Thought for the Day — The winter cold is upon us. Or, as 19th Century American poet Richard Hovey said, “The great white cold walks abroad!” Try to keep warm.
HEY Award
A Higher Education Yahoo! award goes to a familiar name, Pitt-Bradford senior guard Alicia Kimmel of Pine Grove. Kimmel was selected as the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week recently.
Kimmel recorded a double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds), along with an assist and six steals in a win over conference foe Penn State-Behrend. She also scored 23 points and shot 55.6 percent in a loss to Lebanon Valley and scored the 1,000th point of her collegiate career. For the week, Kimmel averaged 20.5 points per game, 6.5 rebounds per game, 2.0 assists per game and 4.5 steals per game.
She followed up that week with a 20-point, nine-rebound, five-assist night in an 83-42 win over Hilbert.
For the season, Kimmel ranks fifth in scoring average in the AMCC, averaging 15.7 ppg.
In the Pool
In what is becoming a commonplace event, Lebanon Valley College freshman swimmer Ian Lloyd of Millersburg reset his school 200-meter butterfly record, besting by more than a second the mark he had set in October.
Competing for the first time in over a month, Lloyd’s time of
2:16.62 earned him second place, just two-tenths of a second from a win. He also won the 100 butterfly by more than 5 seconds over the field, just missing breaking his 100-meter record by a tenth of a second. He finished the day by helping the 200 freestyle relay team to a win in what was a 150-87 loss to Misericordia.
• In that same meet, Misericordia freshman Miranda Amey of Tamaqua helped the Cougar women to a 167-66 win. She swam a leg on the victorious 200 freestyle relay and finished second in the 200 freestyle. Amey also captured the 200 free in a win over King’s this season and was part of the winning 400-meter relay team against Montclair.
• LVC then battled Lycoming on Senior Day. One of the Dutchmen’s 12-member senior class — who received the traditional dunk in the pool — is Brody Lipsett of Minersville, who competes in freestyle events.
Lycoming won both the men’s and women’s sides of the meet, but Lloyd continued his winning ways, capturing the 100 backstroke and swimming a leg for the winning 200 medley relay. He finished second in the 100 butterfly and notched a Middle Atlantic Conference-qualifying time in the 200 backstroke.
For the Lycoming women, senior Alexia Follweiler of Panther Valley was a double-winner, capturing the 100 butterfly and the 200 freestyle.
• In other swimming notes, Susquehanna freshman Joann Butkus of Tamaqua continued her winning ways, helping the Crusaders remain perfect in the Landmark Conference with wins over Marywood and Juniata. Butkus won the 100 breaststroke and set a new personal record in taking the 200 breaststroke during the tri-meet. She capped her day by helping the 200 medley relay team to victory.
• At Cedar Crest College, junior Kali Jones of Pottsville is captain of the Falcons women’s swim team and competes in the medley relay.
Volleyball Vibes
Congratulations to former Blue Mountain standout Taylor Moyer, who graduated from Goldey-Beacom College a semester early in December with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a 3.75 grade-point-average.
Moyer was a four-year starter at middle hitter on the Lightning’s volleyball team. She is the all-time school leader in blocks and is fourth highest in kills with 756, the most ever by a middle hitter. This past season, she recorded 172 kills (fourth on the team) and was second in blocks with 52 and service aces with 30.
An All-Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Academic Team member every year, Moyer was named to the Dean’s List/President’s List every semester of her collegiate career.
Hoops Highlights
Philadelphia University senior guard Nick Schlitzer of Pottsville scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Rams to a 68-62 win over Wilmington. Schlitzer added four rebounds and two assists in the win, and leads the Rams (9-4) in scoring with a 17.3 ppg average.
• LVC junior guard Kyler Burke of Pine Grove sank a backdoor layup with 53 seconds to play to give the Dutchmen the lead for good in an 82-76 win over Arcadia. Burke had 13 points and six boards in the game. He then scored 10 points, with two rebounds and a block, during the Dutchmen’s 66-65, last-minute win over Widener, which left LVC (10-4) tied for first in the Commonwealth Conference.
Track Talk
LVC senior Taylor Gerchak of Pottsville qualified for MACs with a distance of 15 feet, 2.75 inches in the long jump. Gerchak is one of three locals on the Lady Dutchmen indoor track and field squad. The others are distance runners, senior Alyssa Keich and junior Kelsey Patrick, both of Tamaqua.
• Bucknell freshman Alison Varano of Mount Carmel finished third in the women’s pentathlon at the Bison Opener meet. Varano won the 800-meter run component of the event, and finished second in the 60-meter hurdles and shot put components.
• Keystone College sophomore Dan McSurdy of North Schuylkill set a personal record (24.25) in the 200-meter dash at the Bow-Tie Classic, finishing 13th. He also ran a leg on the third-place 800 relay team.
• Teammate freshman Alexa Jefferis of Shenandoah Valley finished 11th in the 500-meter run for the Keystone women at the same event.
• McSurdy’s older sister, Temple University senior Kaitlyn McSurdy, also of North Schuylkill, competes in hurdles for the Owls.
On the Ice
The Alvernia Crusaders’ (15-3-1) ice hockey team is ranked 7th ACHA Atlantic Region and the roster includes a Nativity grad, sophomore defenseman Mike Urban, who is seeing ice time. Urban has three assists in 16 games.
(MacLaughlin’s college column appears biweekly. To make contributions, email Sports Editor Leroy Boyer at Lboyer@republicanherald.com.)