points and 8.3 rebounds to lead the Bearcats, registering six double-doubles.

Seton Hill: Griffins’ leader Maeve Gallagher was named the PSAC Western Division Coach of the Year after guiding the team to a 23-6 mark (16-4 PSAC).

The Griffins led the PSAC in scoring at 82.3 points per game and also were the top rebounding team (41.7 rpg), as well as No. 1 in blocks (4.93 bpg), assists (4.93 apg) and steals (13.1 spg).

Griffins sophomore Mia Kalich was named the PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year. She averaged 11.9 points and 10.7 rebounds, recording 15 double-doubles.

Junior twins Hallie Cowan and Helene Cowan and Kalich, were named to the All-PSAC West first team.

Grad student Christiane Frye, who was injured for much of the season, made the second team.

Both Cowan women reached 1,000 career points this season. Hallie averaged 15.2 points, Helene 14.6.

Frye averaged 16.7 points and had 81 assists in 18 games.

Seton Hill earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament and will be the No. 3 seed when it plays No. 6 Kutztown at noon Friday in the Atlantic Regional in Edinboro.

Wrestling

Army: Junior 133-pounder Ethan Berginc (Hempfield/Jeannette) finished third at the EIWA Championships. He was awaiting an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships.

Bucknell: Fifth-year Kurt Phipps (Norwin) claimed a title at 133 pounds at the EIWA Championships and punched his ticket to the NCAA Division I championships for a third time.

Phipps defeated Kyle Waterman of Drexel, 7-5, in the finals.

Phipps is now tied with Tyler Smith (Franklin Regional) for ninth in Bucknell history with 107 wins.

Ohio: Redshirt junior Garrett Thompson (Franklin Regional) was named Most Outstanding Wrestler at the MAC Championships after he won his first conference title.

Thompson blanked Alex Cramer of Central Michigan, 14-0, in the 174-pound final.

He will compete in the NCAA Division I championships for the second straight year.

Pitt: Redshirt sophomore Dayton Pitzer (Mt. Pleasant) won an ACC title at heavyweight, earning a victory over No. 2 seed Jimmy Mullen of Virginia Tech in the finals, while earning Most Outstanding Wrestler.

Pitzer also earned a 4-1 upset of No. 1 Isaac Trumble of N.C. State in the semifinals.

Pitzer and teammate Briar Priest (Hempfield), a redshirt sophomore 141-pounder, qualified for the NCAA Division I championships March 20-22 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Priest finished fourth in the ACC.

Men’s swimming

Grove City: Sophomore Charlie Cratty (Latrobe) was named to the All-PAC second team.

Saint Vincent: Junior Jacob Dzurica (Hempfield) was named to the All-PAC first team after winning conference titles in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles and the 100-yard backstroke.

Dzurica qualified for the NCAA Division III championships March 19-22 at Greensboro, N.C.

Teammate and sophomore Liam Randolph (Hempfield) also was a first-team selection in the 200 breaststroke and with the 400 medley and 400 free relays.

Second-team picks from SVC were junior Alex Leskovansky, senior Robert Harrington, freshman Sam McCall (Ligonier Valley) and junior Hayden Klein.

Washington & Jefferson: Sophomore Daniel Jeffries (Hempfield) was named to the All-PAC second team.

Women’s swimming

Chatham: Freshman Hannah Uhrinek (Hempfield) was named the PAC Newcomer of the Year and made the All-PAC first team. Uhrinek won both butterfly titles and was the runner-up in the 200 free at the conference championships.

Senior Ali Cowan (Derry), meantime, took home PAC Diver of the Year after winning a pair of titles at the conference finals.

She won her second straight title in the 1-meter dive.

Saint Vincent: Senior Abby Leskovansky was named the PAC Swimmer of the Year. She won three events and a relay race at the PAC championships.

Also for the Bearcats, sophomore Rachel Hutchinson made the All-PAC first team as a champion in the 500 and 1,650 freestyles; freshman Fallyn Zembiec was a first-team pick after a win in the 200 medley relay, along with sophomore Valeria Clabaugh and junior Emma Martz (Hempfield).

Senior Sarah Alexander, freshman Deanna Miller and sophomore Teresa Grimm were second-team selections.

Washington & Jefferson: Sophomore Morgan Baughman (Mt. Pleasant) made the All-PAC second team.

Baseball

Pitt-Greensburg: Sophomore Nicholas Laubach homered and drove in three runs, and senior Thomas Smith, who hails from the Czech Republic, doubled and tripled as UPG defeated Clark, 6-2, in Davenport, Fla.

Seton Hill: Grad student pitcher Jon McCullough was named the PSAC Western Division Pitcher of the Week.

McCullough (3-0) earned his third win of the season as he pitched four shutout innings against Bloomsburg. He gave up one hit and struck out four in a 13-0 win.

The Griffins are ranked No. 26 in the nation in the latest ABCA Division II Coaches Poll.

The Griffins were locked in offensively in a 10-3 win over Findlay. They hit four home runs, including two from sophomore Jakob Haynes (Penn-Trafford) and one each from sophomore Owen Henne and senior Max Mandler.

Henne went 3 for 3 with three RBIs and three runs, and Haynes also drove in three.

Westmoreland County Community College: The Wolfpack defeated Eastern University, 9-8, in 10 innings as sophomore Jake Smith (Greensburg Salem) homered, scored three times and knocked in the go-ahead run.

Freshman Jake Gedekoh (Belle Vernon) had two triples and two RBIs, and sophomore Brandon Bell went 3 for 5.

Softball

Bowling Green: Junior Katie Hutter (Mt. Pleasant) had five hits and walked four times in 14 plate appearances over a four-game weekend stretch.

Cal (Pa.): Freshman Amarah McCutcheon (Southmoreland) is hitting .250 with a double and home run in 10 games for the Vulcans.

Maine: Freshman Bailey Snowberger (Norwin) went 3 for 4 with a double and two RBIs as the Black Bears defeated Yale, 3-0.

In a 9-0 victory over Sacred Heart, Snowberger doubled, drove in a run and scored two runs.

Marist: Grad student pitcher Kiley Myers (Latrobe) was named the MAAC Pitcher of the Week after she tossed 13 shutout innings and went 2-0 with wins over Southern Indiana and returning NCAA Tournament team Charlotte. Myers had nine strikeouts and a 0.69 WHIP and allowed eight hits while walking one.

Ohio: Senior catcher Emma Hoffner (Hempfield) went 3 for 4 with two home runs and seven RBIs to lead the Bobcats past George Mason, 9-0.

Penn State: Senior Haylie Brunson (Mt. Pleasant) ripped her ninth double of the season — and 36th of her career — as Penn State defeated Lafayette, 13-0.

She also doubled and drove in two runs as the Nittany Lions defeated Fairfield, 9-7.

Pitt-Greensburg: Sophomore Hunter Taylor had two hits and drove in three runs, sophomore Jadyn Davis had two hits and two RBIs and senior Melanie Mienke struck out 10 to earn her second win of the season as the Bobcats defeated Simmons and Bluffton in Winter Haven, Fla.

Mienke earned two wins and struck out 18 across four starts for the Bobcats (3-7).

Pitt-Johnstown: Several local players are contributing early in the season. Junior Jenna Tallman (Latrobe) is batting .280 with a pair of doubles, sophomore Isabella DePalma (Derry) is hitting .267, senior Hannah Gnibus (Mt. Pleasant) has a double and two runs, sophomore Krista Brunson has a double and two RBIs and pitcher Mia Smith is 1-4 with a 5.14 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 32 2/3 innings.

Point Park: Sophomore Emma Henry (Greensburg Central Catholic) went 2 for 4 with two runs scored and an RBI in a 9-8 loss to Seton Hill.

Robert Morris: Junior outfielder Courtney Poulich (Mt. Pleasant) was named the Horizon League Player of the Week. Poulich batted .615 with eight hits, four of them home runs, two doubles, and 11 RBIs in six games.

She hit three homers and drove in seven runs in one game.

She was leading the Colonials in batting average (.526), runs scored (8), OPS (1.888), hits (10), homers (4), RBIs (11), slugging (1.263) and on-base percentage (.625).

Seton Hill: Freshman pitcher Shelby Telegdy was named the PSAC Western Division Athlete of the Week.

In four games, Telegdy went 2-0 in the circle and batted .500 (7 for 14) with two doubles, three home runs and six RBIs.

Senior Brooke Cleland (Penn-Trafford), meantime, had a single in a 15-10 win over Frostburg State to give her 100 hits in her Griffins career.

Men’s volleyball

Grove City: Freshman Keith Otto (Penn-Trafford) had nine kills, and sophomore Andrew Kessler (Penn-Trafford) added six in a 3-0 sweep of Chatham. Otto added a pair of aces.

Women’s track and field

Arizona: Senior Mackenna Orie (Hempfield) won the hammer throw with a toss of 184 feet, 4 inches, sixth best in school history, and also finished second in the shot put with a throw of 52-8 1/4 at the Arizona Spring Break Fiesta.

Michigan: Sophomore Liz Tapper (Hempfield) qualified for the NCAA Division I indoor championships set for Friday and Saturday at Virginia Beach, Va.

Tapper took third at the Big Ten championships in the shot put with a throw of 59-11, a mark that allowed her to break the school record for the fifth time this season.

That mark is 24th all-time in the NCAA and 22nd-best in the world.

Saint Vincent: Freshman Grace Neubert set a program record in the 3K race at the AARTFC Championships in Ithica, N.Y., with a time of 10 minutes, 7.27 seconds to take third place.

Women’s lacrosse

Grove City: Sophomore Gwen Shilling (Franklin Regional) had a goal, an assist and six draw controls in a 17-10 loss to Savannah College of Art and Design.

Seton Hill: Grad student attacker Skylar Orlowski was named the PSAC Western Division Athlete of the Week. She had seven goals on nine shots in a 17-14 loss to No. 2 Pace.

Washington & Jefferson: Sophomore goalkeeper Megan Brackney (Latrobe) made a career-high 12 saves in a 16-8 loss to Ohio Wesleyan.

Westminster: Freshman midfielder Ava Kessler (Norwin) had two goals and three ground balls to go with a career-high four caused turnovers and eight draw controls in an 18-8 loss to Ohio Northern.

Men’s lacrosse

Saint Vincent: Junior goalie Garrett Ritts was named the PAC Defensive Player of the Week. He made 17 saves, 11 in the second half, of an 18-10 victory over Neumann.

Seton Hill: Junior midfielder Wade Brunelle was named the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week, and teammate and senior faceoff specialist Mark Strunk was tabbed the top defensive player.

Football

Saint Vincent: Ethan Anderson was named defensive backs coach.

He spent six seasons coaching safeties at Carnegie Mellon, another PAC program and his college alma mater.