Penn College Athletes Get Postseason Honors

Fourteen Pennsylvania College of Technology spring-sports athletes have received postseason honors in baseball, softball and archery.

BaseballSenior pitcher Mark Shaffer (Hanover) and sophomore shortstop Tom Hughes (Easton) were named Penn State University Athletic Conference First Team All-Stars and senior outfielder Ryan Weachock (Pottsville) was named to the Second Team. Weachock, Hughes, Brett Baker (junior/Northampton) and Matt Mientus (sophomore/Southampton) were named United States Collegiate Athletic Association Academic All-Americans.

SoftballJunior Trisha Moser (Watsontown) was a USCAA Academic All-American.

ArcheryEarning Academic All-American honors were Danny Wido (sophomore/Shickshinny), Aaron Lapinski (junior/Bloomsburg), Glen Thomas (sophomore/Mercer), Clint Hinton (sophomore/Central Mountain), Lindsey Fackler (senior/Halifax), Brock Smith (senior/Brookville), James Fanelli (senior/Glastonburg, Conn.) and Tyler Gale (junior/Kennedyville, Md.).

Chancellor's Cup During the overall 2009-10 school year, Wildcat teams once again excelled, sporting a combined 211-112-3 won-lost-tied mark a .653 winning percentage. In the PSUAC, Penn College teams went 112-43-1 (.723 winning percentage), captured two championships (men's cross-country and coed tennis) and took three seconds (women's cross-country, men's soccer and men's basketball), which helped the college win its second consecutive Chancellor's Cup. Given to the school that earns the most points throughout the year, Penn College ended with 65.5 points and runner-up Penn State Beaver had 59.

"It's a testament to the overall strength of our athletic program," said Douglas Byerly, athletic director. "Obviously, it's a nice testament to (recently retired AD) Mike Stanzione for putting all of these programs in place over the past couple of years, and the teams and coaches have been able to follow through and succeed on the fields and courts of play."

At the PSUAC Spring Banquet, Stanzione was named to the Robert J. Scannell Roll of Honor, presented to an administrator, faculty, staff member or coach who has served the conference with distinction. Prior to his retirement Jan. 25, Stanzione had completed his second year as conference president.

Road RunningIn the May 16 Pocono Marathon, men's cross-country team member Travis Cain finished 31st of 667 runners in a time of 3 hours,3 minutes and qualified for next April's Boston Marathon.

A sport-by-sport review of the year (alphabetically):

ArcheryUnder coach Chad Karstetter, in his 10th season, the coed archery team finished second in the country the best ever for Penn College. Danny Wido and Glen Thomas claimed individual national championships in male compound and male recurve events and led their respective teams to national titles as well. In all, eight Wildcat archers earned All-American status, including Thomas, who did it twice in both recurve and compound.

BaseballSwitching to a spring-only season, the team went 12-11 overall and placed fourth in the PSUAC under fourth-year coach Chris Howard. During the season, the Wildcats gave Howard his 100th career win.

Basketball (Men) During coach Gene Bruno's 14th season, it was somehow fitting that the Wildcats went 14-14 overall. They finished second in the PSUAC, their best ever. For the first time in school history three 1,000-point career scorers played together senior Joe Simon (Renovo), the career leader with 1,425 points; junior Greg Solyak (Lancaster) with 1,146 points and sophomore Leroy Joiner (Williamsport), with 1,019 points.

Basketball (Women) Despite going 9-15, with many of their losses against NCAA Division II and III schools, the Wildcats of coach Alison Tagliaferri reached the PSUAC playoffs, where they were eliminated in the quarterfinals.

BowlingAlthough the team failed to win any gold in the Pennsylvania Collegiate Athletic Association championships, it brought home three seconds and four thirds under fourth-year coach Deb Vincenzes.

Cross-Country (Men)Going 49-14, the Penn College men claimed their fifth straight PSUAC championship and finished second nationally in the USCAA under 10th-year coach Mike Paulhamus.

Cross-Country (Women)Penn College went 20-13-1 overall, ending second in the PSUAC and fifth nationally in the USCAA, also under Paulhamus.

Golf Under new coach Matt Haile, the Wildcats posted a 20-7 season, placing third in the PSUAC and fourth nationally in the USCAA. Senior Craig Flint was named an All-American for his top five finish in the national event.

Soccer (Men)Penn College went 15-5-1 overall, finishing second in the PSUAC and tying for fourth nationally in the USCAA as coach Enrique Castillo completed his fourth season.

Soccer (Women) The Wildcats were 8-4-1 overall and tied for third nationally in USCAA competition under coach Kim Antanitis.

SoftballCoach Roger Harris' ninth edition went 14-13 overall and ended third in the PSUAC.

TennisIn addition to going 17-1 under second-year coach Aimee Plastow, the Wildcats won their second consecutive PSUAC championship. In two seasons, Plastow's teams are 34-3.

Volleyball (Men) It was a season of firsts for the squad as it earned its first-ever national club ranking (25) and celebrated the same day by beating perennial power Messiah College for its first time. The Wildcats finished 18-5 overall under seventh-year coach Wes Strayer, pushing him over the 100-career-win mark, and ended third in the Middle Atlantic Club Volleyball Conference. They then advanced to the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation Championships for the first time and placed among the top 20 Division I-AA club teams in the country.

Volleyball (Women) The Wildcats of 10th-year coach Bambi Hawkins went 15-10 and reached the PSUAC semifinals.