Westmoreland County campus clippings: Seton Hill coach Ben Wilkins earns Division II honors

Third-year men’s basketball coach Ben Wilkins and his Seton Hill Griffins are finding ways to win again, and people are noticing.

Wilkins recently was named the HoopDirt.com Division II Coach of the Week.

The Griffins (9-2, 2-2 PSAC West) picked up wins over Pitt-Greensburg and Glenville State, the latter on a three-quarter-court buzzer-beater from Kedrick Curtis.

Wilkins, a Mt. Pleasant alum, is now eligible for the HoopDirt.com national coach of the year award.

His team kept the thrills coming as grad guard Ryan Meis scored with 10 seconds remaining in double overtime to lift Seton Hill to a 92-90 win over Millersville. Freshman Gage Lattimore had 21 points to lead the Griffins, and junior Gabe Gillespie added 18.

Pitt-Greensburg: Sophomore Trent Rozich had 21 points and 14 rebounds, and junior Michael Bigley scored 20 but the Bobcats fell to Penn State Altoona, 82-72.

Washington & Jefferson: Freshman Cam Rowell (Franklin Regional) scored a season-high 17 points as the Presidents topped Grove City, 75-52.

Rowell made 6 of 8 shots and 4 of 4 free throws in the win.

Westmoreland County Community College: Freshman Lorenzo Gardner (Monessen) scored a game-high 21 points, freshman Colin Masten (Franklin Regional) added 18 and freshman Alex Lowry had 15 and 13 rebounds for the Wolfpack (3-6, 1-1) in a 101-95 overtime win over Community College of Beaver County.

Women’s basketball

Chatham: Junior forward Alyssa Laukus (Norwin) scored 19 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead the Cougars to a 71-54 victory over Waynesburg.

She made 9 of 12 shots. The double-double was her first of the season.

Laukus also had 16 points and two blocks as Chatham rolled past Grove City, 91-43.

Mercyhurst: Junior forward Bailey Kuhns (Greensburg Central Catholic) has been on a tear this season, Mercyhurst’s first at the NCAA Division I level.

Kuhns leads the Northeast Conference in scoring (20.3 ppg) through eight games. She has reached double figures in scoring in every game, including a 32-point effort against Cornell.

Pitt-Greensburg: Despite getting four players in double figures, the Bobcats (1-7, 0-2) dropped their AMCC opener, 67-56, to Penn State Altoona.

Junior Tiana Moracco (Derry) had 15 points, freshman Jocelyn Bielak added 13, junior Trinity Lockwood-Morris had 12 and freshman Autumn Matthews (Yough) had a career-high 11.

Saint Vincent: Senior Emily Thompson had 19 points, junior Camdon Bashor added 18 and junior Makenna Maier had 17 as SVC (5-4, 2-2) cruised past Geneva, 97-70, for its third straight win.

Seton Hill: The unbeaten Griffins’ torrid start to the season has them showing up in the national rankings.

Seton Hill made a pair of national polls for the first time, claiming the No. 21 spot in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association NCAA Division II Coaches Poll, four spots better than last week.

The Griffins also are No. 11 in the D2CSC National Poll after only receiving votes the previous week.

They were No. 1 in the latest D2CSC Atlantic Region poll.

The Griffins sneaked past Millersville, 63-62, and Kutztown, 89-72, to remain unbeaten at 10-0 (4-0 PSAC West) as grad student Christiane Frye and junior Hallie Cowan had 12 points each, and junior Helene Cowan scored 11 in the Millersville win.

The Griffins’ start is their best since joining the NCAA in 2006.

Wrestling

Ohio: Redshirt junior Garrett Thompson (Franklin Regional) finished third at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in the 174-pound bracket.

He defeated four wrestlers who were ranked in the top 25 nationally.

Saint Vincent: Junior Kyle McCollum put together a 6-1 weekend and finished third at 133 pounds at the Messiah Petrofes Invitational.

Washington & Jefferson: Sophomore Christian McChesney (Greensburg Salem) finished as the runner-up at 285 pounds at the Ohio Northern Invitational.

McChesney went 4-1, falling in the championship to Myles Johnson of Ohio Northern, 17-1.

Football

Memphis: Redshirt senior center Trent Holler (Latrobe) was named to the All-American Athletic Conference third team.

Holler (6-foot-2, 311 pounds) has started 12 games for the Tigers and is on the Rimington Award watch list. He helped the Tigers produce seven 200-yard rushing games.

Seton Hill: Junior running back Ky’Ron Craggette was named to the Division 2 Conference Commissioner’s Association All-Super Region 1 Second Team.

Craggette ran for 1,287 yards and 13 touchdowns, both high-water marks in the PSAC this season.

He also was an All-PSAC West first-team pick.

Craggette could be making inroads to a higher level. He received a pair of Division I offers, from Texas El Paso and Maine.

Griffins junior linebacker Ritchie McCormack and junior defensive back David Awuh also were first-team all-conference picks.

Grad student offensive tackle Paul Newill (Hempfield), junior linebacker Caleb Turner, grad student receiver Todd Phillips, senior defensive lineman Josh Cohen and junior defensive back Demetri Whitehead were second-team selections.

Women’s indoor track and field

Duquesne: Senior Hannah Seitzinger (Belle Vernon) won the 800-meter run in 2 minutes, 13.5 seconds at the season-opening Akron Hayes Lancaster Open.

Sophomore Cydney Blahovec (Hempfield) finished second in 2:21.05.

The pair later teamed up for a second-place finish in the 1,600-meter relay.

Seton Hill: Senior Haley Brenny broke a school record in the 400-meter run with a time of 57.79 seconds at the YSU Icebreaker.

Brenny also helped to set another program mark in the 1,600-meter relay (3:57.40).

Women’s soccer

Saint Vincent: Graduate student Tanisha Grewal was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Region IV first team.

Grewal finished as the program’s all-time leader in goals with 54 and tied for first with 120 points.

Her 17 goals this season ranked third in the PAC.

Westminster: Senior midfielder Brooke Horvath (Franklin Regional) was named to the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division III All-Region VII first team.

Horvath, who also was an All-PAC first-team pick, had 28 points to lead the Titans, tallying 11 goals and six assists.

She had 106 points in 66 career starts (39 goals, 28 assists).

Women’s cross country

Saint Francis (Pa.): Rosemary Gaydos (Norwin) was named the Northeast Conference Freshman of the Year after her 19th-place finish at the conference championships in 18 minutes, 52.2 seconds.

Women’s volleyball

Seton Hill: Senior outside hitter Paige Cole and sophomore middle blocker Catie Flohr were named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Atlantic first team.

Cole led the Griffins with 382 kills and 435.5 points and also had 257 digs.

Flohr had a team-high 85 blocks and was second with 302 kills and 381.5 points. She hit .339.