Athletics Articles

Hard work pays off. That's how Pennsylvania College of Technology men's basketball coach Gene Bruno responded after his team was awarded a bid in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Division II Championships. "That's huge," Bruno said of the opportunity to play in the USCAA tournament during his team's first year in the conference.

Pennsylvania College of Technology's bowling team may not have the depth as some squads in the past, but that doesn't mean coach Deb Vincenzes expects anything less at the state championship meet. "I hoped it would have been a little better (regular season), but I knew going into the season we didn't have the depth this year that we've had (in the past)," said Vincenzes, in her third year.

The men's basketball team lost to Penn State DuBois in the first round of the Penn State University Athletic Conference playoffs, a 91-88 nail-biter before an enthusiastic and supportive Bardo Gymnasium crowd. Joe Simon became the second Wildcat this season to hit the 1,000-point mark (following Craig Flint) and Leroy Joiner pumped in a team-leading 35 points.

A graduating member of the Wildcat bowling team was honored during a recent Senior Night presentation at Faxon Lanes in Loyalsock Township. Merle E. Burkhart Jr., an automotive service technician major from Lancaster, joined his parents and coach Deb Vincenzes for public acknowledgement. Student-athletes are spotlighted in each of Penn College's varsity sports throughout the season.

Pennsylvania College of Technology men's and women's basketball teams return to the Penn State University Athletic Conference playoffs for the second year in a row, and both are poised to do some damage. The Penn College men , 16-9 overall and 14-3 in the conference, are seeded fourth and host fifth-seeded Penn State DuBois (17-8, 13-4) at 8 p.m. Thursday at Bardo Gymnasium.

Penn College men's basketball player Greg Solyak was named the Penn State University Athletic Conference Player of the Week for the period of Feb. 3-9. In his team's win over Penn State Brandywine, Solyak scored 23 points and pulled down nine rebounds. In a win over Penn State Scranton, he scored a personal season-high 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Pennsylvania College of Technology coach Chad Karstetter is pleased with what his archers have shown so far this young season, and with good reason. First, at the PA State Indoor Championships in Taylor on Jan. 31, two Wildcats recorded first-place finishes one of them setting a new state record in the process. Then, at the World Archery Festival Feb.

Student members of Pennsylvania College of Technology's intercollegiate athletics teams and the campus' three recognized fraternities attained collective grade-point averages higher than their peers during the Fall 2008 semester. Penn College's student-athletes achieved an overall GPA of 2.94 for the Fall 2008 semester, considerably above the all-student average of 2.79.

Renewing their all-star basketball rivalry against a staff/faculty team Monday, students hit 11 of their first 13 three-pointers on their way to winning the game 67-43 in Bardo Gym. According to a recap by intramural assistant Jeremy R. Bottorf, the staff/faculty team (led by Gallahad Mallery and Jim Williams Jr.) mounted a small comeback to start the second half.

Boiled down, attitude and teamwork are the essentials for a successful season, according to Pennsylvania College of Technology men's volleyball coach Wes Strayer. How it plays out this year for the Wildcats remains to be seen. Penn College opens its season at 2 p.m. Saturday at Bardo Gymnasium on West Third Street hosting Susquehanna University and Juniata College.