We've got a lot of ground to cover, so first let's quickly run down postseason gridiron honors (some of which have already appeared in the Republican-Herald) and some playoff results.
Here's the list of local players honored and the honors they've received:
- Lebanon Valley College junior linebacker Frank Gaffney of Blue Mountain - Middle Atlantic Conference Defensive Player of the Year; first team All-MAC; nominated for the Cliff Harris Award given to the nation's top small college defender;
- Lycoming junior defensive back Tanner Troutman of Tri-Valley - first team All-MAC; named to MAC Weekly Honor Roll after a three-interception game with a 98-yard defensive extra point return against Stevenson; Beyond Sports Network Athlete of the Week;
- Lebanon Valley senior fullback Evan Fink of Schuylkill Haven - first team All-MAC;
- Shippensburg senior punter Nate Schmidt of Jim Thorpe - first-team All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (37.9 yards per punt average, including five of 50 yards or more and seven downed inside the opponents' 20 yard line);
- Bloomsburg senior center Chris Steck of Mount Carmel - second-team All-PSAC; never missed a start in four years; part of a Bloomsburg offensive line, along with right tackle Dako-
ta Hoagland of Hamburg, to be named Beyond Sports Division II Offensive Line of the Week.
In playoff action with local involvement, Lebanon Valley saw its NCAA Division III title hopes end with a first-round 59-17 loss to Wittenberg's fifth-ranked offense. QB Brian Murphy of Schuylkill Haven, one of 10 local players on the LVC roster (listed in a previous column and game preview story), threw for 173 yards and two TDs in the loss.
Albright captured the ECAC Southwest Bowl with a come-from-behind, 45-34 win over Juniata. Albright's roster includes senior linebacker Ryan Richards of Panther Valley and freshmen defensive ends Jake Deitzler of Blue Mountain and Chris Ochenrider of Minersville.
PSAC champion Bloomsburg, which had a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed in NCAA Division II Super Region One, will take on third seed West Chester on Saturday in Round 2 of the NCAA playoffs. West Chester beat American International 38-7.
In a season-ending noteworthy performance, Kutztown redshirt-sophomore wide receiver Anthony Kelly of Pottsville had a big game - six catches for 87 yards, including a 40-yard TD - in a 41-10 win over Edinboro. Kelly had 34 catches for 322 yards and four scores for the season.
Wrestling Honor
Army senior wrestler Tyler Rauenzahn of Blue Mountain has been awarded the 2013-14 Lt. Gen. Harold "Hal" Moore Warrior Athlete of Excellence Award.
The award is presented annually to a "⦠First Class cadet that best exemplifies the qualities of LTG Moore (mental toughness, perseverance, winning spirit and humility) and the tenets of the warrior ethos in competitive sports and Dept. of Physical Education combative programs."
Lt. Gen. Moore was a 1945 West Point grad who in 1965 led a battalion of 450 soldiers to victory over more than 2,000 North Vietnamese Regulars in the Vietnam War.
Volleyball Honors and Playoffs
Now to some of the post-season individual honors and team playoff results for local volleyball student-athletes:
- Susquehanna sophomore libero Sarah Paluck of Tamaqua - Landmark Conference Specialist of the Year and first team All-Conference;
- Susquehanna junior middle hitter Hayley Dunkel of Pottsville - first team All-Landmark Conference.
- Both Dunkel and Paluck - along with University of Scranton sophomore Molly Loftus of Lourdes - were named to the Landmark Conference Fall Honor Roll (minimum grade-point-average of 3.20).
Richard Stockton College won its sixth straight New Jersey Athletic Conference crown and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a big contribution from defensive specialist Emily Grube of Nativity. Grube was named NJAC Defensive Player of the Week after pacing Stockton with 28 digs in the two NCAA matches, despite playing with an injured dominant hand. Grube topped the Ospreys with 394 digs for the season.
Wilkes finished in fourth place at the ECAC Southwest Tournament. Wilkes sophomore setter Megan Powers of Pottsville had 24 assists in the Round 1 game and her 937 assists made her the season team leader by a wide margin.
Other local players for Wilkes included senior defensive specialist Vicki Yakobosky of Nativity (182 digs, third on the team), senior outside hitter Alisha Rupp of Shamokin and freshman hitter Kelsey Yacko of Shamokin.
Swarthmore that downed Wilkes in the ECAC third-place game as senior hitter Brone Lobichusky of Barnesville recorded 17 kills and three service aces. Lobichusky's 327 kills were second on the team for the season and her 20 service aces and 89 blocks led Swarthmore.
Cross-Country Kudos
Bloomsburg cross-country runner Vicki Davis of Schuylkill Haven capped a tremendous season by earning All-American honors with a 22nd-place finish at the NCAA Division II Championships in Spokane, Wash. Davis was the top finisher from the PSAC and hers is the best finish ever for a Bloomsburg runner.
- Tamaqua grad and Lebanon Valley College sophomore Kelsey Patrick placed 49th in Saturday's NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships at Hanover (Ind.) College.
Patrick, the MAC champion and winner of last week's NCAA Regional meet, finished the 6K course in 22:10. She was the MAC's top finisher.
Hardwood Highlights
Here's some early season basketball standouts:
- Philadelphia University junior guard Nick Schlitzer (Pottsville) - 22 points and 10 rebounds in a 73-69 win over College of St. Rose and a 17.0 points-per-game and 7.5 rebounds-per-game average;
- Pitt-Bradford junior forward Alicia Kimmel (Pine Grove) - 21 points, four boards and two assists in a 62-53 win over Keuka, and 18 points and nine rebounds in a 57-52 OT win over Grove City;
- Northampton Community College freshman forward Lauren Thompson (Pine Grove) - 17 points, nine assists and six steals in a 92-39 win over Montco Community College, and an 11.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg and 2.7 assists-per-game average;
- LVC junior guard and captain Kiely Chaklos (Nativity) - 21 points in two games as LVC captured its fifth straight Rinso Marquette Tournament title;
- King's junior guard Ashley Davies (Blue Mountain) - In her return from a leg injury that caused her to miss the last 15 games of last season, Davies pulled down eight rebounds to help the Monarchs to a 69-66 win over Lycoming;
- Shippensburg soph guard Caitlyn Deeter (North Schuylkill) - A career-high 10 rebounds along with eight points in a 78-72 win over Shepherd;
- Susquehanna freshman guard Nikki Komara (Lourdes) - 19 points and seven rebounds in an 80-36 win over PSU-Hazleton, a team-high 11 boards in a 57-41 loss to Elizabethtown and an average of 12.5 ppg and 9.0 rpg;
- LVC soph guard/forward Kyler Burke (Pine Grove) - nine points and four rebounds in 31 minutes of a season-opening 71-69 loss to the University of Dallas.
(MacLaughlin's college column appears bi-weekly. To make contributions, email Sports Editor Leroy Boyer at Lboyer@republicanherald.com)