Holding a spot on a Division I roster and being a Division I player are different things.
It’s about actions and results that go beyond landing a spot at a school.
Bailey Kuhns found herself on a Division I team when Mercyhurst jumped from the D-II PSAC. Now, the junior is looking the part as one of the top women’s basketball players in the Northeast Conference.
Kuhns, a Greensburg Central Catholic alum and Mt. Pleasant native, has boosted her statistics and has been a regular Prime Performer as one of the NEC’s weekly top players.
Kuhns, a 5-foot-11 forward, is averaging a team-best 19.4 points and 4.9 rebounds, scoring 20 or more points six times, including 32 — and 10 rebounds — against Cornell.
She had 20 points against Notre Dame to open the season and has progressed upward ever since.
Last season, Kuhns led the Lakers with 14.3 points over 29 games and also averaged 5.1 rebounds in 26.8 minutes. She earned All-PSAC Second Team honors.
Men’s basketball
Carlow: Senior guard Riley Comforti (Southmoreland) is averaging 10.8 points while shooting 58% from the field for the Celtics (2-11, 1-4 AMCC).
Comforti has 712 career points and has started 57 of 66 games in three-plus seasons.
Pitt-Greensburg: The Bobcats stretched their winning streak to six games with a 68-64 victory over visiting La Roche as junior Jackson Byer registered 17 points and seven rebounds.
Sophomore Trent Rozich added 16 points, while junior Joziah Wyatt-Taylor chipped in 14. The Bobcats produced 21 fast-break points and made 14 of 19 free throws.
Saint Vincent: Freshman Terek Crosby (Yough) scored a career-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting, as the Bearcats edged past Grove City, 80-78, in overtime.
Junior Dev Ostrowski also scored 18, while grad student Osyon Jones added 14 for the Bearcats (12-4, 8-3 PAC).
Washington & Jefferson: Freshman Cam Rowell (Franklin Regional) scored 11 points in only 15 minutes of action as the Presidents cruised to a 103-85 win over Franciscan.
Women’s basketball
Evansville: Freshman Elle Snyder (Latrobe) scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds in an 85-70 win over Southern Illinois. The reserve forward played a career-best 33 minutes and hit 5 of 8 3-pointers.
Snyder has played nine games this season for the Purple Aces, averaging 15 minutes off the bench.
Pitt-Greensburg: Junior Tiana Moracco (Derry) was leading the Bobcats in scoring at 13.9 points per game. Her 33.7-minute average ranked second.
The Bobcats (3-13, 1-6) secured their first AMCC win of the season — the first conference win for first-year coach Julie Bolden — with a 66-58 victory against Pitt-Bradford.
Junior Trinity Lockwood-Morris had 18 points on 7-for-15 shooting, while freshman Autumn Matthews (Yough) added 14 points, nine rebounds and three steals.
Seton Hill: In one national poll, the Griffins jumped a spot. In another, they stayed pat.
Seton Hill (16-1, 10-0 PSAC) moved to No. 9 in the WBCA coaches’ poll and remained at No. 5 in the D2CSC rankings.
The Griffins won a tough game at IUP, 67-60, without Frye, who did not play.
Junior twins Helene Cowan (19 points) and Hallie Cowan (17) combined for 36 points, while sophomore Mia Kalich had 11 points and 19 rebounds.
USC Upstate: Redshirt freshman Emma Blair (Latrobe) has appeared in 17 games, with two starts. She is averaging 3.5 points and 3.2 rebounds a game.
Wrestling
Bucknell: Fifth-year 133-pounder Kurtis Phipps (Norwin) is 3-2 this season with a pair of technical falls for the Bison. Phipps won a major decision in a 28-10 loss to No. 16 Pitt.
Edinboro: Fifth-year 133-pounder Colton Camacho (Franklin Regional) picked up a 15-4 victory as the Fighting Scots fell to Ohio, 26-14.
For Ohio, Garrett Thompson (Franklin Regional) picked up a technical fall, 18-11, at 174 pounds.
Pitt: Redshirt sophomores Dayton Pitzer (Mt. Pleasant) and Finn Solomon picked up wins as the No. 16-ranked Panthers defeated Bucknell, 28-10.
The No. 14-ranked Pitzer won by major decision at 285 pounds, while Solomon, ranked No. 22 at 149, won by technical fall.
Pitt-Johnstown: Redshirt sophomore Noah Gnibus (Mt. Pleasant) won a 25-10 major decision to help the 11th-ranked Mountain Cats to a 34-10 victory over Frostburg State.
Saint Vincent: Junior Ryan Weinzen (Norwin) was named the PAC Wrestler of the Week, while freshman Nathan Barkley (Derry) earned PAC Newcomer of the Week honors.
Weinzen went 3-1 with two pins and a technical fall at the Virginia Duals. Barkley also had a 3-1 record with a pin at the same event.
Seton Hill: The Griffins won the first seven matches and defeated Shippensburg, 32-12, in PSAC action to move to 7-6 overall and 1-2 in the PSAC.
Junior 133-pounder Jacob Gardner had a pin, while junior 149-pounder Ty Linsenbigler (Hempfield) and redshirt junior Mike Zacur (157) won by technical fall for Seton Hill.
Women’s wrestling
Waynesburg: Freshman Faryn Dewitt (Southmoreland) recorded a pin and went 2-0 at 110 pounds as the Yellow Jackets dropped a pair of matches in a tri-meet against Buffalo State and Bethany. Dewitt moved to 9-10 on the season. Earlier this season she earned the first win in program history.
Women’s swimming
Clarion: Senior Jordan Kutchak (Norwin) helped the 200-yard freestyle relay to victory in 1 minute, 39.33 seconds in a 101-99 win over Edinboro at the PennWest Duals.
Saint Vincent: The Bearcats cruised to a 184-85 victory over Chatham to give coach Josh Gurekovic a milestone: his 100th career win.
Gurekovich has led the program since its inception in 2004. He is a two-time PAC Coach of the Year.
Men’s swimming
Clarion: Senior Austin Prokopec (Penn-Trafford) was part of the winning 200-yard medley relay as the Golden Eagles defeated Ednboro, 113.5-64.5 in the PennWest Duals. The foursome’s time was 1:34.32.
Men’s volleyball
Grove City: Freshman Keith Otto (Penn-Trafford) had 10 kills, and Andrew Kessler (Penn-Trafford) added eight blocks as the Wolverines defeated Penn State Behrend, 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 26-24) in the season opener.
Men’s volleyball became a varsity sport this year at Grove City after the Wolverines competed at the club level, in the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation.
Penn State: Redshirt junior Will Kuhns (Hempfield) had 10 kills and nine digs as No. 14 Penn State fell to No. 11 Stanford, 3-1, at the First Point Collegiate Challenge.
Women’s track and field
Michigan: Sophomore Liz Tapper (Hempfield) continued her uptick in her second year of competition. Tapper broke the Wolverines’ program record in the shot put for the second straight meet, posting a mark of 16.99 meters (55 feet, 9 inches) at the Simmons-Harvey Invitational in Ann Arbor.
Robert Morris: Sophomore Emma Jiancristoforo (Norwin) set a program record in the mile-run with a time of 5 minutes, 7.10 seconds at the Nittany Lions Challenge in State College. She finished 16th in the race.
Westminster: Freshman Grace Iwig (Hempfield) took third place in the pole vault (11-1) at the Al Campbell Invitational at Akron. She is the third Titans’ pole vaulter to clear 11 feet this season.
Men’s track and field
Seton Hill: Sophomore Blaise Verrastro won the 500-meter run at the Jud Logan Memorial at Kent State in a time of 1:7.54.
Westminster: Sophomore Gino Piraino (Franklin Regional) finished fifth in the 60-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 9.67 seconds at the Al Campbell Invitational.
Women’s bowling
Saint Vincent: Freshman Mareana Pilyih was named the AMCC Bowler of the Week. Pilyih and the Bearcats won two tournaments, the Greater Pittsburgh Collegiate Classic, and the Western PA Baker Shootout, both at Hillview Lanes in Greensburg. Pilyoh made the all-tournament team at the GPCC as SVC set a team record with a score of 1,060. She bowled a 204 and 223, and provided a 191.8 average in baker play, to take third overall.
At the shootout, she led the Bearcats with a 189.8 average.
Rifle
Kentucky: Sophomore Emily Marne (Mt. Pleasant) has a smallbore average of 554.5, and an air rifle average of 576.5 for an aggregate 1131.0 for the unbeaten Wildcats.
Kentucky is 8-0 overall and 4-0 in the SEC.
Texas El Paso: Freshman Carlee Valenta (Penn-Trafford) leads the team in air rifle average at 594, and in aggregate (1171).
She matched a career-high air rifle score of 597 in back-to-back matches against Jax State and Ohio State, also delivering her best smallbore score against the Buckeyes.
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