Busy Summer Sets Stage for Penn College Fall Sports Seasons

Published 08.13.2017

News

Pennsylvania College of Technology fall sports athletes begin workouts this week in preparation for their openers, and administrators have been busy behind the scenes throughout the summer laying the groundwork for what they hope will be successful seasons – with an added incentive for most teams.



Since spring classes ended in May:

  • The college became a full member of NCAA Division III

  • College President Davie Jane Gilmour was voted vice chair of President's Council for the North Eastern Athletic Conference

  • The college finished sixth in the NEAC Presidents’ Cup standings and tied for second in community service

  • Forty-two Wildcats were named NEAC Scholar-Athletes

  • Former women’s volleyball coach Bambi Hawkins was rehired to fill the same position after a four-year absence

  • The college renewed its partnership with Fox Sports Williamsport

  • Four former Wildcats were selected for induction into the college’s athletic Hall of Fame.


New Opportunities
The NCAA Division III Management Council notified Penn College on June 22 that it successfully completed the provisional membership process and, as a full NCAA Division III member, the college will be eligible to compete for national championships and will have voting rights on NCAA legislation.

Next in Line
Penn College joined the NEAC after becoming a provisional member of NCAA Division III in 2014-15 and Gilmour has served on President’s Council committees for strategic planning and sportsmanship. After serving a two-year term as vice chair, she will become the chairwoman in July 2019.

Moving on Up
Penn College’s sixth-place finish in the NEAC Presidents’ Cup standing is the highest finish for the Wildcats since joining the conference three years ago.

Penn College finished 14th in 2014-15 and 10th last year.

Also, Penn College highlighted its finish with a tie for second place in Community Service as Wildcat athletes and staff completed 2,471 hours of community service, raised $2,630 and totaled 688 participants.

It was the third year that the NEAC has determined its Presidents’ Cup winner by utilizing the core values of NCAA Division III. In addition to calculating athletics success, which was the only factor taken into consideration when awarding the conference’s Presidents’ Cup in the past, the NEAC now takes into account academics, sportsmanship and community service.

Those three additional categories, along with athletics success, have their own individual cup winners. Each of the NEAC’s 14 full-member institutions were given a ranking based on their results from each category. The total rankings from all four categories are added together with the lowest overall score determining the NEAC Presidents’ Cup honoree. The model is the first of its kind across all 42 NCAA Division III conferences.

Penn College was eighth in athletics success, seventh in sportsmanship and tied for 11th in academic success.

Classroom Standouts
With 42 NEAC Scholar-Athletes, Penn College finished ninth for total number of scholar-athletes in the 14-team conference which, for the third-straight year, set a record with 806 student-athletes receiving the distinction.

This year’s honorees continue to highlight the geographic diversity of the league with NEAC Scholar-Athletes representing 32 different states, Puerto Rico and 14 countries. To be selected, a student-athlete competing in a conference-sponsored sport must achieve a combined GPA of 3.4 or higher for the fall and spring semesters and must have been in good standing on his or her team.

The women’s soccer team topped all Penn College teams with 10 selections, while the men’s soccer team was second with eight selections.

Honored were:

Baseball
Cody Cline, freshman, Waynesboro, automotive technology concentration
Kyle Fox, senior, Fleetwood, manufacturing engineering technology
Evan Woods, sophomore, Clymer, New York, heating, ventilation and air conditioning technology.

Softball
Laycee Clark, freshman, Tyrone, general studies
Taylor Krow, sophomore, also women’s tennis, Camp Hill, pre-applied health studies-radiography
Amanda Kustanbauter, junior, Muncy, sport and event management concentration.

Golf
Justin Geedey, junior, Turbotville, manufacturing engineering technology
Tyler Marks, junior, Beachwood, New Jersey, building construction technology-masonry concentration
Austin Moscariello, freshman, New Columbia, building construction technology
Ryen Persun, sophomore, Linden, business management.

Men’s Basketball
Benjamin Hoffman, freshman, St. Marys, building construction technology
Thomas Ross, senior, Williamsport, accounting
Benjamin Sosa, sophomore, Loyalsock Township, exercise science.

Women’s Basketball
Natali Fargus, freshman, Lock Haven, accounting.

Men’s Cross-Country
David Carlson, freshman, Elizabethtown, engineering CAD technology
Christopher Hogan, freshman, Halifax, welding and fabrication engineering technology
Nathan Mashack, senior, Bloomsburg, electronics and computer engineering technology
Liam McGarvey, sophomore, Cogan Station, building construction technology
Thomas Runner, sophomore, Elkridge, Maryland, building construction technology concentration.

Women’s Cross-Country
Kaitlyn Anderson, sophomore, Mastic, New York, nursing
Tiffany Griffie, sophomore, Newville, landscape emphasis.

Men’s Soccer
Gregory Dorsch, freshman, Mount Airy, Maryland, welding and fabrication engineering technology
Joseph Dreese, senior, Williamsport, information assurance and cyber security
Daniel Hibbs, sophomore, Williamsport, sport and event management concentration
Nicholas Howland, freshman, Woodbridge, Virginia, automotive restoration technology
Jakob Lemay, freshman, Mifflinburg, engineering design technology
Luke McFalls, senior, New Oxford, welding and fabrication engineering technology
John Murray, sophomore, Dallas, renewable energy technologies
Brandon Wolff, sophomore, Effort, graphic design.

Women’s Soccer
Breica Beck, freshman, Mountville, physician assistant
Colleen Bowes, senior, Wayne, web and interactive media
Jordan Courter, senior, Mill Hall, occupational therapy assistant concentration
Lauren Herr, junior, Lititz, construction management
Breelyn Johnson-Fite, sophomore, also women’s basketball and softball, Bogota, New Jersey, landscape emphasis
Valerie Kubalak, sophomore, also women’s tennis, Spring Mills, physician assistant
Hunter Madison, freshman, Tremont, pre-nursing
Caitlin McCarthy, junior, State College, pre-physician assistant
Tania Parra, sophomore, Biglerville, nursing
Hanna Williams, senior, also women’s tennis, Marion, New York, industrial and human factors design.

Men’s Tennis
Ethan Rosler, sophomore, Bloomsburg, welding and fabrication engineering technology.

Women’s Volleyball
Karli Coleman, freshman, Lock Haven, pre-nursing
Keri Fargus, sophomore, Lock Haven, human services.

On the Sidelines
During 13 seasons from 2000-12, Hawkins coached Wildcat teams to a 184-113 record, including two conference championships (in the Commonwealth Campus Athletic Conference in 2004 and Penn State University Athletic Conference co-champ in 2012) and four runner-up finishes in the PSUAC. She was the Penn College men’s club team coach for two years from 2013-15.

“We are very excited to welcome back Bambi,” said John D. Vandevere, director of athletics. “Her knowledge of both volleyball and Penn College is almost impossible to find in a ‘new’ head coach. We’re very excited to see where she will take the volleyball program.”

Hawkins is employed at the college as interim director of paramedic technology programs.

On the Air
In late July, Penn College renewed its partnership with Fox Sports Williamsport to broadcast home Wildcat athletic events for the 2017-18 season, Penn College Assistant Director of Athletics/Sports Information Director Matt Blymier announced.

The coverage provided by Fox Sports will increase this season with weekly coach’s shows for soccer, basketball, baseball and softball. Additionally, all home conference games for soccer, baseball and softball will be broadcast, as well as all home basketball games and select away basketball contests.

“We are thrilled to not only continue our partnership with Fox Sports, but to increase the coverage for our athletic programs,” Blymier said. “As we begin our first year as full NCAA Division III members, it’s crucial to increase the awareness of our institution and our department on a local, regional and national level.”

All games will be simulcast on WEJS 104.1 FM/1600 AM and on Stream 2 at the Fox Sports Williamsport website. The play-by-play provided by Fox Sports also will be simulcast on Penn College’s High Definition web broadcast of each game. Last year, nearly 5,000 viewers tuned in to Wildcat games online.

“We are pleased to be able to provide Penn College athletics with their own radio flagship station. Their transition to full Division III-member status has been a process we have followed and been fortunate to broadcast since it began,” Fox Sports Williamsport owner Todd Bartley said. “Broadcasting the culmination of those efforts and the quality of the teams is very rewarding for our staff and our company.”

Hall of Famers
The 2017 Hall of Fame class – Zachary M. Plannick, Steven D. Bull, William J. DeAngelo and LeRoy Joiner – will enter the Hall of Fame at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 6, in the Thompson Professional Development Center.

For more, visit the Wildcat Athletics website.

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