WVU equestrian team steals show at Tournament of Champions
The West Virginia University equestrian team stole the show at the IHSA Tournament of Champions, recently held in Baltimore. Led by coach Debbie Fields, who owns and operates Lazy J Stables in Uniontown, the Mountaineers finished seventh in the prestigious event and raised eyebrows in the equestrian community by earning a first-ever team ribbon.
Under Fields’ leadership, the Mountaineers also came away with two individual first-place blue ribbons, including the overall first place in the Open Hunter division, which is the top division.
Fields led the team to new heights last season and has seen interest in her team grow by leaps and bounds. The number of students interested in becoming a part of the team has doubled since last season.
Boys soccer
Jesse Varndell scored all three goals and Kyle Oldland assisted on two of them, as Albert Gallatin beat Uniontown, 3-0, in boys soccer action. AG goalie Shawn Smearcheck had 12 saves.
No further details, including records for either team, were made available.
Football
Penn-Trafford 48, Connellsville 7 – Joshua Fremd caught a 25-yard scoring pass from Jade Maher for the only offensive highlight for the Falcons in a Foothills Conference football game Friday night.
The Warriors scored all of their points in the first half, while Connellsville’s lone score came in the fourth quarter.
Cross country
Uniontown graduate Jennifer Naymick took third place in the women’s side of the first intercollegiate cross country meet ever hosted by Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
Naymick crossed the finish line in 23:04 on Fayette’s hilly 5K course in the inaugural Penn State Fayette Invitational.
The women’s winner was Maureen Suchecki of Penn State Scranton, who covered the five kilometers in 21:58. Men’s winner was Jake Shedden of Penn College who covered the 8k course in 28:29.
No other Penn State Fayette runners cracked either the men’s or women’s top 10.
Girls tennis
WPIAL Section 1-AA doubles tournament – Brownsville’s No. 1 team of Angie Pelehac and Megan Yocabet lost their bid for a berth in the consolation finals, dropping a three-set decision to Derry’s Tiffany Piper and Caroline Niezelski.
The Derry duo won the opening set, 6-3, but the Lady Falcon pair rallied to tie the match by winning the second set, 6-2. Piper and Niezelski closed out the match with a 6-2 win in the third set, earning the third berth into next week’s WPIAL Class AA Doubles Championship.
Pelehac and Yocabet easily defeated California’s Taylor Tiano and Annie Zheng, 10-0, in the opening round, but lost in the semifinals to Greensburg Central Catholic’s Faith Finoli and Jackie Houser, 10-4.
Valerie Columbia and Payton Ferguson, Brownsville’s No. 2 team, lost 10-0 to Mount Pleasant’s Shayla Landman and Moriah Kromer in the first round.
California’s No. 1 team of Miranda Hall and Courtney Koschalk won their first round match, 10-0, over Jeannette’s Paige Wallace and Bria Ellison. Landman and Kromer advanced to the finals by defeating Hall and Koschalk, 10-1.
Southmoreland’s Chelsie Leonard and Corinna Horak lost a 10-0 decision in the first round, and the Lady Scots’ Chelsea Pence and Elizabeth Fontanazza were defeated 10-3 in the opening round.
Landman and Kromer won the section title, defeating top-seeded Finoli and Houser, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Mount Pleasant 5, Southmoreland 0 – The Lady Scots didn’t win a set in a Section 1-AA defeat to the rival Lady Vikings.
Mount Pleasant’s Shayla Landman dropped a game per set in her straight-sets victory at No. 1 singles over Chelsie Leonard. Moriah Kromer lost three games at No. 2 singles in defeating the Lady Scots’ Elizabeth Fontanazza. April Bradley lost one game in sweeping past Corinna Horak at No.3 singles.
Mount Pleasant’s Taylor Bradley and Kelsey Porter defeated Kirsty Figg and Ashley Belzer, 6-0, 6-3, at No. 1 doubles. Frany Tish and Alexis Miscovich completed the sweep at No. 2 doubles, winning a 6-3, 7-5 decision over Clarissa Horak and Marissa Luden.
Boys golf
California 203, Brownsville 256 – Alex Roach and Nick Roberts shared the medalist round of 2-over 36 to lead the Trojans to a Division II, Section 8 victory on Cedarbrook Golf Course’s Gold course.
California’s Erick Rucci finished with a 40, and Derek Stein shot a 42. Michael Langley’s 45 closed the scoring. Sam Luketich’s 49 was thrown out.
Nick Calvaresi was the low man for Brownsville (1-10) with a 12-over 48. Derek Lent finished with a 51. Jared Gibson and Brad Britvich both shot 52. Jacob Murray’s 53 rounded out the scoring. Aaron Golembiewski’s 55 wasn’t used.
California (6-4, 7-5) hosts Carmichaels Monday afternoon.
Geibel Catholic 224, Frazier 230 – The Gators split the Division II, Section 2 season series with a home victory at Pleasant Valley Country Club.
Geibel’s Mike Noonan had the low round of the day with a 5-over 39. Mike Spegar and Ryan Lucostic both shot 45, and Ryan Robson finished with a 47. Patrick Herbert and Jace Blout both shot 48 with only one of the scores used in the final total.
Eddie Miller was the low man for the Commodores (6-4) with a 44. Andrea Lash had a 45. Tyler Rock, Robert Gondura and D.J. Hudik all shot 47. Zack Smalich’s 49 wasn’t used.
Geibel Catholic (4-7, 4-8) finishes the season on the road Monday at Greensburg Country Club against Jeannette.
Women’s soccer
California (Pa.) 6, Mansfield 0 – Sam Regney scored a pair of goals and assisted on another to lead the seventh-ranked Vulcans to a PSAC home victory.
California improves to 5-0-1 in the conference and 9-0-1 overall. Mansfield slips to 0-5-1 in the PSAC and 1-6-1 overall.
Kayla Klimasko, Bethany Smyda, Carley Wok and Kayla Frankso all scored one goal each, and Paula Jackson made just two saves to preserve the shutout.
Men’s cross country
Paul Short Run – Aaron Dinzeo finished eighth out of 357 runners, leading California (Pa.) to a 14th-place finish in the 40-team field at the invitational hosted by Lehigh. The Vulcans finished with 429 points. Princeton won the team title with 36 points.
Dinzeo finished the 8K race in 25:31, just 17 seconds behind first-place finisher Max Kaulbach, of Princeton.
Savantuay Bovette finished 82nd overall with a time of 26:45 with teammate Tony Russo just one second behind. Chris Werner was the fourth Vulcan to finish, placing 136th overall in 27:07. Brownsville graduate Cameron Coffey closed out the scoring runs by finishing 152nd overall in 27:15.
Women’s cross country
Paul Short Run – The Vulcans finished 37th in the field with 961 points in the invitational hosted by Lehigh.
Brittney Kanach was the first California runner to cross the finish line, finishing 140th overall with a time of 23:57. Marie McIntyre was the next Vulcan to finish, crossing in 24:23 for 194th overall.
Men’s soccer
California (Pa.) 1, District of Columbia 0 – Chris Moehler scored the lone goal of the match, his first of the season, in the 74th minute to lead the Vulcans to a non-conference road victory. Moehler scored off a feed from Mike Kalas.
California improves to 6-2-1 overall, while District of Columbia slips to 3-6-1.
Derek Yobbi preserved the victory with a pair of saves, earning his sixth shutout of the season.
Women’s tennis
Thomas More (Ky.) 6, Waynesburg 2 – The Yellow Jackets won two singles matches, but the visiting Saints swept the doubles to hand the home team a PAC defeat.
Markie Gustafson won her No. 2 singles match over Lindsey Burns, 7-5, 2-6, 7-5. Jenny McAndrews won her No. 5 singles match over Ashley York, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.