The Behrend Beacon Swim teams out to prove they're for real by Kate Levdansky Petrikis assistant sports editor The Penn State Behrend men's and women's swim teams have begun their second season of competition. Behrend will host five home meets in the Junker Center. Coach Josh Heynes sees a bright "Overall, we want to improve on the previous year," said fleynes. "We want to try to score more points, and get swimmers qualified for the NCAA 111 at the end of the year. Ex pectations are high for (us), both as a team and individually." The women's team consists of only sophomores and freshmen. The sophomores are Tara Braden (Erie/ Fairview). Kristin Campbell (Saxonburg/Knoch), Amanda Brown (Spartansburg/Corry), and Hollie Stash (N. Huntingdon/Norwin). Braden transferred in from Gannon, while Campbell, Brown, and Stash have grown from last year's colle giate experience. The newcomers include Amy Jaskolski in/Norwinl, Samantha Cibula t Bradt ord/R radford), Jana Lions avenge tough AMCC loss By Jason Snyder Staff writer Behrend cross country coach Dave Cooper knew all along that his men's team was the best in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. He believed all they needed was a healthy team on a good day. The Lions answered the call this past Saturday at the NCAA Division 111 Mideast Regional meet at Lehigh, Pa., avenging their tough conference loss to Frosthurg State with an 18th place finish. AMCC champion Frosthurg settled for 20th. "The men knew they were the best in the AMCC. but illness prevented them from doing it at the AMCC meet," said Cooper. "Beating Frostburg at regionals was high on their list of priorities.- The Lions accomplished their goal in convincing fashion. They topped their conference rival by 114 points by placing their top five runners be fore Frostburg's number three man crossed the line. Their accomplish ment was a far cry from the confer ence championships when Frostburg held four of the race's top seven spots. Kevin Ritzert, as he did all season, led the charge for the Lions with a 75th place finish out of the 200-run ner field. He crossed the line in 27:53. Mike Barlett and Dan Croft, who were plagued with illness at the con ference championships, returned to claim 99th and 123rd places, respec tively. Matt Sprang finished in 117th place with a time of 28:41. Clayton Kirschner, who had a breakthrough run at the conference championships, continued his late-season success with a 128th place finish. Haverford College paced the field, winning the regional meet by plac- Cooper gets teams 'caught up' by Jason Snyder Staff writer Behrend cross country coach Dave Cooper didn't have much time to get to know his runners after he was hired in late August. Cooper and his teams traveled to compete at Buffalo State one week after the new coach was put at the helm. Since then, Cooper has been "catch ing up" with a group of runners who were used to former coach Rich Hoffman. "My first season was enjoyable, but I always felt I was 'catching up,"' said Cooper. "Learning the ropes in a dif ferent setting is new for me. The teams made the transition to the new PHOTO BY KRISTIN RODGERS Freshman Amy Jaskolski swims a lap in the Junker Center pool. Bahnak ( A rdara/N orw 11 ), and Chris tine Williams (Seltzer/Pottsville). On the men's side. senior Jon Harding (Tunkhannock/Wyoming Seminary) and junior Ben Atkins (Pleasantville/Titusville) will pro vide team leadership. Harding and Atkins bring experience from play ing on the water polo team. Sopho mores Chad Holzshu (Greenville! Reynolds). Dario Kis (Erie/Central). and Brian Vallor (Pittsburgh! Baldwin) also played on the water polo team. Freshmen Robb Christensen (Rochester. N.Y./Gates-Chili), Justin ing their five runners in the top 10. They topped second-place Elizabethtown by 56 points. Roth teams qualified for the NCAA Divi sion 11l National Championships. The AMCC individual champion Andrew Musinguzi of La Roche placed fifth in the meet to qualify for nationals, as well. J.R. Haglund of Haverford won the regional meet with a time of 24:58. Although the men accomplished one goal. they fell short in their quest for a top 15 performance with their Other Lions finish breakout year by Jason Snyder Staff writer It was a statement year for the Behrend women's cross country team that set standards never before accom plished in the team's short history. The Lions ended their run this past Satur day with a 16th place finish at the NCAA Division 111 Mideast Regionals, their best finish ever at the season's final meet. Coach Dave Cooper realized the women's potedal to finish well at the regional meet, hoping to make big strides coming hot off the heels of the team's first ever Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference championship two weeks ago. The women finished 39 points short of Cooper's goal of a top 15 perfor mance, but their finish was six posi tions better than their previous best of 22nd last year. The women finished with 532 points and topped AMCC rival Frostburg State by 215 points, placing all five of their scored run ners ahead of Frostburg's number three runner. Jessica Knapp, who paced the women's team for most of the season, crossed the line first for Behrend in job enjoyable." But as the new coach was catching up with his new runners and the new college atmosphere after 28 seasons coaching high school cross country at Union City, his teams were catching up and passing their competition. The women's team captured its first ever Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference championship under Cooper's guidance, and the men's team challenged defending champion Frostburg Etate. "Both teams have a fantastic work ethic," said Cooper. "They also had confidence in their training, which can be difficult going from one coach's program to another." Cooper is already duplicating some of his success from his coaching days ~....,........). .,...,7 ,) mrs) Friday, November 16, 2001 Lucas (Houston, Texas/Cypress- Falls), Casey Doody (Scarborough, Maine/Cape Elizabeth), Liam Barnes (Titusville), Eric Phillips (Monroeville/Gateway), Lucas Dushac (Indiana,Pa.), and Alex Eerielmes (Cabot/Knoch) are other players who doubled for water polo. Freshmen Scott Frison (Port Allegany/Port Allegany). Wes Gourley (1-Lirhorcreek), Tom Vignolini (Foinhell/Riverside). and Joe Deely (Pittshurgh/Taylor Allderdice) round out the roster. Atkins and Kis will serve as this year's team Captains. 18th place finish. Cooper hoped the men could duplicate or improve on the 1998 team's 15th place finish. hut fell 173 points short. "It was a season-long, determined effort to finish well. - said Cooper. "This season should establish a henchmark from which Behrend will consistently improve.- Improvement will he the key for the Lions next year as the men should return with their top live runners in- 82nd place with a time of 20:30. Knapp was challenged by team mate Lyndsey Boor who finished three seconds behind in 85th place. Boor paced the Lions last season at the regional meet with a time of 20:49. Andrea Sanko, who challenged Knapp all season, finished in 102nd place, followed by AMCC's New comer of the Year Claire Manelick in 116th. "Lyndsey Boor and Clair Manelick stepped it up for the women," said Cooper. Boor and Manelick consistently closed the gap between themselves and teammates Knapp and Sanko, al lowing the Lions to be more competi tive in the big meets. Suzie Szafran finished in 147th place to round out Behrend's top five. Moravian College won the regional meet by 41 points over Dickinson State University. Both teams qualified for the NCAA Division 111 National Championships. Moravian's Heidi Wolfsberger won the individual title with a time of 17:52. The Lions should return all of their runners from this year's team and will have plenty of time to build on their accomplishments. at Union City, capturing his first con ference crown in only his first season. At Union City, Cooper captured 29 league titles between his boys and girls teams and captured the boys state titles in 1996 and 1997. The Erie Times-News sports de partment listed Cooper among the "Coaches of the Century" in 2000. But with a new century comes new challenges for Cooper, who has an swered the , call. He has already been named AMCC Coach of the Year for the women's team in his opening sea son at the college ranks. "I think the future for cross coun try looks great here at Behrend," said Cooper. "We have a solid group of young runners to build with." sNmi believe our biggest strength is that we have a lot of balance on the team," Heynes said. "We have ath letes willing to put in the work to get us to the regional and national level." The Lions' main goals are to win more dual meets and to get individu als and relays qualified for NCAA Division 111 Championships at the end of the season. "The biggest obstacle is getting over our main weakness, and that is not knowing our own potential," said Heynes. "We have a ton of talent and ability, we just have to harness it every time we go to a meet." The Lions practice Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 6:15 to 7:30 a.m., Monday through Friday from 4 to 6 p.m., and Saturday from 8:30 to 11 a.m. to prepare for their meets. The season began on Nov. 6, when the team traveled to Buffalo State. The men got their first win with a score of 125-93, while the women only lost 110-83. "Many of our swimmers were as fast or faster than they were at the end of last year," said Heynes. The teams will compete against Gannon on Tuesday, and then at the , . . •i senior athletic profile 1 ................................................, Sarah Peterson: known for being center of attention I by Kate Levdansky Petrikis assistant sports editor Sarah Peterson, a Behrend Lion volleyball co-captain, started playing the sport when she was in seventh grade. Her position is outside hitter. She has two roles on the team. When she is in the front row she always hits from the left side, as well as playing defense in the hack row on the same side. Peterson's nickname "Dragon" was given to her by teammate Pam Walters. "I got this nickname because at the Behrend tournament, I had a really good and hard-hitting game against Bradford," said Peterson. - Therefore, they coined me 'the dragon.' Then during the rest of the season they would always yell to 'unleash the dragon. — This nickname can also describe her personality. "My two strongest characteristics are determination and hardwork," said Peterson. "I am very determined to do well and succeed, but my hard work helps to achieve my goals." Before games, the team played silly games to relieve themselves of tension. "We always made sure we had fun," said Peterson. The games included "Spud," "Duck, Duck, Goose," "Queen of the Court," or a song and dance. But when it came game time, Peterson and the Lions were ready to play, which is why the team ended with a 22-10 record and an AMCC Championship. However, it wasn't just this loosening up before games that contributed to their success. "The coaches have taught me that mental strength can be better than skill," said Peterson. "When you are losing, you have to dig deep, but you can always come back. Having the ability to do that really helped the team out a lot this year." Peterson participates in Delta Sigma Pi, a business coed fraternity, and within that organization does a lot of community service. A few weekends ago Peterson helped serve food at the Halloween party at the Barber Center, and took part in the covering of the Flagship Niagara. Peterson said managing time is always hard, but somehow she gets by. "It requires a lot of late nights and studying whenever I can." Peterson even finds time to have a part-time job as a waitress at Red Lobster. All of this leaves Peterson with very little spare time. L pr-r, .r.ramaidnev—!-- kte- sr. r- ..„,:::'•- <:,!-.",;..,. ~., ~;•„,,.,...,......... • . ..-...; „.... .OE. - .„‘ .. ..„,,,:..;......„ _ 1e7400.- r .. - .4. .ACW• *, ~... ~.„... - ....... PHOTO BY KRISTIN RODGERS From top to bottom, freshman Alex Fertelmes, sophomore cap tain Dario Kis, freshman Eric Phillips, and junior captain Ben Atkins wade in the pool while lis tening to head coach Josh Heynes run practice. ECM. DO, ision Clliimpionships Nov. 30 throough I)ec. 2. The Gannon y.aine \\,il' he the first offi cial colle:ze inert at Heinen& - Gannon is a \ slicing Division II school. said Ilevnes. - They have a huge squad. w hich means thev will have all of their lanes filled in ever) racc. Sarah Peterson is so injury prone the athletic department gave the Johnson & Johnson award for most visits to the trainer. "Spare time? I ha \ c spare time? Well, if I do, I like to workout and spend time with my friends.- Peterson said she has the ability to he the "brunt . ' ofall accidents and problems. "No matter what seemed to he happening I seemed to he in the center of it," said Peterson. "Whether it was being hit by the hall cart. never getting my foixl done right at restaurants. or being knocked over by my own teammates, I have seemed to have had a hard time with injuries at college and have the "J&J" award to prove it." The J&J award stands for Johnson & Johnson. The athletic trainer gives it to someone who seems to always he in the training room Peterson is majoring in Marketing and will study abroad in Costa Rica next semester. After graduation she plans on attending law school. behrcolls@aol.com these taster schools will hope, ully make us Lister by the end ()I our sea son. Competif ion will he greal! I - ve our lop ~ vk limner!, on the 111C11 ., , side w ill win, err place w ith in the top two ()leach event... As for the FICA(' Division 111 Championships. the Lions are train ing extremely hard. The performance at F.CA(' will dictate the rest of the Year's traimml before the FCAC ('hampionships at the end of Fehru arx. Competition for this meet will he apinst all IVA(' schools up and down the Fast Coast "fills is a last ineet each Year. so our team Iris to not only qualify for events. but must get in the last heats of each ace, - s '1(.1 I leviies, "There arc no prclinlinaric and finals at inect. ft a one-time hot. and then the event i. complete - This season we w ill race another tough schedule. - Hones said. 1 be lieve we can rise to the occasion. We are looking fonv art' to the IVAC I )1- i on 111 Championships in Decent het, the AMC(' ( 'lassic at Grove Oh,. We are derinitch looking for ward to turniwi. some heads. and to show other teams the improvements that we have made in just one veal.- 'Dragon' "I wanted to go to law schix it fkcau'r I has e always been interested in the lav, and govemnlent." said Peterson. She hopes to enroll at the I ink ersity of irginia to study law. Still, Peterson can't stop thinking about the past season. •"I ant really happy 1k ith the way we ended the season. We ended tin top with out First ever :AVM((' title." said Peterson. - Winning the title had to he one of the het feelings of my career, esle•cially since I got the game-‘‘ inning hit "I was so excited. and was glad that our team finally got the chance to prove we were the hest. It was a great feeling when we won and everybody rushed the court. I am really proud of my team, and am so glad I got to meet and become friends with all of them. I wish them all lots of luck in the future.'' Page 3b
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