It was déjà vu all over again for the Pennsylvania College of Technology archery team at the U.S. Intercollegiate Championships in Harrisonburg, Va., over the weekend.
For the second year in a row, the Wildcats finished second in the nation overall. And, for the first time in his career, Penn College coach Chad Karstetter was honored with the national Coach of the Year award.
"Finally, after 11 years,"he said. "I was nominated a few times and now I finally won. That was nice."
Karstetter was an easy choice. Since taking over the Penn College program in 2001, after he himself was a three-time All-American for the college, 23 of his archers have earned All-American honors 54 times. His teams finished fourth in the nation in 2004 and 2008, were third in 2009 and now have taken back-to-back seconds.
"I put a lot of work in. My assistant Brian Parker has put a lot of work in and the team has been fabulous. They deserve the award as much as I do. They've been a great group to work with. I'm really proud of them," Karstetter said.
Five of his archers were repeat All-Americans this year: Dan Wido, of Shickshinny; Zachary Plannick, of Coraopolis; and Glen Thomas, of Mercer, all for the fourth time; Aaron Lapinski, of Bloomsburg, for the third time; and Tyler Gale, of Kennedyville, Md., for the second time. Two others Ashley Baker, of Coudersport, and Zachary Bixby, of Gillett received Academic All-American recognition.
Individually, Wido claimed his third consecutive men's compound national championship and Joe Dowdrick, of Lebanon, won the first bowhunter division national crown. Plannick, in men's compound, and Thomas, in men's recurve, both finished second; Lapinski, in men's compound, and Kelvin Dewalt, of Bellefonte, in bowhunter, both placed seventh, and Gale, in men's recurve, placed eighth. In men's compound, Wido edged Plannick by just one point in the finale, 146-145.
As a result of their finishes throughout the season and their national ranking, Thomas and Plannick will represent the college on the All-World Team at the 26th World University Summer Games in Shenzhen, China, Aug. 12-23.
In divisional team competition, Penn College was second in men's compound (Wido, Plannick and Lapinski) and second in men's recurve (Thomas, Gale and Allison). It was third in women's compound (Julie Cain, of Bellefonte; Baker and Kjirsten Radencic, of Liberty), mixed recurve (Thomas and Allyson Hansell, of Gillett) and mixed compound (Plannick and Baker) and ninth in women's recurve (Hansell, Hilary Fisher, of Temple, and Ashlee Mull, of Williamsport).
In all, 249 archers representing 37 colleges and universities competed during the three-day championships.
Texas A&M took the overall championship with 1,222 points, followed by Penn College with 1,017, James Madison with 921, UC Berkley with 869 and Cal State-Long Beach with 599.
"They're all just a little disappointed because we tried to win the national championship, but, other than that, they shot very well. They have nothing to be disappointed about," Karstetter said. "I'm very pleased with the way things turned out for us this year. We shot really well and I can't complain about a second-place finish."
Penn College loses the core of its men's compound team in Wido, Plannick and Lapinski, and Karstetter had nothing but praise for them.
"For the last four years, they've done a great job for us. It's sad to see them go. To have three guys in the division who are capable of winning the whole thing at any time is great. When those three guys walk on the field, everybody knew they were the team to beat," the coach said.