Sports BEHREND BEACON 1 1
January 29, 2010
www.thebehrendbeacon.com
BASEBALL
Shortstop Josh Fyffe an All-American
KAELA BISHOP
staff writer
After finishing a great season
in 2009 as a juniOr, Josh Fyffe's
skills at shortstop have been
nationally recognized. He was
recently named to the D-111 All-
American Honorable Mention
Team.
"It is a big deal," said head
baseball coach Paul Benim.
"His potential has been recog
nized by what he has accom
plished.
"Josh has had a brilliant ca
reer. His history backs up his
stats. He enjoys playing the
game and is always focused in
the batter's box."
tailUlii , l3UaA_,i_l_iA
Anne Lawrence surfaces to the top
RACHELLE THOMPSON
news editor
When Anne Lawrence was
just five years old, she began
swimming for the Park Forest
Team, but it wasn't her idea.
Her mom signed her up.
Lawrence is a sophomore
swimmer and water polo player
at Behrend and was named the
Enterprise Rent-A-Car Athlete
of the week. She put together
an impressive performance
during the Washington & Jef
ferson meet on Saturday, Jan.
23. She went on to win the 200-
yard individual medley, timing
out at 2:24:68 placed second
the 200-yard backstroke and in
the 100-yard butterfly.
She began swimming seri
ously before her freshman year
in high school, earning a spot
on the State College high
school swim team, a spot she
earned through tryouts. While
beginning her swimming ca
reer she had nothing but sup
port from her family.
"My dad was a baseball
player in high school and was
very happy with me when I
made the high school team and
started swimming year round,"
Lawrence said.
During high school she de
cided on college and narrowed
her options down to Penn State
campuses.
"I wanted to go to Penn State,
Cis4 4 * 0 :10 +4 01
Q&A with head coach Dave
SHAWN ANNARELLI
managing editor
The PSB men's basketball
team is currently third in the
AMCC standings with a 9-3
conference record. Is the team
meeting your expectations?
Coach: As long as we play
hard and we work hard we are
meeting my expectations.
When we do those things win
ning will take care of itself.
The team is stacked with
veteran players. Are they step-
AMCC Sports Standings
MEN'S BASKETBALL
AMCC Overall Strk
Medaille 13-1 18-1 W 5
Pitt-Bradford 10-3 10-8 W 7
Penn St. Behrend 9-3 12-4 W 2
Frostburg State 8-5 11-6 W 2
Mount Aloysius 7-6 9-8 W 1
La Roche 7-7 10-9 LI
Penn St. Altoona 6-8 8-11 L 2
Pitt-Greensburg 6-8 8-11 W 1
D'Youville 3-10 5-13 Ll
Franciscan 3-10 4-13 W 1
Hilbert 1-12 2-16 L 3
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
AMCC Overall Strk
Medaille 14-0 17-2 W 6
Pitt-Greensburg 11-3 13-6 W 4
Frostburg St. 10-3 13-5 W 2
Penn St. Altoona 10-4 15-4 L 2
La Roche 8-6 10-9 W 2
Penn St. Behrend 7-5 9-7 W 3
Pitt-Bradford 6-7 6-12 LI
Mount Aloysius 3-10 4-13 L 5
D'Youville 3-10 3-14 L 4
Franciscan 1-12 1-16 L 2
Hilbert 0-13 0-18 LlB
SWIMMING & DIVING
Women's Overall ' Men's Overall
Penn St. Behrend 6-3 44
Frostburg State 3-8 4-6
Pitt-Bradford 2-4 2-3
Penn St. Altoona 1-9 1-9
His statistics distinctly
demonstrate his focus. Last
season, Fyffe had a .406 batting
average, including 16 stolen
bases. He led the Lions with 69
hits, nine home runs, three
triples, and 13 doubles. With
58 RBIs, he not only surpassed
his teammates, he set a new
Behrend record.
"His skill set definitely sepa
rates him," Benim said. "He is
well respected by his team
mates."
Fyffe has had an excellent ca
reer with the Behrend Lions.
He has started at shortstop the
past three years and will be
starting his senior year. In his
freshman year alone, he was
Penn State Behrend Athletics
Sophomore swimmer, Anne Lawrence, was named Athlete of the Week after winning the 200-yard
individual medley. She helped her team top Washington and Jefferson last Saturday.
but I did not want to go to UP,"
she said. "When I came up here
for a recruiting trip I had a re
ally great time."
Before getting into the pool,
Lawrence does something
some athletes usually don't nor
mally do: she talks.
"I like to talk before my
races. I also have been known
to tap on my goggles before I
step up onto the blocks; it is
just a mental thing I do."
Something else she always
ping up as team leaders?
Coach: They are all vocal on
the court. They are good, char
acter people, which generally
makes good leaders. They're
good students in the classroom,
too. They are good role models.
Last week Behrend was
upset by a four-win team in
Franciscan. What was the
turning point of that game?
Coach: They had ten threes.
They made ten of fifteen threes.
It is unfortunate that we did not
close that game well. We
named AMCC Newcomer of
the Year, Rookie of the Year,
Most Valuable Player. During
his sophomore year, he was
named to the All-AMCC squad
and led his team to the AMCC
conference title.
Last season, Fyffe was named
the 2009 AMCC Player of the
Year and first team shortstop.
He led the Behrend Lions to the
2009 AMCC regular season and
conference titles. Fyffe de
serves everything he and his
team has been awarded.
"This is from three years of
hard work, dedication and
helping coach the team," Fyffe
said.
Fyffe contributes some of his
likes to keep in her head is pos
itive thoughts. She does this be
cause it helps keep her
motivation going and believes it
is the strong point of her game.
She also believes this is thow
she impacts het team the most.
Lawrence believes what
keeps her motivated is her pas
sion for the sport. Noticing the
strong advances her team has
made over the year is some
thing that she feeds into her
races.
missed a few defensive assign
ments down the stretch and
struggled.
Sophomore Nick Thornsen
has been incredible coming
off the bench to lead the
AMCC in three-point shooting
percentage. Will we see more
of him as the season pro
gresses?
Coach: Nick is going to get
his spots, and it depends on
how the game is going. It is all
situational with our opponents,
and Nick is playing really well
success to his tough mental
game. "Having a lot of experi
ence gives me a different men
tal approach than other
players," Fyffe said.
This upcoming season is
looking even better for Fyffe
and the Behrend Lions.
"We expect the best season
ever from Fyffe," Benim said.
`All that and more."
Fyffe plans to measure up to
these expectations. "My goal is
to top last year's numbers and
win the conference title again."
Fyffe enters his fourth year
starting at shortstop with high
ambitions, all of which will be
undoubtedly met with a similar
season.
Also, the dedicated swimmer
could never get up and swim at
6 a.m. three days a week with
out having a passion and love
for the sport.
Admitting sometimes she
doesn't want to swim some
days, like normal athletes, she
believes it is her teammates
that pull her through.
"I still have my days where I
don't want to be swimming at
all, but my teammates are there
to help me going forward."
Niland
this year. He worked really, re
ally hard in the offseason.
This season Behrend lost to
Frostburg State 75-70. The
Lions play them on Saturday.
What adjustments will be
made for this game?
Coach: We have to defend a
lot better than we did. We also
need more balance on offense.
Frostburg played really well in
that game, and they are a very
good team. We'll have our
hands full on Saturday, and the
guys look forward to playing.
C:3
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• Oft I
Penn State Behrend Athletics
Junior Josh Fyffe will be returning to play for Penn State Behrend
after leading the Lions in hits with 69 and a batting average of .406.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Aly Eagle returns
After tearing several ankle ligaments, the
freshman takes the court for the Lady Lions
ELESE MERKOVSKY
Talented freshmen Aly Eagle
looked forward to contributing
to the Behrend Lions Women's
basketball team, but an injury
sidelined her for over eight
weeks to start the season.
"Eight weeks seemed like an
eternity, and as much as I love
the trainers, I would like to stay
out of there," Eagle said.
During Behrend's second
scrimmage, Eagle went up for a
layup and came down on and
opponent's foot. She tore and
strained multiple ligaments in
her foot and found herself un
able to walk on it.
Though it was not an ideal
start for the season, Eagle did
not let her injury stop her. She
immediately started doing
rehab daily in the pool (aqua
jogging) to keep her cardio up
and additional strengthening
exercises with the trainers.
On Jan. 9, Eaglq made, her
first appearance back on the
court against La Roche. Eagle
put up nine points in a losing
effort.
Since then, Eagle has made a
large impact on improving the
Lions' record to 8-7 and 6-5 in
the conference. Scoring 14 or
more points in the Mount Aloy
sius, Penn State Altoona,
Franisican, and Hilbert games,
it seems pretty apparent that
having Eagle back is helping
the Lions.
When reflecting on her in
jury, Eagle hopes to remain as
healthy as possible.
"My main goal is to definitely
not get hurt ever again," Eagle
said. The closeness of the Lady
Lions has helped her during her
time being injured.
"The best thing about playing
at Behrend is the relationship I
have with my teammates,"
Eagle said. "We are a little bas
ketball family. We're always
there for each other and will al
ways have each other's backs.
'till ti Wei
Jon Klein / Behrend Beacon
Aly Eagle, a freshman from
Seneca Valley High school, will
be looking to help the Lady Lions
reach the playoffs.
Its great knowing you have
people who truly care about
you when you are so far from
home."
The Lions are looking to im
prove upon their record. The
team will play at Medaille and
host Frostburg after losing to
them on the road. These games
will determine placement in the
AMCC tournament and area
rankings.
"Every game from here on
out is huge for us," Eagle said.
"Ultimately, I'm looking for
ward to playing in the AMCC
championship game. That's the
dream!"