College notebook: Marisa on Point Guard of Year Watch List
For the second year in a row, Penn State’s Makenna Marisa has been selected to the Preseason Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Watch List.
The award recognizes the top point guard in NCAA Division I women’s basketball. To be considered, candidates must exhibit the leadership, play making and ball-handling skills of Class of 1996 Hall-of-Fame inductee Nancy Lieberman, according to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Marisa has also been named Preseason All-Big Ten Team. The fifth-year senior is the only Lady Lion in program history with more than 1,750 career points, 500 rebounds, 400 assists and 175 three-pointers. Marisa ranks third at Penn State in career 20-point games and fifth in career three-point field goals.
She averaged 17.5 points per game last year and led Penn State in scoring, assists, field goals made, free throws made and free throw percentage.
In swimming
Jade Miller, a junior from Washington and Trinity graduate, was named the Wheeling University Female High Flyer of the Week on Oct. 26.
Miller led Wheeling to a 3-0 record in weekend dual meets. She competed in seven events and won all seven. It was a significant accomplishment because none of the seven swims she participated in were her main events. She started the weekend with four total wins, three solo and one relay, in a tri-meet at Washington & Jefferson, picking up wins in the 100-yard butterfly, 100 breaststroke, and 100 individual medley, as well as being the second leg of the 200 medley relay team. The next day, Miller added wins in the 1,000 freestyle, 400 individual medley and the 400 medley relay to close out the day.
Caleb Trainum, a freshman from Canonsburg, set the Chatham school record in the 100-yard butterfly during a meet against Hiram. In his debut with Chatham, Trainum won the event with a time of 58.67. Trainum also won the 50-yard butterfly in 26.29.
In soccer
Washington & Jefferson’s Abby Hipkins, a senior from Canonsburg, was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Goalkeeper of the Week for Oct. 16-22.
Hipkins recorded two shutouts during the week to help the Presidents earn a pair of PAC victories. She matched a season-high with 11 saves in a 1-0 win over Westminster, the first Presidents’ win over the Titans since 2018. Hipkins then added three saves in a 1-0 victory over Bethany for her fourth consecutive clean sheet.
Hipkins had a 9-3-2 record this year with nine shutouts and an .868 save percentage.
Hannah Stuck, a senior midfielder from McMurray and a Peters Township graduate, is the fourth-leading scorer for the Bucknell women’s team.
Stuck has two goals and four assists for eight points through 18 games, all starts. She has done her best work against the service academies. Her goals were scored in a 2-1 win over Air Force in September and a 2-0 victory over Navy in October.
In football
Dylan Asbury, a junior running back from Washington, has seen an increased workload at West Liberty.
A Wash High graduate, Asbury had his best game of the season Oct. 14 in a 24-7 win over West Virginia Wesleyan when he rushed for 72 yards on 21 carries and also caught one pass.
The game capped a four-game stretch in which Asbury rushed for 172 yards on 50 carries and caught four passes.
Junior Jelani Stafford continues to be a dual-threat for UConn.
The 6-1, 303-pound California graduate is the Huskies’ sixth-leading tackler as a defensive lineman. He has made 27 tackles, including eight for losses.
Also a short-yardage running back, Stafford has 21 rushing yards on 12 attempts, including six touchdowns. He also one pass reception for 10 yards.
Stafford has twice scored two touchdowns in a game, against Rice and Utah State.
In volleyball
Kamryn Freehan, a Fort Cherry graduate, recently completed her sophomore season at Potomac State, where she was the team’s setter.
Freehan helped Potomac State to a 17-5 record and was ranked the No. 2 setter in Region 20. She has 1,013 career assists, which ranks in the top 10 in Catamounts history.
In wrestling
D3Wrestle.com released its first set of national rankings this week and Waynesburg University senior Colby Morris is the seventh-ranked 174-pounder in the country.
Morris, a Waynesburg Central graduate, had a highlight-filled 2022-23 season that included his second Presidents’ Athletic Conference title, the PAC Most Outstanding Wrestler of the PAC Championship Tournament award and a berth in the NCAA Division III National Championships after placing second at the Southeast Regional. Morris came one win shy of earning All-American honors after going 2-2 at nationals.
Morris finished last year with a 28-4 record that included 11 pins. He enters this winter with a 57-11 career record.