Thought for the day: You're apparently intent on reading today's column (or you wouldn't have gotten this far), and you've made a wise choice.
As Sir Richard Steele said, "Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body."
HEY Award Hall of Fame Edition
Tri-Valley alum and volleyball standout Lindsey Artz will be one of seven individuals to be inducted into the Lycoming College Athletic Hall of Fame in May.
Artz, who attended Lycoming from 2003-07, is the school's all-time kills leader and in her four years there led the Warriors to four appearances in the Freedom Conference finals and two conference titles. Artz was a middle hitter and recorded 1,927 kills, also setting school records for solo blocks with 407 and points with 2,631. Artz was
first-team All-Freedom Conference twice, second team once and was the conference Player of the Year in 2005.
Artz is now an account manager with MANSI Media in Harrisburg.
HEY Awards All-Conference Edition
Two local women's basketball players have earned all-conference honors.
Pitt-Bradford's Alicia Kimmel of Pine Grove earned second-team Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference honors. The junior forward led her team in scoring average with 14.1 points per game. She also had 189 rebounds (7.0 per game) and played a team-high 872 minutes.
Susquehanna guard Nikki Komara (Shamokin), only a freshman, was named second-team All-Landmark Conference. Komara averaged 11.9 ppg, second on the team. She led the Crusaders in rebounding with 7.3 per game and in steals with 69 (3rd in the conference), and she was second in assists with 87.
HEY Awards Academic Honors
Bloomsburg University recently honored its 2013 scholar-athletes at a banquet. Schuylkill Haven graduate Vicki Davis, who was a cross country scholar-athlete, was the student speaker. Other locals who earned scholar-athlete recognition, which requires a minimum 3.25 grade-point average, were sophomore Meghan Hallick of Pottsville (women's track and field) and football center Chris Steck of Mount Carmel.
- Oklahoma State wrestler Josh Kindig of Blue Mountain is a first-team selection to the 2014 Academic All-Big 12 wrestling team, composed of only 16 student-athletes. To make the first team, an individual must have a GPA of at least 3.20. See below for more on Kindig's wrestling performance.
Tournament Talk
At the recent Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference indoor track and field championships, Shippensburg freshman high hurdler Eric Hertzog of Tamaqua had a big meet. Despite being seeded 14th of 15 in the field in the 60-meter hurdles, Hertzog raised his game, running a trial time of 8.51 seconds, good enough to snag the 4th seed in the finals.
There he did even better, running a time of 8.42 seconds (improving his personal best by 0.37 seconds) to take third place. Hertzog's outstanding performance earned him All-PSAC honors as well as the third-place medal.
On the women's side, Bloomsburg's afore-mentioned Hallick finished eighth overall in the shot put at the PSACs when she let go a career best throw of 12.0 meters (39 feet, 4 inches).
- Philadelphia University's men's basketball team (25-7), which includes starting junior guard Nick Schlitzer of Pottsville, advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament by virtue of winning the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference title with a 42-41 win over Holy Family.
The NCAAs weren't kind to fifth-seeded Philly, however, as fourth-seeded Franklin Pierce defeated the Rams 66-65 in the opening round. Schlitzer, who averaged 15.3 ppg and 5.3 rebounds over the season, had a tough shooting night (2-for-9), scoring only four points, but pulled down five boards and added an assist and a steal.
- In women's hoops, Lebanon Valley (21-7) saw its season come to an end in a 66-48 first-round NCAA Division III loss to Baldwin Wallace. Junior guard Kiely Chaklos of Nativity led Lebanon Valley in scoring with 12 points.
Meanwhile, Moravian (20-8) also lost in the NCAA Division III first round 76-61 to Cabrini.
The Greyhounds' lineup includes freshman forward Shannon Zimmerman of Pine Grove. Zimmerman played in six games this year and made the most of her 26 minutes, racking up four blocks, three steals and two assists.
- As promised above, on the wrestling mat, Oklahoma State captured the Big 12 title, as 149-pound redshirt junior Kindig made it to the finals of his weight class, losing to the tournament's top seed. Kindig (20-8) is seeded 11th at 149 pounds in the upcoming NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, set for Thursday-Saturday in Oklahoma City.
- Central Michigan is where Blue Mountain grad Corey Keener does his wrestling now (125 pounds). Keener finished fourth in the Mid-American Conference tourney (the Chippewas were fifth) and earned a berth in the NCAAs. Keener, a redshirt freshman, is 16-10 overall and is unseeded at the NCAAs.
- Army senior Tyler Rauenzahn, also of Blue Mountain, wrestling at 141 pounds, finished eighth at the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championships. Rauenzahn is 15-10 overall this season and 37-28 over his career.
Diamond Doings
Just enough space to get in some early baseball and softball news.
Susquehanna is 8-3 and the top of the Crusaders' order features two locals: center fielder Ty Raubenstine of Upper Dauphin leading off and freshman right fielder Taylor Luckenbill of Nativity batting second. Raubenstine is hitting .311 and his eight runs scored leads the team, while Luckenbill is hitting .349.
- Lebanon Valley College's softball team is off to a 7-0 start, and senior shortstop Mary Readinger of Williams Valley is batting .333.
- Meanwhile, the LVC baseball team (5-4) features five local products: junior shortstop Phill Dohner of Schuylkill Haven (batting .333 after driving in four runs and going 3-for-3 in an 8-6 win over Marywood); senior captain and pitcher/outfielder Mike Specht of Hamburg (2.46 ERA); senior outfielder Eric Leymeister of Pottsville (batting .250); sophomore pitcher Austin Hornberger of North Schuylkill (1-1, 3.27 ERA); and senior pitcher/first baseman Corey Cinicola of Jim Thorpe (batting .333).
- At Misericordia, freshman outfielder Nick Hair of Pottsville has started all eight games for the Cougars (4-4), and his six RBIs are second on the team. He has yet to make an error in the field and is batting .217 with two doubles and two triples.
Look for more baseball names and numbers in two weeks.
(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.)