Penn College Archers End Season No. 4 in Nation

Competing in the U.S. Collegiate Championships at Long Beach, California, from May 16-18, Pennsylvania College of Technology finished fourth as a team and had All-American archers in senior Kelvin Dewalt, of Easton; and juniors Kendel Baier, of Jersey Shore; Matt Cummings, of Mountville; and Nicole Lapinski, of Bloomsburg.

It was the third time Lapinski has been an All-American and second time for each of the other three. All-Americans are determined by their rounds at indoor and outdoor national events.

"I was very pleased with the way things turned out," coach Chad Karstetter said. "We were very close to third place, we were only 20 points out, and it was just a matter of having our teams win two more matches, which was so close. The men's compound team only lost by two points and the men's recurve team lost in a closest-to-the-center shootout."

Commenting on his All-Americans, the coach said, "They shot very strong all year for us and I'm very happy for them."

Also for Penn College, the men's compound team of juniors Justus Leimbach, of Westminster, Md., and Cummings; sophomore Markus Weber, of La Plata, Maryland; and freshman Cody Wolfe, of Tioga, won a bronze medal in the team competition.

"They shot really well," Karstetter said. "It's too bad they only finished in third place because they definitely shot well."

Dewalt was the top individual finisher for the Wildcats with a fifth in the men's bowhunter. He and teammates, freshmen Chris Lafey, of Weatherly; Robert Heinrich, of Muncy Valley; and Matt Lech, of Johnstown, finished fourth.

Also for Penn College, Baier and Dewalt took fourth in the mixed team bowhunter competition and Baier led the women's bowhunter team of sophomore Holly Neely, of Lebanon; and freshmen Courtney Deshong, of McConnellsburg; and Kathreen Larsen, of Clinton Corners, N.Y., to a fourth-place finish.

"Personally, I was very proud of the way everybody shot. Everyone really shot strong through the weekend, they just came up short by a few points," Karstetter said.

More than 35 teams and 300 archers competed. Texas A&M won the overall competition, with James Madison University second and UCLA third.

After a two-year absence, Karstetter returned for his 12th season in January and he said he already is looking ahead to next season.

"I'm kind of excited to get back in September and October and work with the athletes. Where we are right now in May we should have been back in December. ... It seemed like we were playing catch-up all season."