Thought for the day: It's Labor Day, and hopefully for you, gentle reader, it is a day off. But even if it's not, or you are unhappy because a return to work lurks around the corner, or you are back to work like me after a summer's hiatus, take solace in the value of your labors.
In the words of Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881): "Even in the meanest sorts of Labor, the whole soul of a man is composed into a kind of real harmony the instant he sets himself to work."
I feel better already. How about you?
Good deeds done and duly noted
Strong performances in the past (since last I left you) have earned several local student-athletes accolades, both postseason and preseason.
- Lycoming junior football defensive back Tanner Troutman of Tri-Valley's breakout sophomore season has earned him a number of preseason honors. Troutman, who was a second-team all-MAC and third-team all-region performer for the Warriors, has been named an NCAA and D3football.com Division III preseason All-American, putting him on the watch list for the Myers Trophy, awarded each year to the best D-III defensive back.
Troutman became a starter for Lycoming in the second week last season and never looked back. He finished second in the league with five interceptions and led the league with 11 passes defensed. His play helped Lycoming to an 8-2 record. This season, Lycoming is ranked first in the Middle Atlantic Conference preseason coaches' poll.
Troutman has plenty of "local" help on the Warriors' roster. Three new recruits are former Tri-Valley running back Blake Bowman and defensive linemen Jonathan Rummel of Williams Valley and Brad Biever of Schuylkill Haven. They join senior QB Matt McGinley of Tri-Valley (second on the depth chart), juniors Kody Flail (DB, North Schuylkill and a likely starter), Josh Himmelberger (LB, Pine Grove, expected to see a lot of action) and Jude Bubeck (OL, Blue Mountain, second on the depth chart); and sophomore LB Phil Schron of Marian. Both Bowman and Rummel received Class A All-State mention from Pennsylvania Football News.
- In other football preseason awards, Colgate junior fullback Ed Pavalko of North Schuylkill has been selected to the Beyond Sports Network preseason All-America second team. Pavalko was a stalwart blocker for the Raiders, starting all 12 games and earning first-team All-Patriot League honors. Pavalko rushed eight times for 35 yards and caught six passes for 81 yards. Colgate led the Patriot League and ranked in the Top 10 nationally in nearly every major offensive category.
- Bloomsburg senior and co-captain Chris Steck of Mount Carmel has been ranked in D2football.com's Top 100 at his center position.
- Bloomsburg graduate student and cross country/track distance runner Vicki Davis of Schuylkill Haven has a year of eligibility remaining and is back running after about as strong a senior season as anyone could have. Davis was named an Academic All-American after graduating with a 3.74 grade-point average while majoring in secondary education/history. She was also named to the U.S. Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic team and was recognized as a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete.
The academic honors come on top of Davis earning All-America honors in two events at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships, earning all-region honors and being named MVP of both the cross country and indoor track teams, as well as Bloomsburg's senior female Athlete of the Year and senior female Scholar-Athlete Award winner. She was an All-PSAC athlete and holds five records in varying distances indoors and outdoors at Bloom.
- Pottsville's Jake Plachko will also be running cross country as a freshman at Bloomsburg this year.
- Academically, three other local Bloomsburg student-athletes were recognized as PSAC Scholar-Athletes. They are football player Brynn Schafer of Blue Mountain, women's basketball player Kayla Oxenrider of Tri-Valley and women's track and field thrower Meghan Hallick of Pottsville. One must have at least a 3.25 GPA to be a scholar-athlete.
- At East Stroudsburg, swimmer Karoline Vavra of Panther Valley is the recipient of an Academic Achievement Award from the D-II Athletic Directors Association, an honor that requires a minimum 3.5 GPA. Karoline and her sister, swimmer Sami Vavra, were also PSAC Scholar-Athletes.
- Josh Hontz, a Jim Thorpe grad who was a fifth-year senior last year at ESU and threw the javelin, was not only a PSAC Scholar-Athlete but also an All-American and a USTFCCCA All-Academic selection for the third year. Hontz finished fifth at the NCAA Division II Championships.
- In June, former ESU student-athlete and Pottsville grad Barry Krammes recorded his best finish ever in the javelin at the U.S. Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. Krammes placed fourth with a throw of 253-10, the third-best of his career. Krammes is a teacher at East Stroudsburg South High School.
- Returning to academics, the MAC released its Academic Honor Roll (minimum 3.20 GPA) for the spring of 2013. Local honor roll members are: Albright baseball players Mark Minning of Mount Carmel, Trey Hook of Pottsville and Jared Ruppert of Hamburg; Alvernia tennis players Fajir Khan of Blue Mountain and Kayla Morgan of Hamburg, track and field's Dillon Emery of North Schuylkill and softball pitcher Brittanie Wolfe of Pine Grove; Delaware Valley baseball player Jordan Heisler of Tamaqua; Elizabethtown golfer Ryan Laudeman of Blue Mountain; King's College baseball pitcher Brenton Eades of Minersville; Lebanon Valley women's track and field's Alyssa Miller of Schuylkill Haven and Alyssa Keich of Tamaqua, softball player Mary Readinger of Williams Valley and baseball player Corey Cinicola of Jim Thorpe; Messiah College softball player Sarah Dietrich of Upper Dauphin; Misericordia track and field's Alexa Yoder and Kelsey Thompson, both of Blue Mountain, and softball player Jennifer Cory of Minersville; and Wilkes softball player Alysha Bixler of Williams Valley and baseball player Bobby Schappell of Pottsville.
- In tennis, Lebanon Valley freshman (now sophomore) Cody Manmiller of Hamburg was the Commonwealth Conference's Rookie of the Year. Manmiller went 5-3 in singles play and 4-4 in doubles in a strong first season.
(MacLaughlin's college notebook appears biweekly during the collegiate calendar. Send items to him in care of Sports Editor Leroy Boyer at Lboyer@republicanherald.com)