Penn College Teams Second to None in Athletics

When it comes to all-around excellence against like competition, Pennsylvania College of Technology athletic teams are second to none.

For the second consecutive season, Wildcat teams won five conference championships and took two seconds during 2006-07. Overall, they posted 181 wins, 81 losses and had two ties (both in men's soccer), for an outstanding .686 winning percentage.

Golf The golf team under coach Chet Schuman went 30-0 and won the Penn State University Athletic Conference championship while extending its four-season win streak to 130-0.

The Wildcats were paced by freshmen Matt Winder ( Montgomery ) and T.C. Reynolds (Muncy), who shared conference individual honors by shooting 73s in a rain-shortened finals at the Penn State Blue Course.

Winder and Reynolds, along with Gibby Balliet (junior/Watsontown), Len Nicholas (sophomore/Hollywood), Shaun McQuay (junior/Watsontown) and Craig Flint (sophomore/Port Allegany earned all-conference honors.

Teamwise in the final, Penn College had a season-low 305, while second-place Penn State Mont Alto shot a 339.

The PSUAC crown was the second straight for the Wildcats. They won Commonwealth Conference Athletic Conference and Pennsylvania Collegiate Athletic Association titles in 2004 and the PCAA championship in 2003. Penn College teams were champions in the Eastern Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference in 1994, 1995 and 1998.

This also marked the fourth straight year that a Penn College golfer has been a conference individual champion. Matt Haile did it in 2003, Brandon Smith in 2004 and McQuay last year. The college's only other individual conference champ was Dan McKean, in 1982.

Men's Soccer Under first-year coach Enrique Castillo, the men's soccer team went 14-1-2 and won the PSUAC championship.

It marked the third straight season that Penn College has won a conference title and the first time it has had a men's soccer three-peat.

Women's Soccer Also under a new coach, the women's soccer team of Kim Antanitis went 9-1 and won the Eastern Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference championship.

Women's Softball Coach Roger Harris' women's softball team had a season of firsts.

Despite the fact that 13 of his 17 players were freshmen, the most he's had on any of his six teams, Harris thought his team was going to be good this season, but he had no idea how good.

After dropping their first two games of the year to always-powerful Northampton County Community College , the Wildcats won nine of their next 10 before a rematch against Northampton . They fell in the first contest, but showed what they were really made of in the second game by beating Northampton and ending its 94-game win streak.

Penn College won nine of its next 10 games to qualify as the second seed in the Penn State University Athletic Conference Final Four playoffs. Coming back through the loser's bracket in the double-elimination tournament at University Park after splitting games on Friday, the Wildcats posted three consecutive victories on Saturday to close out a 23-6 campaign and give the college its first-ever softball championship.

Named All-Conference from the championship women's softball team were freshmen Lisa Miller (Cogan Station), Samantha Mills ( Harrisburg ) and Michelle McNett ( Canton ). Receiving honorable mention were Renee Craig ( Millville ) and Kristin Bernard ( Hastings ), also both freshmen.

Miller hit .427 with seven triples and 18 runs batted in. Mills led the team with a .506 batting average, had a team-high six home runs and team-high 38 RBI. McNett hit .500 with four home runs and 26 RBI. "They were the heart and soul of the team. Those three girls, in the 2-3-4 holes, were just incredible. They were just incredible," Harris said.

Craig and Bernard were both pitchers. Craig posted nine wins without a loss on the mound and had a 3.75 earned run average while Bernard had a 6-2 record and 4.50 ERA during the team's 23-6 campaign.

Men's Cross Country For the fifth time -- fourth in a row -- during Mike Paulhamus' seven years as coach, the Penn College men's team ran away with the PSUAC championship and completed a 24-15 season.

Paced by the first-place finish of Greg Kammerle ( Willow Grove ), in 30 minutes, 42 seconds over a 5.3-mile course, the Wildcats finished with 22 team points to top a five-team field in the Penn State University Athletic Conference championship meet.

Archery Under coach Chad Karstetter, Pennsylvania College of Technology archers Michelle Wright, for the third time in her career, and Ryan Rambo, for his first, earned all-American status. Wright was a senior from Kendall , N.Y. , and Rambo a junior from Millville .

Since 1997, 15 Penn College archers have been named all-Americans 30 times. Wright is the sixth Wildcat to achieve the honor three times and the first woman to do so.

In addition to being one of only two female Penn College archers ever to be named an all-American, Wright set state collegiate indoor records during both her junior and senior seasons, scoring a 564 in 2006 and then bettering that with a 570 earlier this year.

Bowling The college co-ed bowling team, under first-year coach Deb Vincenzes, won four Pennsylvania Collegiate Athletic Association championships.

Brandon Hendricks, a senior from Northumberland, finished first in men's singles and all events, helped the Wildcats to a first-place finish in men's team competition and to the overall men's championship that combined results from singles, doubles, team and Baker events.

In addition to Hendricks, other Wildcats on the team were Andrew Hurst ( York ), Ryan Forry ( Lancaster ), David Florist (Horsham), David Pierce ( Warren ) and Mike Pollock (Sugarloaf).

Women's Volleyball The women's volleyball team went 20-3 under coach Bambi Hawkins and finished second in the PSUAC for the second season in a row.

Women's Cross Country Topped by a third-place finish from Tracey Brewbaker ( Middletown ) in 24:14 over a 3.1-mile course, the Penn College women finished second in the PSUAC meet.

Under Mike Paulhamus, the team went 2-3 in team competition.

Baseball The baseball team under coach Chris Howard won the PSUAC midseason classic and finished 22-11, fourth in the PSUAC.

Twin brothers Philip and James Woodring were named all-conference along with Mark Shaffer. Levi Bailey was named honorable mention.

Philip Woodring, a sophomore shortstop from Waynesboro , hit .472 with 23 runs batted in and two home runs. His brother, James, a junior second baseman, hit 417 with 12 RBI. Numerous times during the fall and spring seasons, Howard praised the Woodrings for the defensive strength they provided in the middle of the infield. Shaffer, a sophomore from Hanover , posted a 6-0 record with a 2.14 earned run average. Bailey, a freshman infielder-outfielder from Harrisburg , led the team with a .552 batting average and drove in 12 runs.

Men's Basketball The men's basketball team, under coach Gene Bruno, went 6-20.

Women's Basketball Under coach Ron Kodish, the women's basketball team went 10-15 and reached the PSUAC semifinals.

Erin Mahoney, a 5-foot-7 sophomore guard from Linesville, earned all-conference honors.

Mahoney averaged 5.2 points, 3.4 assists and 2.7 steals per game. Commenting on her value to the squad, Kodish said in part, " Erin 's value to the team can not be measured totally by her statistics. Erin 's game improved tremendously over the course of the season, not only physically, but mentally. She became a confident player on both ends of the court, and a leader on the team." Kodish also noted that in two seasons Mahoney has not missed a practice or game.

Men's Volleyball The men's volleyball went 14-4 under coach Wes Strayer.

Co-Ed Team Tennis The co-ed tennis team went 7-2 under coach Davis Santucci and had three singles runners up and one team second-place finish in the PSUAC tournament.

Academics Wildcat athletes stood out in the most important place, too -- the classroom.

During the 2006-07 school year, 107 of 225 athletes in all sports (47.5 percent) earned academic all-conference honors.

"At Penn College , academics come first. That's the creed that we go by," college athletic director Mike Stanzione said.

"We are a firm believer in the student-athlete, student first and athlete second, and the fact that 48 percent of our student-athletes for the year were named to the PSUAC All-Academic team speaks well for Penn College in the student portion of the student-athlete," Stanzione added.