The Pennsylvania College of Technology cross-country season may be over, but that doesn't mean team members have put away their running shoes.
On Thanksgiving Day, at the 9-mile 101st Run for the Diamonds in Berwick, Travis Cain (Bloomsburg) finished No. 56 in the men's age 20-24 division in 55:08. Also in the field were Corvin Oberholtzer (Wellsboro), No. 108 in 59:24, and Brandon Knapp (Shenandoah), No. 145 in 1:01.24. Two former Wildcats also competed: Michael Womelsdorf (Allentown) was No. 140 in 1:01.17 and John Zaginalyo (Bloomsburg) was No. 657 overall in 1:17:48. In all, 1,556 runners participated.
A little more than a week earlier, at the 13.1-mile OBX Half-Marathon at the Outer Banks, N.C., in which 3,752 competed, Cain placed No. 19 in 1:19.36, Mike Fischer (Ringwood, N.J.) was No. 59 in 1:29.19, Knapp was No. 158 in 1:38.48, Bobby Forbes (Warren) was No. 318 in 1:45.53, Joe Chadowski (Fairfax, Va.) was No. 397 in 1:48.05 and Shannon Abercrombie (Roaring Branch) No. 512 in 1:51.13. In the 26.2-mile OXB Full Marathon, Derek Hoover (Pleasant Gap) was No. 651 of 1,660 runners in 4:11.05.
In the 26.2-mile Harrisburg Marathon relay team competition, running as The Penn College Smashers, Oberholtzer, Jeff Faherty (Sussex, N.J.), Jake Shedden (Canton) and Bill Klaus (Middleburg) finished third overall in 2:40.30. Individually, Womelsdorf finished No. 199 in 3:37.
Last Sunday in the Frostbite 5-mile race in DuBoistown, Faherty, now a Wildcat assistant coach, finished third among 84 runners in 29:24 and former Wildcat Holly Schuster (Jersey Shore) placed first among the women in 37:07.
After the season, Penn College coach Mike Paulhamus had a total left knee replacement and he reports that, five weeks into his rehabilitation, "I'm walking without a cane or crutches. It's working out very well. I'm glad I am because I'm not one for sitting around."
Baseball It has been two seasons since Penn College fielded a baseball team in the fall, but that doesn't mean that coach Chris Howard was sitting idle waiting for the Wildcats' opener in early March.
"We played six games. We went 5-1," Howard said, explaining that the squad now is going by NCAA rules that limit it to five weeks of fall practice and three game dates. The Wildcats topped Penn StateLehigh-Carbon and Luzerne County Community College twice each and split with Alfred (N.Y.) State. In addition, the squad split for the first Blue-White game.
"We've got a really good group of first-year players who came in. In the five years I've been here, this, easily, is as deep as we've ever been. It's a good combination of veterans and youthful exuberance. It's a real good mix. We're deep in every position.
"When we get back in January, we've really got to heat it up and get ready for our earliest start (March 2) ever," Howard said.
SCHEDULE/RESULTS Men's Basketball Overall record: 3-5 PSUAC record: 2-0 Wednesday, Jan. 5 hostMisericordia University,8 p.m.
Women's Basketball Overall record: 4-3 PSUAC record: 2-0 Wednesday, Jan. 5 hostMisericordia University,6 p.m,
Bowling Monday, Jan. 24 at Johnson College Invitational, 3 p.m.
(Complete rosters and season schedules are available on the college's Athletics Web site . For more information on the PSUAC, visit on the Web; more about the USCAA also is available online.)
Wildcat Weekly Vol. 9, No. 18