College Finishes 2011-12 With Three Conference Champs, Eight All-Americans

Three Penn State University Athletic Conference champions, along with two seconds, one third and one fourth, and eight All-Americans in archery and wrestling. Those are the standout numbers for Pennsylvania College of Technology athletes during the 2011-12 seasons.



A sport-by-sport review of the year (alphabetically):

Archery
The Wildcats took second overall for the third consecutive year and had six All-Americans in coach Brian Parker’s first year at the helm. Honored were Zachary Bixby, of Gillett; Matt Cummings, of Mountville; and Andrew Everett, of New Market, Md.; in men’s compound; Nicole Lapinski, of Bloomsburg, in women’s compound; and Glen Thomas, of Mercer, and Brandon Allison, of Roaring Springs, in men’s recurve. All-American status combines results from both the indoor and outdoor national events.

Baseball
Under coach Chris Howard, the Wildcats went 23-14 overall and 14-6 in the PSUAC, where they finished among the top four teams. They also placed among the top 10 teams in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association. In six seasons, Howard’s teams have gone 146-69.

Basketball (Men)
Midway through the season the reins were turned over to Chris Lemasters, who guided the squad to a 4-20 overall mark, 4-11 in the PSUAC. Afterward, he was named the head coach.

Basketball (Women)
Facing a rebuilding year in his second season, coach Matt Wilt’s team finished 3-21 overall and 2-12 in the PSUAC. His two-year record is 11-36.

Cross-Country (Men)
For the ninth straight season, the Wildcats captured the conference championship. They also finished eighth in the USCAA in coach Mike Paulhamus’ 12th season.

Golf
Coach Matt Haile guided his squad to a third-place finish in the PSUAC and seventh-place finish in the USCAA during his third season.

Soccer (Men)
Penn College, 13-7-2 overall and 9-1-1 in the PSUAC, stayed at the top in the PSUAC with its second straight conference title and seventh in eight years. It also was among the top seven teams in the USCAA. In six seasons under coach Enrique Castillo, the Wildcats are 87-20-5.

Soccer (Women)
The team went 3-7-2 in coach Markus Rybak’s second season. In two years his teams are 9-14-2.

Softball
With just two returnees, coach Roger Harris faced an uphill battle as his squad went 6-24 overall and 5-11 in the PSUAC, showing some encouraging results toward the end of the season. In 11 seasons under Harris, Penn College is 134-118.

Team Tennis
Under first-year head coach Robert Kemrer, the Wildcats went 6-2 and finished second in the PSUAC.

Volleyball (Women)
Penn College finished second in the PSUAC and competed in the USCAA postseason national championships for the first time ever. Overall the Wildcats were 20-13 and they finished 16-2 in the PSUAC. In 12 seasons, coach Bambi Hawkins’ teams have gone 161-102.

Wrestling
In its first full season of competition, Penn College went 6-3 overall and 5-1 in the PSUAC, where it won the championship. In USCAA action under second-year coach Schuyler Frey, the Wildcats were third and they finished No. 17 in the nation in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association where Derek Leiby, of Troy at 149 pounds, and Tyler Myers, of Centre Hall at 157, were named All-Americans – the first ever in wrestling for the college.

Archery
For the third straight year, the Pennsylvania College of Technology archery team is No. 2 in the nation.

During competition over the weekend (May 18-20) at the U.S. Intercollegiate Archery Championships in Harrisonburg, Va., the Wildcats of first-year coach Brian Parker had two individual champions and four team champions. In addition, six Wildcats were named All-Americans and four took Best New Archer awards. In all, 43 teams and nearly 300 archers competed.

“I am ecstatic with them (individual place winners) and the team in general overall. ... We did very, very, very well. I’m happy and pleased with the team. I think we did better than I could have ever hoped for,” Parker said.

Taking individual titles for the Wildcats were Glen Thomas, of Mercer, in men’s recurve and Jordan McGowan, of Carlisle, in men’s bowhunter.

Also for Penn College, Zachary Bixby, of Gillett, was second in men’s compound; Brianna Batykefer, of Butler, was second in female bowhunter; and Kendel Baier, of Jersey Shore, was third in female bowhunter.

Wildcat team champions included Bixby, Clint Hinton, of Lock Haven; and Matt Cummings, of Mountville, in men’s compound; Thomas, Brandon Allison, of Roaring Springs; and Stephen Keys, of Reynoldsville, in men’s recurve; Joe Dowdrick III, of Lebanon; Kelvin Dewalt, of Easton; and McGowan in men’s bowhunter; and Baier, Batykefer and Eileen McKinney, of New Brighton, in women’s bowhunter.

Nicole Lapinski, of Bloomsburg; Ashley Baker, of Coudersport; and Rebecca Boyer, of Palmerton, placed second in female compound; Baier and McGowan were second in mixed bowhunter; Ashley Mull, of Williamsport, and Thomas were third in mixed recurve; and Baker and Bixby were third in mixed compound.

Honored as All-Americans were Thomas, Allison, Lapinski, Bixby, Cummings and Everett. It marked the fifth time during his career that Thomas has been so honored, the most ever for a Penn College archer. Since 1997 28 Penn College archers have earned 60 All-American honors.

Best New Archer awards went to Carrie Eichenlaub, of Neelyton, in women’s recurve; Rebecca Boyer, of Palmerton, in female compound; and Batykefer and McKinney in women’s bowhunter.

Former Coach Honored
Although Chad Karstetter “retired” as the team’s coach a year ago, honors continue to come his way as he recently won the 2012 Graham-Ryder Award for significant and extemporary service to the U.S. Collegiate Archery Association.

In 11 seasons under Karstetter, Penn College teams finished second in the nation twice and took one third and one fourth-place finish. Also, 16 of his archers earned All-American status 40 times. Last year he was cited as National Coach of the Year.

According to the USCAA release:

“Chad has coached all levels of archers, from beginning to elite. His efforts are always to help the archers achieve their best regardless of their level of experience. His team’s performance includes regional, national and International awards.

“Chad has taken many students who have never shot a bow before and developed them into a competitor in their respective division with his excellent coaching skills. Chad started and developed a women’s compound team, a women’s recurve team and a bowhunter team at the college, as well as provide a team of archers for the first 3-D USIAC, fully supporting the efforts of USCA to provide competition opportunities to all college archers regardless of their discipline and gender.

“Chad has fostered a desire in his archers to give back and they have been involved with the Read Across America program with the college sending athletes to a local elementary school to “Read with the Wildcats” as well as hosting the first “Youth Fun Day” where youth members of the Youth Hunter Education Challenge attended the event.

“Chad's contributions to college archery are significant. They include serving on the board of the United States Collegiate Archery Association for the past four years. He has held the Eastern Regional Archery Championships at Penn College for six years. Chad was instrumental in working with Executive Director Lorretta Sinclair in establishing 3-D archery as part of the US Collegiate Archery. Chad's belief that archery in college should be open to all college students has been part of the success in the growth of USCA.

“USCA honors Chad Karstetter for his commitment and dedication and thanks him for the role he has played in college archery.”

All-Academic Honors
Penn College, in conjunction with the Penn State University Athletic Conference, has announced the recipients of the winter/spring All-Academic Team award given to student-athletes with a grade-point average of 3.0 or better in the semester of competition. There were:

Baseball
Jarod Bull, of Jacobus; Cody Buterbaugh, of Conestoga; Zachary Buterbaugh, of Conestoga; Philip Carnevale, of Carteret, N.J.; Skylar Gingrich, of Lititz; Travis Hendershot, of Muncy; Thomas Hughes, of Easton; John Rodriguez-McKeon, of Stroudsburg; Michael Scully, of Middletown, Del.; James Scully III, of Middletown, Del.; Craig Watson, of McEwensville; and Zachary Yetter, of Thompsontown.

Men’s Basketball
Nicholas Deleon, of Bronx, N.Y.; Scott Fenton, of Dickson City; Patrick Irick, of Schwensksville; Lewis Moya, of Allentown; and Anthony Reed, of Flinton.

Women’s Basketball
Mackenzie Brown, of Lititz; Carrie Egli, of Picture Rocks; Kierstin Steer, of South Williamsport; and Alison Van Metter, of Saylorsburg.

Softball
Lindsey Anderson, of Heber Springs, Ark.; Maggie Calkins, of Bloomsburg; Britni Fennell, of Conyngham; Rachel Heller, of Allison Park; Stephanie Keifrider, of Douglassville; Hannah Latour, of Franklin; Lacy Lose, of Avis; Dana Ritter, of Walden, N.Y.; and Emily Yoder, of Catawissa.

Wrestling
Paul Crutchlow, of Morris Plains, N.J.; Logan Gresock, of Wadsworth, Ohio; Derek Leiby, of Troy; and Levi Speicher, of Manns Choice.

Also, during the U.S. Intercollegiate Archery Championships from May 18-20, five Penn College archers were honored as Academic All-Americans. They are Zachary Bixby, of Gillett; Matt Cummings, of Mountville; Andrew Everett, of New Market, Md.; Nicole Lapinski, of Bloomsburg; and Glen Thomas, of Mercer. All-Academic Archery Team members are distinguished with awards identifying them as the top 25 percent in the indoor competition and a 3.0 or higher GPA.

Vol. 10, No. 40