Westmoreland County campus clippings: Former Mt. Pleasant coach Chris Brunson wins 1st games at Waynesburg

Waynesburg started the Chris Brunson era with a pair of wins.

Brunson, the former championship-winning coach at Mt. Pleasant, won his first two games as Waynesburg’s new softball coach, 3-2 and 14-0 (5 innings) over Penn State Altoona.

Sophomore third baseman Brynn Charnesky (Southmoreland) had a double and RBI in the first game.

Softball

Marist: Grad pitcher Kiley Myers (Latrobe), who tossed her first collegiate no-hitter last week, was named the MAAC Pitcher of the Week.

Myers went 2-0 with a 0.58 ERA and 0.83 WHIP, and did not issue a walk in 12 innings.

Ohio: Senior Emma Hoffner (Hempfield) doubled and drove in a run as Ohio defeated Illinois State, 7-2.

In 18 games, Hoffner is hitting .357 with 17 runs, seven doubles, a triple, a home run and a team-best 22 RBIs.

Penn State: Senior outfielder Haylie Brunson (Mt. Pleasant) launched her third home run of the season as the Nittany Lions fell to Virginia Tech, 6-3.

Pitt-Greensburg: Sophomore Hunter Taylor went 3 for 5 with three doubles and three RBIs, junior Brenna Altman had three hits, including a double, and sophomore Jadyn Davis, sophomore Makenzie Lang, senior Beatrice Cook and freshman Shelby Cloak had two hits apiece as UPG defeated Neumann, 12-8.

Taylor was named the AMCC Athlete of the Week.

Robert Morris: Redshirt junior Courtney Poulich (Mt. Pleasant) belted three home runs and drove in seven runs for a career performance in a 16-6 mashing of Bucknell. She is the first Colonials player to his three homers in a game, and the seven RBIs tied the program mark.

Poulich was leading the team in batting average (.471), homers (3), slugging (1.059) and on-base percentage (.571). She has five homers in her last 11 games.

The 16 runs were the most scored by RMU in 15 years.

Saint Francis (Pa.): Sophomore pitcher Olivia Kolowitz (Belle Vernon) is 1-3 with a 6.13 ERA this season. She tossed a one-hitter in a 3-1 win over George Mason.

Seton Hill: Freshman Shelby Telegdy had two hits, including a home run, and drove in two runs, and senior Bre Athey doubled as the Griffins edged past Charleston (W.Va.), 5-4.

Telegdy also was the winning pitcher, striking out four and walking three in seven innings.

Athey hit a three-run home run, and Telegdy added a solo shot and was the winning pitcher in a 6-1 win over Point Park.

The Griffins rallied for four runs in the seventh as junior Abby Smearman homered, and freshman Abby DeJidas had an RBI single.

Telegdy doubled, and freshman Anna Kalkowski hit a two-run single to give Seton Hill a 9-8 win over Point Park.

Men’s basketball

Seton Hill: With a 77-62 victory over Pitt-Johnstown, the Griffins (15-12, 8-11) clinched a spot in the PSAC playoffs.

Grad guard Ryan Meis had 22 points, and junior Gabe Gillespie went for a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Washington & Jefferson: Freshman Cam Rowell (Franklin Regional) scored a team-high 15 points and added four steals in a 73-62 win over Franciscan in the PAC quarterfinals.

Rowell added 19 points as the Presidents upset No. 2 seed Saint Vincent, 87-79, in the semifinals. He made 7 of 11 shots.

The Presidents improved to 21-6.

Women’s basketball

Florida Tech: Senior Sarah Liberatore (Hempfield) recorded her 100th career assist. The standout guard ended her career with 650 points and 104 assists.

Grove City: Senior guard Mara Polczynski (Norwin) had 10 points and 12 rebounds to pace the fourth-seeded Wolverines to a 58-38 victory over No. 5 Saint Vincent in the PAC quarterfinals.

Mercyhurst: Junior Bailey Kuhns (Greensburg Central Catholic) was named a Northeast Conference Prime Performer. She has scored 20 or more points in 13 games this season, including five in a row.

Seton Hill: Twin milestones for twin sisters. Junior Helene Cowan scored her 1,000th career point four days after her twin sister did the same thing as the Griffins (22-4, 16-3 PSAC) defeated Pitt-Johnstown, 78-61.

She finished with 17 points, and sophomore Hailee Ford had 14.

On Feb. 22, Griffins guard Hallie Cowan reached the scoring mark for her career.

Seton Hill (21-4) was ranked No. 20 in last week’s WBCA Division II Coaches Poll.

USC Upstate: Redshirt freshman Emma Blair (Latrobe) scored a career-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, but Upstate fell to High Point, 72-47.

Wrestling

Pitt: The final regular-season rankings show two local Panthers in the top 25 in their weight classes.

Redshirt sophomores Dayton Pitzer (Mt. Pleasant) and Finn Solomon (Franklin Regional) are Nos. 14 and 24 in the Intermat rankings.

Pitzer is No. 17 and Solomon 27 in the Flow rankings.

In the NCAA coaches’ rankings, Pitzer is 16th, and Solomon is 28th.

Pitt-Johnstown: First-year coach Tyler Reinhart (Greensburg Salem) guided the Mountain Cats to their 26th NCAA Regional title as UPJ boasted three champions and five national qualifiers.

Redshirt sophomore Noah Gnibus (Mt. Pleasant) and redshirt junior Isaiah Vance (Hempfield) finished second, Gnibus at 184 pounds and Vance at 285, to qualify for the NCAA Division II championships March 14-15 in Indianapolis.

Saint Vincent: Junior Ryan Weinzen (Norwin) finished fifth at 184 pounds, sophomore Chase Brandebura was sixth at 165 and freshman Anthony Orlandini took eighth at 149 at the NCAA Division III Regional Championships.

Seton Hill: Redshirt junior Mikey Zacur won a Super Region title at 157 pounds and qualified for the NCAA championships later this month in Indianapolis.

Zacur won 4-2 in the title match.

Men’s volleyball

Grove City: Sophomore Andrew Kessler (Penn-Trafford) had seven kills in a 3-1 loss to Hiram.

Penn State: Senior Will Kuhns (Hempfield) had 15 kills and 11 digs to pace the Nittany Lions to a 3-1 win over Merrimack, the team’s 21st straight win at Rec Hall.

Kuhns was named the EIVA Defensive Player of the Week.

Saint Vincent: Junior Zebediah Wyant had nine kills and 13 digs, sophomore Tyler Nelson contributed nine kills and freshman Jackson Genicola (Norwin) had 26 assists as the Bearcats won their first PAC match of the season, 3-0 over Bethany.

Men’s lacrosse

Saint Vincent: Senior Brady Beard was named the PAC Specialist of the Week. Beard had four ground balls and won 11 of 20 faceoffs in an 11-8 win over Bridgewater.

Women’s lacrosse

Saint Vincent: Junior Carolina Walters (Latrobe) scored the go-ahead goal with 10:35 remaining as the Bearcats gave new coach Joe Conner his first win, 12-11 over Mount Aloysius.

Walters had two goals for SVC, senior Gabby Salandro (Franklin Regional) and junior Bailey Nicely scored three each and freshman Katie Smith had two.

Walters had a six-point game with five goals and one assist as the Bearcats edged past Mount St. Joseph’s, 10-9, in double overtime.

Walters was named the PAC Offensive Player of the Week.

Baseball

Pitt-Greensburg: Junior James Domer broke a program record that stood for nine years with his 11th career triple, a run-scoring triple in the first inning, as UPG fell to Dominican, 8-5.

Pitt-Johnstown: Redshirt junior outfielder Justin Turcovski (Norwin) was named the PSAC West Baseball Athlete of the Week. He had five hits, including a home run, and five RBIs in a doubleheader split against Wheeling.

Seton Hill: The Griffins (5-1) checked in at No. 29 in the latest NCBWA Division II national rankings.

Yale: Senior Jake Williams (Franklin Regional) went 3 for 4 with a double and home run but didn’t get much help in a 6-2 loss to The Citadel.

Men’s track and field

Penn State Behrend: Freshman Carter Tobin (Norwin) set a program record in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.14 seconds in a preliminary race at the New York Athletic Conference championships.

Saint Vincent: Grad student Tim Patterson was named the PAC Athlete of the Week. Patterson ran a personal-best time of 4 minutes, 16.58 seconds at the Penn State Tune-Up. The time ranks second in the PAC this season.

Seton Hill: Sophomore Jacy Willis won the 400-meter dash in 49.46 seconds at the PSAC championships. The 1,600-meter relay of Nemani Moon, Haley Brenny, Carly Yanek and Layla Robertson took second in 3:56.50.

Women’s track and field

Arizona: Senior Mackenna Orie (Hempfield) finished fourth at the Big 12 championships in the shot put with a personal-best toss of 52 feet, 7 1/2 inches.

Clarion: Senior Leah Perry (Derry) posted a career-best finish in the pentathlon at the PSAC championships.

Perry took eighth with 2,992 points, recording a time of 9.31 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles — third best in the program — and she took third in the high jump (1.54 meters), and threw 8.97 meters in the shot put, went 4.78 in the long jump, and ran a 2:44.90 in the 800 meters.

Duquesne: Senior Hannah Seitzinger (Belle Vernon) tied her program record in the 500-meter run in 1:12.17 to take second place at the Atlantic 10 championships in Virginia Beach.

She also ran with the 1,600-meter relay that took second in 3:46.02. Seitzinger’s split was 54.7.

Michigan: Sophomore Liz Tapper (Hempfield) did it again. For the fifth time this season, she broke the program record in the shot put, this time at the Big Ten championships in Indianapolis.

Tapper threw 59 feet, 11 inches for a third-place finish for the Wolverines.

Saint Vincent: Freshman Grace Neubert was named the PAC Track Athlete of the Week. She set a school record in the 3K at the Penn State Tune-Up with a time of 10 minutes, 9 seconds.

Westminster: Freshman Grace Iwig (Hempfield) was named the PAC Newcomer of the Week after she cleared a personal-best 3.72 meters in the pole vault at the Mount Union Raider Tune-up.

Iwig finished fourth in the high jump in 5 feet, 1/4 inch at the PAC championships in Youngstown, Ohio.

Men’s tennis

Saint Vincent: Sophomore Braden Yokopenic was named the PAC Player of the Week. He registered singles and doubles wins as the Bearcats defeated Johnson & Wales, 5-2.

Women’s tennis

Saint Vincent: Grad student Isabella Lane (Burrell) recorded her 100th career victory as SVC defeated Johnson & Wales, 7-0, in Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Football

Pitt: Former Jeannette standout Anthony Johnson has joined the Panthers’ coaching staff as a recruiting assistant.

Johnson, who finished his high school career in Ohio, played at several colleges — Bowling Green and Youngstown State among them — but finished his playing days at Pitt as a defensive lineman.