A-K Vally campus clippings: Kiski Area grad Miller swims to gold for Edinboro

Eliza Miller originally began her collegiate career on the new Duquesne women’s triathlon team.

But a change was made to a new environment as Miller, a 2024 Kiski Area graduate, returned to a familiar sport.

She has made the most of her inaugural season with the Edinboro women’s swim team.

As she did at WPIALs during her high school career, Miller captured 500-yard freestyle gold during the second day of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championships Feb. 19 in York.

She trailed by more than a second-and-a-half heading into the final two lengths of her finals race. She rallied to touch the wall in 5 minutes, .81 seconds and tied West Chester’s Danielle Steele.

The time was an NCAA “B” consideration cut.

The time also was the second fastest in women’s program history.

Miller kicked off the PSAC meet with a second-place finish in the 200 free with an NCAA “B” cut of 1:51.59.

Men’s swimming

Penn State-Altoona: Caden Traggiai (Knoch) earned first-team Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference honors after capturing the 500 free (4:39.58) during Day 2 of the championship meet. The time set a Lions team record. He added second-team laurels for his runner-up finish in the 1,650 free in a team-record time of 16:21.72. Traggiai also was a part of the 400 medley relay (3:37.32), the 400 free relay (3:13.15), and the 800 free relay (7:12.84) which raced to second place finishes.

Men’s basketball

Penn State-New Kensington: Ta’Rasi Means (Plum) surpassed 1,000 points for his Lions career during a victory over Penn State Beaver, 86-79, on Jan. 21. He finished the game with 22 points (8-of-15 shooting). He also was 5 of 6 from the free-throw line and added three rebounds, two assists and three steals. The third-year Lions player led the team in scoring at 20 points per game. He hit a team-best 40 3-ponters and was 75% (66 of 88) from the free-throw line. PSNK made it to the PSU Athletic Conference quarterfinals and finished 10-12 overall.

Allegheny: Ryan Lang (Knoch) also joined the 1,000-point club in an 84-71 Presidents’ Athletic Conference victory over Franciscan on Feb. 8. He finished with 17 points, one of four Gators to finish in double figures. His milestone point came on a 3-point field goal in the first half. He became the 33rd player in program history to surpass 1,000 points. The junior guard finished the season averaging 13.7 points and 5.4 rebounds with 60 assists and 15 steals in 25 games, all starts.

Men’s indoor track

IUP: Mike Formica (Knoch) earned a trio of all-conference honors at the PSAC championships Friday and Saturday at Lehigh. The redshirt junior was a part of the Crimson Hawks’ distance medley relay that placed third overall with a time of 10:16.78. Individually, he placed second in the mile (4:18.98) and third in the 3000 meters (8:35.36).

Women’s basketball

Wisconsin: Tess Myers (North Catholic/Lower Burrell) is averaging 7.3 points through 29 games for the Lady Badgers who, at 13-16 overall, open up play at the Big Ten Tournament against Iowa on Wednesday evening in Indianapolis. Myers, a transfer this year after four seasons at Duquesne, recorded a personal season-best 18 points — all on 3-pointers — in an 80-69 loss to Ohio State on Jan. 16. She is, by far, the team leader in 3-point field goals made with 65 in 172 attempts (37.8%).

Baseball

Slippery Rock: Brandon Butler (Apollo-Ridge) is off to a strong start for The Rock. The sophomore infielder/outfielder batted .417 (10 of 24) through his team’s first seven games with a triple, RBIs and five runs. He hit safely in six games after going 0 for 3 in the opener. He was a season-best 3 for 4 with two runs in a 11-4 win over Goldey-Beacom on Feb. 23 in Cary, N.C.

Washington & Jefferson: Dante DiMatteo (Fox Chapel) earned a victory in his Presidents season debut. He started and pitched the first four innings of a 5-4 win over Pitt-Greensburg on Feb. 24. The 2024 All-PAC honorable mention selection scattered three hits and allowed no earned run while walking one and striking out four.

Men’s wrestling

Washington & Jefferson: Brayden Roscosky (Kiski Area) captured the 184-pound title and was named to the All-PAC first team at the conference championship tournament Feb. 15 at Waynesburg. He went 3-0 to win his first PAC title. He recorded a pin and a sudden victory to reach the finals. In the title match, he defeated teammate Jaden Fields by fall in the final minute of the third period (6:21). Roscosky, who missed all of last year and most of this season with an injury, finished his season 9-1 overall.

Women’s wrestling

Lock Haven: Bella DeVito (Kiski Area) placed fifth at 124 pounds at the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling (NCWWC) Region 2 championships the weekend of Feb. 22 in East Stroudsburg, Pa. She completed her 2024-25 season 16-15 overall with nine dual wins. Of her 16 wins, 11 were by a pin and another three by technical fall. She now is 27-23 in two collegiate seasons with the Lady Eagles

Softball

Gannon: Katie Armstrong (Burrell) was strong in the pitching circle as the Knights rolled to a 12-4 win over Wheeling on Friday. In a complete game of seven innings, Armstrong gave up nine hits and four earned runs but struck out 12 and walked none to bring her early-season record to 2-1. Through 14 2/3 innings in three starts, she owns 20 strikeouts and eight walks while producing a 4.77 ERA.