Penn College Archers Establish Themselves Early

After its first team competition of the season a week ago at the U.S. Indoor East Regional in Harrisonburg, Va., the Pennsylvania College of Technology archery team established itself as one of if not the best in the nation this year. Winning individual indoor national championships were Danny Wido (Shickshinny) in men's compound and Glen Thomas (Mercer) in men's recurve. Zack Plannick (Coraopolis) was second in men's compound and Kelvin Dewalt (Easton) third in bowhunter.

"I'm very excited, very proud of how they finished," Penn College coach Chad Karstetter said. "Even though our scores were a few points lower than they have been in the past, they still were good enough to win the overall national title."

In the East, one of eight geographic regions from which national scores were determined, Wido won the male compound division and Thomas captured the male recurve. In all, 15 of 17 Wildcat archers placed in the top 10 of their respective classes. Also among the leaders were Tyler Gale (Kennedyville, Md.), second in male recurve; Plannick, second in male compound; Ashley Baker (Coudersport), second in women's compound; Dewalt, second in bowhunter, and Julie Cain (Bellefonte) third in women's compound.

Teamwise in the East, Penn College won in mixed recurve (Thomas; Gale; Ashlee Mull, of Williamsport; and Hilary Fisher, of Temple), mixed compound (Baker, Cain, Plannick and Wido), men's recurve (Thomas; Gale; and Brandon Allison, of Roaring Spring), men's compound (Plannick; Wido; and Aaron Lapinski, of Bloomsburg) and women's compound (Baker; Cain; and Kjirsten Radencic, of Liberty). The Wildcats were second in bowhunter (Dewalt; Kyle Bennett, of Bellefonte; and Joe Dowdrick, of Lebanon) and third in women's recurve (Mull; Fisher; and Allyson Hansell, of Gillett).

"With the scores that we shot, comparing them to last year, we are going to be placed very high in all of the divisions (nationally)," Karstetter said.

"For the last four or five years, I've been working on putting together a full squad for the overall ranking and now that we have a women's recurve team, and they are doing really well together, I think we have a shot at the national championship this year," the coach added.

Penn College competes at the Adam Wheatcroft Memorial Invitational at Harrisonburg, Va., April 2-3; is at the New England tournament in Storrs, Conn., April 9; hosts the Eastern Regional Outdoor Championships April 16-17 and wraps up its season May 19-22 at the outdoor national championships in Harrisonburg, Va.

FLASHBACK Baseball In action for their first time since spring training in South Carolina, the Wildcats swept the King's College Jayvee squad by scores of 4-2 and 14-3 on Thursday. Skylar Gingrich (Lititz) had two hits and a team-high five RBIs while Josh Longsderff (Columbia) and Ryan Weachock (Pottsville) each added four hits and three RBIs. Penn College hammered out 14 hits in the nightcap.

Saturday against Lehigh Carbon Community College, Penn College split, losing, 7-6, and winning, 4-3. Thomas Hughes (Easton) had four hits and two runs. Gingrich homered in the second game and Brian Santangelo (Middletown, Conn.) got the mound win with two scoreless innings in relief.

Sunday against Luzerne Community College, the Wildcats won by scores of 8-4 and 11-3 to improve to 9-2. Brett Braker (Northampton) had four hits and five RBIs on the day, while Ryan Weachock (Pottsville) added three hits and three RBIs. Gingrich hit a three-run homer in the first game. Second-game winning pitcher Jarod Bull (Jacobus) fanned seven and allowed only five hits in six innings.

Penn College starts Penn State University Athletic Conferenceplay at 2 p.m. Saturday, hosting Penn State Wilkes-Barre at Loyalsock Township High School's field.

Softball Amanda Baney (Williamsport) had four hits, including two home runs and six RBIs, in a doubleheader sweep of Lehigh Carbon Community College, 7-6 and 10-2, in five innings on Saturday. Lacy Lose (Avis) added three hits and three RBIs and recorded a win on the mound, striking out eight, as the Wildcats improved to 4-6 overall with their fourth straight win. Baney went 2 for 4 with three RBIs in the first game, as Penn College rallied with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. In the nightcap, Baney went 2 for 3 with three RBIs and three runs scored.

The Wildcats open PSUAC play March 31 hosting Penn StateSchuylkill at Elm Park.

SCHEDULE/RESULTS Archery Saturday-Sunday, April 2-3 Adam Wheatcroft Memorial Invitational at James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va.

Baseball Overall record: 9-2Thursday, March 17 at King's College Jayvees, W, 4-2; W, 14-3 Saturday, March 19 host Lehigh Carbon Community College, L, 7-6; W, 4-3 Sunday, March 20 host Luzerne Community College, W, 8-4; W, 11-3 Wednesday, March 23 at King's College Jayvees (2), 2 p.m. Saturday, March 26 host Penn StateWilkes-Barre at Loyalsock Township High School field (2), 2 p.m. Sunday, March 27 at Penn StateHarrisburg (2), noon Thursday, March 31 at Penn StateBrandywine (2), 2 p.m.

Softball Overall record: 4-6Saturday, March 19 host Lehigh Carbon Community College, W, 7-6; W, 10-2 infive innings Wednesday, March 23 at Penn StateHarrisburg (2), 3 p.m. Friday, March 25 at Elmira, N.Y., College Jayvees (2), 3 p.m. Saturday, March 26 host Luzerne County Community College at Elm Park (2), noon Sunday, March 27 host Elmira, N.Y., College at Elm Park (2), 2 p.m. Thursday, March 31 host Penn StateSchuylkill at Elm Park (2), 2 p.m.

Men's Volleyball Overall record: 9-9 MACVC record: 4-4

(Complete rosters and season schedules are available on the college's Athletics Web site . For more information on the PSUAC, visit on the Web; more about the USCAA also is available online.)

Vol. 9, No. 31