Feb 21, 2005 4 min read

Basketball Swink nears 2,000

Senior All-American candidate and Connellsville graduate Beth Swink scored 17 points to lead the Saint Francis University women’s basketball team to a 57-50 victory over Robert Morris Sunday in Northeast Conference action.

The victory extended Saint Francis’ winning streak to nine straight games.

With her 17-point performance, Swink needs just three more points to become the second player in Saint Francis and conference history to reach the 2,000-point plateau.

The Red Flash returns to action Thursday, traveling to Mount Saint Mary’s for an NEC game that tips off at 7 p.m.

Duncan scores nine

Uniontown graduate Brandon Duncan scored nine points, pulled down four rebounds and added four assists as the Bethany (W.Va.) men’s basketball team defeated Grove City 78-71 Saturday.

Duncan also had two steals.

Slampak scores 12

Laurel Highlands grad Lauren Slampak scored 12 points en route to an 86-73 Washington & Jefferson win over Thiel Saturday.

The Presidents had five players in double figures.

Baseball

Cal splits DH at Salem

The California University men’s baseball team, the defending PSAC champions, opened its 2005 season at Salem (W.Va.) International Saturday, posting a 5-4 win in the second game to gain a split in the doubleheader.

Salem took the opener, 3-2, thanks to a walk-off home run in the eighth inning. California bounced back in the nightcap with a 5-4 come-from-behind victory.

In the second game, junior reliever and Jefferson-Morgan grad Adam Dukate came in relief to make the come-from-behind victory stand for the Vulcans’ first win of the season.

Correction

Geibel still hopeful

The Geibel Catholic boys basketball team is not completely out of the playoff picture. The Gators need St. Joseph to win the WPIAL Class A boys basketball title to carry Geibel into the PIAA playoffs as the fifth team from District 7.

Swimming

Zavadilova wins 2nd gold

California University of Pa. sophomore Petra Zavadilova picked up her second gold medal of the meet, leading the Vulcans to a sixth-place finish in the team standings at the 2005 PSAC Swimming Championships at West Chester University.

The Vulcans, who were fifth in the team standings after the first two days of competition, finished with 396.5 points, just 4.5 points behind fifth-place Shippensburg. It was the best team finish in the three-year history of the California program, which placed ninth last year after ranking seventh in 2003.

Zavadilova won the 200 butterfly in an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 2:05.84. Also scoring in the 200 butterfly for the Vulcans were Melanie Ruch, who was ninth in 2:13.99, and Brittany Bureau, who was 13th in 2:14.22.

Zavadilova, who won her first PSAC golf medal Friday in the 100 butterfly will advance to the NCAA Championships on March 9-12 at Orlando, Fla., for the second-straight year. She earned first-team All-America recognition in 2004 with a seventh-place finish in the 100 butterfly.

Zavadilova also swam the lead off leg of the fifth-place 400 freestyle relay team (3:37.39) followed by Miranda King, Amanda Kuiper and Belle Vernon grad Rachel Driver.

Driver, who anchored the relay in her final race as a Vulcan, also placed 10th in the 100 freestyle in 43.98 seconds. She scored points in all seven races for the Vulcans at the 2005 Championships.

Track & Field

Morinello wins hurdles

California University of Pa. freshman Anthony Morinello won the 300-meter hurdles and three Vulcans qualified for the PSAC Indoor Track & Field Championships at Saturday’s Kent State Invitational, which was comprised of NCAA Division I teams.

Morinello captured top honors in the 300 hurdles with a time of 40.15 seconds. He also contributed to Vulcans’ eighth-place finish in the 1,600-meter relay that crossed the finish line in 3:23.00.

Joining Marinello on the relay team was Brad Rager, D.J. Vallee and Connellsville grad Jon Hall.

The PSAC Championships will be held this weekend at East Stroudsburg University. California will be looking to improve on last year’s team standings when the Vulcans placed 11th in the men’s standings and 13th in the women’s standings.