Pitt, Penn State softball getting contributions from Washington County players
Players from Washington County have been significant contributors early in the season for the Pitt and Penn State softball teams.
Olivia Gray, a sophomore third baseman and Trinity graduate, is the third-leading hitter for Pitt with a .357 batting average in nine games. Gray leads the team with seven doubles, nine runs, five walks and 17 total bases. She has reached base safely in eight consecutive games and scored two runs Sunday in the Panthers’ 6-4 come-from-behind victory over Northwestern that concluded the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Tallahassee, Fla.
Gray also has been stellar on defense, committing only one error in 41 total chances.
Giorgiana Zeremenko, a junior catcher and designated hitter from Canonsburg, also has started all nine games for Pitt and is batting .276 with three doubles and seven RBI.
Gray and Zeremenko have helped Pitt to a 9-0 start. The Panthers entered last weekend ranked No. 24, the first national ranking for the Panthers.
Pitt resumes its season Friday in Troy, Ala., against Lipscomb.
Freshman Delaney Elling, a Trinity graduate, has started all nine games for Penn State, playing catcher and designated hitter.
Elling is batting .273 and is second on the team with four walks. She has a .385 on-base percentage.
Elling helped Penn State (5-4) go undefeated in four games last weekend in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge in Atlanta. The Nittany Lions also defeated 4th-ranked LSU Feb. 10 in Baton Rouge, La. Penn State plays Saturday against Coastal Carolina and Campbell in Conway, S.C.
Grove City’s Brittany Byer, a freshman from Canonsburg and a Canon-McMillan graduate, was a member of the Wolverines’ 200 medley relay team that dropped more than one second off its school- and Presidents’ Athletic Conference-record time during the Kenyon College Fast Chance Invitational on Saturday.
Byer and three of her teammates swam improved their time by 1.19 seconds to improve their record to 1:44.42. Grove City’s previous time of 1:45.61 had already surpassed the NCAA Division III B provisional qualifying standard, but their improved time increases their chances of being selected to the national championships.
Byer was recently named first team All-PAC.
South Fayette graduate senior and Grove City diver Grace Klimek was named to the All-Presidents’ Athletic Conference first team. At the PAC Championships, Klimek, led Grove City’s effort in diving by taking second place in 3-meter and third on the 1-meter springboard. She had a score of 459.20 points on the low board and a 452.90 score in 3-meter diving. Klimek qualified for the NCAA Division III regional qualifying meet on both boards.
Saint Vincent sophomore Maddie Bartung, a South Fayette graduate, was named first team All-Presidents’ Athletic Conference after winning two individual events at the PAC Championships. The Bridgeville native won her second 200 freestyle title, winning with a time of 1:55.48. She won her first 500 freestyle championship with a time of 5:08.05. She placed second in the event at last year’s conference meet.
Bartung also was part of the Bearcats’ 400 medley relay team that set a school record of 3:58.25 at the PAC Championships .
Sean Hilverding of Waynesburg recently set the Point Park school record in the indoor 5,000 meters. A sophomore from Spraggs, Hilverding ran 15:34 at the SPIRE Midwest Open last month.
Baldwin-Wallace’s Zac Dysert, a sophomore from McDonald, won the weight throw Saturday at the Raider Tune Up hosted by Mount Union. Dysert recorded a throw of 54-7 ¼ to win the event. He also placed fourth in the shot put with a career-best throw of 47-11.
Shippensburg junior Alec Rideout matched his personal record and season best in the shot put, winning the competition Saturday at the Kutztown Six-Team Challenge with on an NCAA Division II-provisional qualifying throw of 56-8½. A Canonsburg native and Canon-McMillan graduate, Rideout is currently tied for ninth on the Division II performance list.
Francis Mizia, a senior at Mercyhurst and the top-ranked NCAA Division II wrestler at 165 pounds, had an impressive victory Saturday in the Lakers’ PSAC dual meet against Pitt-Johnstown.
The undefeated Mizia, who is a Bentworth graduate, won an 8-6 decision over defending national champion and No. 2-ranked Tyler Reinhart. Mizia gave up a takedown in the first period, but earned an escape. Mizia secured a takedown, but was unable to maintain control and gave up a reversal trailing 4-3 at the end of one. Trailing 5-3 to start the third period, Mizia started on bottom and cut the deficit in half with an escape. Mizia scored a takedown off a single, taking Reinhart to his back and earning two back points. Mizia was called for locked hands but maintained control on top to secure his victory.
Dustin Conti, a redshirt junior and Jefferson-Morgan graduate, has a 12-6 record while wrestling at 197 pounds for Clarion.
Conti has won seven of his last nine bouts including a technical fall over Devin King of Ohio on Feb. 3. At the PSAC Championships, Conti earned a pair of victories, including a major decision in his opening match, but fell to eventual champion Evan Ramos and finished in sixth place.
Conti, who won 142 career bouts at Jefferson-Morgan, and placed fourth last year at the Eastern Wrestling League tournament at 184 pounds.
Youngstown State forward Mary Dunn continues to be a strong candidate for Horizon league Freshman of the Year. The Trinity graduate is averaging 11.3 points and a team-high four rebounds per game for the Penguins.
Dunn is shooting 52 percent from the field and has a team-leading 18 blocked shots. She leads all Horizon League freshmen in scoring, field-goal percentage and blocked shots.
Dunn scored 18 points and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds Thursday in an overtime victory against Northern Kentucky.
Evan Bonnaure, a senior guard, is the third-leading scorer for La Roche, averaging 11.6 points per game.
A South Fayette graduate from Bridgeville, Bonnaure is one of the top shooters in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. He is shooting 41 percent from three-point range and is third in the AMCC in free-throw percentage at 86.5 percent. He also leads the Red Hawks in assists at 3.0 per game.
Bonnaure scored a season-high 21 points in a Jan. 21 game at Pitt-Bradford.
La Roche has an 18-7 record with one regular-season game remaining.
Jean-Pierre Lucas of Speers is the lone senior on the West Virginia rifle team that is ranked No. 2 in the nation.
Shooting in his final career match at the WVU Rifle Range, Lucas placed fourth with a 582 mark in smallbore Sunday at the NCAA Qualifying match. Lucas finished third on the team in air rifle with a score of 593.
The Mountaineers have a 12-0 season record and are expected to be among the field for the NCAA Championships when the field is announced Wednesday.
A Charleroi graduate, Lucas made the WVU squad as a freshman walk-on and has been a member of four national championship teams. A petroleum and natural gas engineering major, Lucas has been named to the Big 12 At-Large Academic Team, the Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll and is a three-time Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association All-Academic Team member. On the range, Lucas is a six-time All-American including twice on the first team in smallbore.