More players. More events. Esports popularity is growing at Pennsylvania College of Technology, and the iRacing team is set to get its season rolling on Monday.
A year ago, coach Joshua Young had 37 competitors on his roster. This fall, it stands at 48.
“Last year, Austin DeLong was our sole competitor for the iRacing team. He and I recruited Ryan Bannan and Michael Sydor III for the spring semester. Since then, we have been able to expand this part of the program to six drivers for the upcoming season,” Young said.
In addition to senior DeLong, of Pittsburgh; sophomore Bannan, of Honey Brook; and senior Sydor, of Reading, also competing this fall will be freshman Zach Tallman, of Lewisburg, from the college’s Baja SAE team that will host the Baja SAE competition next May 16-19 at the Schneebeli Earth Science Center; along with sophomore Robert Miller, of Pittston; and senior Michael Martinetti, of Saylorsburg.
“We will be competing in several different series like NASCAR, Formula 4, Mazda Miata and Street Stock Cars,” Young said. “We have updated the Wildcat Den (where all of the action takes place on the second floor of the Madigan Library) to include two racing rigs.
“DeLong spent his summer racing in circle dirt karts at Shaffer Speedway in Aliquippa. He also competed in the Collegiate iRacing League summer series so he could be ready to represent Penn College in the fall in the iRacing NASCAR series.
“We added Martinetti this year, who is new to iRacing but has experience in the American Endurance Racing series. He raced for Matt Connolly Motorsports in a BWM E46 at Summit Point Motorsports Park and Virginia International Raceway this summer.”
The College iRacing League College Cup Series and eNASCAR Collegiate iRacing Series, which begins Sept. 19, will continue into late October and late November, respectively.
“This is our fourth season in the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) competition. In our first season, we had around 20 students competing in Overwatch, Rocket League and League of Legends. Now we have 48 student-athletes competing in Overwatch 2, Rocket League, League of Legends, CS:GO, Valorant and iRacing,” Young said.
Other season openers include Rocket League on Sept. 25, Overwatch 2 on Sept. 26, Valorant on Sept. 27, CS:GO on Sept. 29 and League of Legends on Oct. 10, all of which will be previewed at a later date. NACE matches will be streamed on Twitch.
“All of our teams have maximum-allowed rosters, so we are looking at having jayvee teams in Rocket League and League of Legends this year because of the overwhelming interest in competing. I am getting contacted daily from students about being interested in playing on one of our teams, and we are building development teams to increase the level of talent we have for our varsity programs,” Young said.
RECORD/SCHEDULE
(All events at Wildcat Den)
iRacing
Monday, Aug. 28 – CIL College Cup Series: The Clash – Atlanta Motor Speedway, 9 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 4 – CIL College Cup Series: Daytona 250 – Daytona International Speedway, 9 p.m.
ON THE HORIZON
Men’s soccer
RECORD/SCHEDULE/SERIES HISTORY
Overall: 0-0
Friday, Sept. 1 – at Keystone College, 7 p.m. (Keystone leads 5-0-1)
Sunday, Sept. 3 – at McDaniel College, 3 p.m. (McDaniel leads 1-0-0)
Tuesday, Sept. 5 – at Gwynedd Mercy University, 7 p.m. (first-time opponent)
Women’s soccer
RECORD/SCHEDULE/SERIES HISTORY
Overall: 0-0
Friday, Sept. 1 – at Mt. Aloysius College, 6 p.m. (Penn College leads 1-0-0)
Saturday, Sept. 2 – at Geneva College, 2:30 p.m. (Geneva leads 1-0-0)
Tuesday, Sept. 5 – host Clarks Summit University, 5 p.m. (Penn College leads 4-0-0)
Women’s volleyball
RECORD/SCHEDULE/SERIES HISTORY
Overall: 0-0
Friday, Sept. 1 – at King’s College, 6 p.m. (King’s leads 7-1)
Saturday, Sept. 2 – vs. Penn State York at Doylestown, 1 p.m. (first-time opponent)
Saturday, Sept. 2 – at Delaware Valley University, 3 p.m. (DV leads 1-0)
Monday, Sept. 4 – at Lycoming College, 5 p.m. (Lycoming leads 13-0)
Men’s/women’s cross-country
SCHEDULE
Friday, Sept. 1 – at Misericordia University, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 9 – at Mansfield University, 10:30 a.m.
For more about the United East, visit the conference website .
For additional information, visit the Wildcats Athletics website .
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