BEACON SPI . /..:', 1/. S
2005/2006 Penn State Erie Men's Basketball Team
04/05 BEHREND RECORD: 0-0
LAST GAME: Season Opener
PROBABLE STARTERS:
No. Hi Yr. Name PPG RPG
10 5-10 SR Justin Jennings 3.8 2.3
22 6-7 SO Kevin Buczynski 7.8 4.5
30 6-3 SO David Gahan 8.0 3.2
33 6-3 FR Drew Seker N/A N/A
34 5-9 FR Ben Gasbarre N/A N/A
Coach: Dave Niland
Men's basketball begins Saturday
By Chris LaFuria
sports cditoi
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Head Coach Dave Niland enters the
annual Tip-Off Tournament with 199 wins
and will he seeking his two-hundreth vic
tory. Behrend, coming off a 19-8 record
in 2004/2005, is in search of its fourth
NCAA appearance. With a strong defense
that has led the league in lowest defensive
points per game average, the Blue and
White will host Wesley in the season's
opener. Senior Justin Jennings and soph
omores David Gahan and Kevin
HOUSING AND FOOD
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Brad Ruffo
Men's Cross Country
NAME:
SPORT:
CLASS:
DATE:
Junior
November 14, 2005
Behrend's Brad Ruffo (W. Middlesex/W. Middlesex HS) has been
named Housing and Food, Services Athlete of the Week. Ruffo finished
twelfth out of 279 runners at the NCAA Mideast Regional at Dickinson
College. He finished the 8k course in a time of 26:21.
Ruffo previously finished first in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate
Conference (AMCC) Championships with a time of 26:55. For this
achievement he was awarded All-Conference Team honors as well as
Runner of the Year in the AMCC.
Ruffo will next be in action on Saturday, Nov. 19 at the Methodist
Theological School where he - will be competing for a NCAA Men's
Cross Country Championship.
Housing and Food Services Athlete of the Week is selected by the
Sports Infonnation Staff.
If you are Interested in writing about such sports as
basketball or swimming, please contact Chris LaFuria
at sportseditorOpsu.edu or stop by the Beacon office
to get your assignment. Be a part of i thc wiriningest
town on the campus of Penn State Eric
Buczynski are the returning statistical
leaders.
The Lions look to improve on their 47
percent shooting from the floor, 36.9 per
cent from behind the arc, 71 percent from
the free throw line and 66.3 points per
game.
In last year's Tip-Off Tournament,
Behrend won their first game over Case
Western 71-58, but followed the victory
with a 63-58 loss to the Adrian squad from
Michigan. After the tournament, the men
will play at home against Westminster on
Nov. 29 at 7:30 p.m.
Behrend men's basketball team is looking for leadership from young players such as sophomore Dave Gahan (left)
With the loss of such valuable seniors as Doug Merski (right), the Lions look to improve on last year's 19-8 record
Lions cross country finishes strong in regionals
In last Saturday's Mideast Regional, Behrend's men
and women's cross country teams ran hard in competition
at Dickinson College. The men's team finished 20 out of
42 teams, while the women pushed themselves to the lim
its, finishing 31 out of 46 teams.
Junior, Brad Ruffo, finished the 8k race with a team
best of 26:21. This impressive time awarded him with a
twelfth place finish out of 270 runners. For the women,
freshman standout Jenn Bailey ran the most notable race
as a blue and white Lady Lion, finishing the 6k in 24:02.
Bailey's time awarded her with a thirty-sixth place finish.
Sophomore, Leisel Soergel, also ran considerably well
for the Lions, finishing with a time of 26:26.
Overall results on the women's end of competition
included Dickinson College placing first in the Regional
meet, while Haverford College led the way for the men.
Both of these teams, in addition to other top finishers,
will advance to next weekend's NCAA division 111 cham
pionships, hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University. While
neither women's nor men's team will be traveling to Ohio
Wesleyan, Brad Ruffo will be traveling solo to represent
Penn State Erie.
Although the doors to the 2005 season are practically
closed, many highlights and triumphs occurred over the
course of the last several months. Jenn Bailey was
recently named to the AMCC All-Conference Team, in
addition to being awarded the honor of Newcomer of the
Year in the conference. She also excelled at the AMCC
championships where she took second place. It is safe to
say that this freshman has quite a promising career ahead
of her at Penn State Erie.
However, Junior Brad Ruffo's accomplishments have
surely been the highlight of Behrend's season. Ruffo's
stellar season launched at the Lions opening match and
continued throughout each of Behrend's six contests. In
fact, Ruffo was the top finisher for Behrend in each of
their six competitions. Ruffo was also named the
AMCC's men's runner of the year after breezing by all
other runners on the course. This first place finish at the
Men and women's swimming encounter close meets
By Heidi Weismiller
staff writer
hmwso26@psu.edu
The Behrend men and women's
swimming and diving teams had
close meets on Saturday, Nov. 12 at
St. Vincent College. The women lost
76-84 and the men lost 70-79. It is
only the beginning of the season,
however, the teams are working hard.
Assistant coach Joe Tristan attributes
the close losses to the lack of swim
mers on both the men and women's
sides. "We couldn't post swimmers in
every event," he said. He explained
that a few swimmers made the deci
sion not to return this year so they
have very small teams to work with.
Head coach Jen Wallace said, "I'm
sad to see the people who left go, but
we will move on. Everyone is swim
ming well," she said. Tristan said
"We had good swims across the
board [on Saturday]."
The women had a good showing at
St. Vincent despite the loss. Tristan
explained that a skilled freshman
swimmer, Annie Harris was injured
in the first meet and was not able to
compete on Saturday. "The loss of
Harris was a setback," said Wallace.
However, she said her teammates
picked it up and won all but two of
the events they entered. The relay
team of freshman Erin Emrich, and
three sophomores Melissa Pilewski,
Cyndi Morales and Ashlee Marchand
placed first in the 400 yard medley
relay with a time of 4:40.46, beating
By Kelly Houghton
staff writer
kihs((X)@@psu.edu
the St. Vincent team by over six sec
onds. Morales finished first in the
1650 yard freestyle with a time of
19:45.63.
The 500 yard freestyle had two
Behrend girls competing. Morales
finished first with a 5:46.75 and
Haller finished third with a time of
6:04.96. In the 200 yard freestyle,
Junior Leah Haller took second place
with 2:14.20. Haller also placed sec
ond in the 100 yard freestyle with a
1:02.69 while teammate Marchand
finished third coming in at 1:03.96.
Pilewski placed first, and Marchand
took fourth in the 50 yard freestyle
with times of 27.51 and 29.13 respec
tively. Emrich took first for Behrend
in the 200 yard IM with a time of
2:32.36.
The Lady Lions swept first and
second place in the 200 yard breast
stroke with Pilewski and Emrich fin
ishing at 2:44.44 and 2:49.98, respec
tively.
The men's team faces the same
challenges as the women's team. "We
just don't have the numbers," said
Tristan. "We won every event we
entered," he said. Tristan feels that if
the men's team had one more swim
mer, they would have won the meet.
Sophomore Dustin Fairchild took
first place in the 200 yard freestyle
with a time of 1:54.66. H i s
Behrend teammate, junior Brandon
Thiel, came in second at 1:59.28 with
the first St. Vincent swimmer more
that four seconds behind. In the 100
yard freestyle, sophomore Anthony
The Behrend Beacon I 10
Friday, November 18, 2005
AMCC championships has never before been achieved
by a Penn State Erie runner.
Ruffo is also the first Lion to qualify for the NCAA
tournament, an extremely remarkable accomplishment.
This weekend, Ruffo will travel to Ohio Wesleyan
University where he will proudly represent Penn State
Erie at the national tournament. Freshman, Jason Bem,
was also named to all-conference list and on Oct. 29 at
the AMCC championships, was the seventh male runner
to cross the finish line.
However, the most impressive aspect of the cross coun
ty season occurred on the women's side of competition.
A Cinderella story took place; and although a pumpkin
wasn't turned into a carriage and mice weren't turned into
white horses, average students were transformed into
competitive runners. At the beginning of the season, the
ladies found themselves in a bind for participants. With
only three female runners, the Lady Lions had little hope
for a competitive season. However, recruitments were
found, some of which had never run before. Head coach
Dave Cooper commented on the way in that the girls
"gelled together," ultimately running as a team.
Behrend's assistant cross country coach, Greg Cooper,
worked closely with the newcomers and produced what
would become quite an exceptional group of female ath
letes. Not only did the girls form great friendships
throughout the season, they also placed second at the
AMCC championships.
Overall, each Lion had a great season, as they pushed
themselves to their extremes and immensely contributed
to the overall result of each race. In fact, both the men
and women's teams placed second in the AMCC confer
ence this season. "Next season, our goal will be the same
as this year; we hope to win our conference," said Coach
Dave Cooper.
Next season, Behrend will have to achieve this feat
without the leadership and experience of two talented
seniors. The women will be losing Nicole Minesweaser
while the men have to retire the shoes of Harry Balwick.
However, next year's team should be just as tough as the
2005 squad. "We hope to pick up right where we left off,"
said Coach Dave Cooper.
Spoto took first place with a time of
51.59, and Thiel followed in third
place with a 53.36. Spoto had a close
finish in the 50 yard freestyle with a
St. Vincent swimmer, but managed to
snag first place with a time of 23.37.
The 500 yard freestyle also had a
Behrend swimmer in first place.
Sophomore Dustin Fairchild finished
in 5:13.75, almost 20 seconds ahead
of the second place swimmer.
Fairchild also took first place in the
200 yard breaststroke with a time of
2:23.27. Wallace said she is very
excited to have Fairchild as a mem
ber of Behrend's team. "He has been
a standout swimmer for us," she said.
She also pointed out that he has not
lost a meet yet this season and hopes
that record can continue for him.
In the 200 yard backstroke, Thiel
captured first place, coming in at
2:20.91, four seconds ahead of the
second place St. Vincent swimmer.
Alejandro Nieto, the only competitor
who participated in the diving com
petition did well.
Tristan said the season will be very
productive. "We are going to do very
well," he said. "The people we have
are working very hard and swimming
well," said Wallace.
Behrend's swimming and diving
team has two meets this week. One
will be Friday, Nov. 18 in the Junker
Center Pool against Nazareth
College. The meet will begin at 6
p.m. Then on Saturday, Nov. 19, they
will travel to Pitt Bradford to com
pete at 1 p.m.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS