Hull goes out on winning note at PSU
Mike Hull
Morgan Kurtz
Alyssa Wise
Garrett Devenney
Mike Hull’s football career at Penn State ended with a bowl victory and a slew of postseason honors for the linebacker from Canonsburg.
Hull was named the Big Ten Conference’s Linebacker of the Year after leading the league with 134 tackles during the regular season. He also was selected to seven All-America teams.
A former three-sport standout at Canon-McMillan, Hull was the centerpiece of Penn State’s defense that ranked first nationally in rushing defense (84.8 yards per game), second in total defense (269.8 ypg) and eight in scoring defense (17.7 points per game).
Penn State closed the season with a 31-30 overtime victory over Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium in New York.
“I couldn’t be more happy with how it went,” Hull told reporters. “I’m just so grateful for everything. It’s just fitting, getting a win in Yankee Stadium in overtime after the roller-coaster ride of a career we’ve had. I couldn’t be more happy for the guys, and I think this is great for sending the program out in the right direction.”
Hull finished his Penn State career with 294 tackles, which ranks sixth on the Nittany Lions’ all-time list. He has one game remaining in his college career. Hull will play in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., Jan. 24.
The first outing as a member of the Pitt indoor track team could not have gone better for former Washington standout Alyssa Wise. A freshman sprinter, Wise won the 60-meter dash at the Kent State Golden Flash Gala with a time of 7.61 seconds. Wise ran 7.67, which was the fastest time in the heat races.
Wise finished in second place in the 200 meters, running 25.21 and finishing .6 behind Kent State senior Olivia Hallenstein.
Westminster’s Marissa Kalsey was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Women’s Field Athlete of the Week for Dec. 1-7.
A Waynesburg native, Kalsey was the only winner for the Titans at the Youngstown State Icebreaker last month. She won the pole vault, clearing 12-5½.
Kalsey is a two-time NCAA Division III All-American and a former PIAA champion.
Allegheny’s Garrett Devenney, a junior from Eighty Four, has been swimming in the fast lane this season. The Ringgold graduate recently set the Fredonia State pool record when he swam the 1,650 freestyle in 16:47.40 to win the event in the Blue Devil Invitational Dec. 5.
Devenney broke the three-year-old pool record by more than four seconds and touched the wall almost 20 seconds ahead of runner-up Jacob Berk of Baldwin-Wallace.
Kyle Higgins has been causing changes in the University of Kentucky record book. A sophomore from Peters Township, Higgins swam the third-fastest time in UK history in the 200 butterfly when he touched the wall in 1:45.32 to place second at the Ohio State Invitational. The time earned Higgins an NCAA ‘B’ cut qualifying spot.
Higgins also swam the 10th-fastest time (49.39) in Wildcats history in the 100 backstroke at the OSU meet.
Mary Rosatio, who helped South Fayette’s girls team to the WPIAL team title in 2013, is having an outstanding sophomore season at Edinboro.
Rosatio’s breakout season began with a win in the 1,000 freestyle (11:00.51) in the Fighting Scots’ home opener against Tiffin, then was one of only two Edinboro women to win against Bloomsburg when she finished first in the 500 freestyle (5:26:21).
Rosati won the 1,000 again against Allegheny in 11:18.29, then won the 1,650 freestyle in 17:51.14 at the Wooster Invitational.
Kimmie Miller of Meadow Lands will be one of three inductees next month into the California University Athletic Hall of Fame.
Miller, a former standout at Chartiers-Houston, was a two-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association and three-time all-PSAC third baseman for the Cal softball team from 2001 through 2004.
A member of four PSAC West championship teams, Miller led NCAA Division II with a .523 batting average (67-for-128) during her senior season, and she helped Cal make four-consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament. She finished with a .390 career batting average, which still ranks third in Vulcans history.
Miller had career totals of 12 home runs and 36 doubles. During her career, Cal compiled an impressive 126-35 overall record and a 72-8 mark in PSAC West Division games.
Miller played under current Cal coach and 2013 NFCA Hall of Fame inductee Rick Bertagnolli.
Joining Miller in Cal’s 20th induction class are Roger Miller, a four-team all-conference soccer player and former women’s basketball coach Darcie Vincent. Cal won the 2004 Division II national championship under Vincent.
Sophomore outside hitter Shiloh Simonson of Point Park was one of 14 players named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association NAIA All-Northeast Region First Team.
Simonson, a Peters Township graduate and Venetia resident, was one of the top all-around players in the region and helped Point Park to a 27-16 record. A first team All-Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection, Simonson was second in the league with 399 kills and was sixth with 424 digs. She was the only player in the conference to rank in the top 10 in both kills and digs.
Simonson led the KIAC in service aces with 68, a total that ranked fourth in the NAIA.
Point Park advanced to the NAIA national tournament.
The wrestling program at Division II national powerhouse Mercyhurst has a distinct Bentleyville look.
Three members of the Lakers team that is ranked fifth in the nation are the Mizia brothers: Gus, Francis and Paul, each a former Bentworth wrestler.
Gus, a redshirt junior at 174 pounds, and Francis, a sophomore 157-pounder, have had remarkably similar seasons. Each has a 12-2 overall record, is 3-0 in dual meets, placed second at the recent PSAC Championships and finished third at the Laker Open. Gus Mizia has a 66-23 career record and Francis, who won a PIAA Class AA championship while at Bentworth, is 39-9.
Paul is a freshman 174-pounder.
In his first season as a starter, former PIAA champion Cody Wiercioch has a 5-2 record for Pitt’s wrestling team.
Wiercioch, who won PIAA championships at Canon-McMillan and Charleroi, is wrestling at 165 pounds. He is 4-0 in dual meets and his 12 match points is the third-best total accumulated by a Panther.
Colton Shorts, a former standout at Canon-McMillan, has a 12-9 record a sophomore 157-pounder for Cal Poly.
Shorts went into the holiday break by winning four of six matches, including four straight in the consolation bracket, at the Reno Tournament of Champions. He was one win shy of placing.
Freshman linebacker Jaylin Kelly was the third-leading tackler for Youngstown State. The former standout for Washington’s team that reached the 2012 WPIAL Class AA championship game, Kelly made 84 tackles (43 solo), including behind the line of scrimmage. He also had one quarterback sack, one interception and two pass breakups for the Penguins.
Kelly had five games in which he made double-digit tackles, including a career-high 11 against Indiana State.
Youngstown State opens the 2015 season at Pitt followed by a home game against Robert Morris.
Mike Lamberti is averaging 9.2 points per game for undefeated West Liberty, the No. 1-ranked team in NCAA Division II.
A former Observer-Reporter Player of the Year while at South Fayette, Lamberti is a 6-5 junior forward for the 10-0 Hilltoppers. Lamberti, who is West Liberty’s second-leading rebounder (6.6 per game) recently scored 13 points in a 138-133 overtime victory over Urbana.
Josh Valentic, a senior guard for Allegheny, has scored in double figures for six consecutive games and is the Gators’ second-leading scorer.
A Trinity graduate, Valentic is averaging 13.2 points per game and is coming off a season-high 20-point performance Saturday against Wabash when he made seven of 10 shots from the field, including four of six from three-point range.
Morgan Kurtz had the kind of game most players can only dream about when her Penn State-Beaver team played Penn State-Lehigh Valley Dec. 6.
Kurtz, a junior guard for PSU-Beaver and a Trinity graduate, scored 34 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and had six steals and two assists in an 83-73 victory.
Kurtz made nine of 17 shots from the field, including six of nine attempts from three-point range. She also converted 10 of 13 free throws before fouling out late in the game.
For the season, Kurtz is the Lions’ leading scorer, averaging 16.8 points per game.
Lauren Simpson, a sophomore guard from Trinity High School, is the fourth-leading scorer for Bethany’s women’s team.
Simpson is averaging 7.8 points per game and is shooting 47 percent (18-for-38) from three-point range for the Bison, who are 3-1 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference and 7-4 overall. She scored 11 points Saturday in the Bison’s 85-45 victory over Chatham. Simpson’s season high is 14 points in wins over both Muskingum and Franciscan.
Josie Schmidt, a 6-3 sophomore center from Eighty Four, has been making an impact early in her career at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind.
Schmidt, a Ringgold graduate, is averaging 5.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. She scored a season-high nine points in a 70-55 loss to Illinois Wesleyan Dec. 20.