BEACON SPORTS
Behrend female diver earns NCAA bid
by Andrew McLachlan
co-editor-in-chief
asmsoo6@psu.edu
Feb. 8, 2008
Becoming a national champion is not a common
thing for a student at Penn State Behrend. For one.
most of our sports, whether it is a club or varsity
sport, compete at a Division-11l level and even
though we have been successful within our confer
ences, our showings at the national stage have been
nothing to brag about. Behrend freshman Krystal
Kovach will look to change this trend within the
next month.
Kovach, who is a diver for the Behrend
Swimming and Diving team, has been a standout all
year for the defending Allegheny Mountain
Collegiate Conference (AMCC) champions.
Recently, at a meet against Penn State Altoona and
Frostburg State, Kovach’s scores were good enough
to qualify for a bid at the Women’s NCAA
Championship held in Ohio Wesleyan on Mar. 13.
Even though she is extremely motivated, her
Meet the Sports Editors
Andrew Stuart McLachlan
sports editor/co-editor-in-chief/writer
Andy “Mac” McLachlan has been writing about
sports for as long as he has been playing them. His
love for sports is not only exploited through pen
and paper, but also with skates and an ice rink. He
has played on the Behrend men’s hockey club team
for the past four years of his college career. Along
with checking players on the rink, he also spends
time out on the links driving golf balls. Not only
does he play and write about sports, but he is also
a dedicated Dick’s Sporting Goods employee,
helping other athletes enhance their performance
quality by selling golf equipment to Erie residents.
You could say his life is dedicated to sports. His
favorite teams are the Pittsburgh Penguins and
Michigan Wolverines. His dog, Buster, was named
the Beacon Fan of the Week for the March 28,2008
issue.
McLachlan will be graduating this May with a
degree in Communications and Media Studies.
This summer McLachlan will be traveling to
California to intern for USC football.
“It was fun controlling a medium of Behrend sports
and making sure the hockey team always had an
article.” - McLachlan
Behrend hoop star receives ESPN honor
By Jessica Carlson
sports editor
jlc.SOlSfe'psu.edu
Feb. 22, 2008
On Tuesday, Feb. 19, stellar Behrend women’s hoop star Julia
Andrus was named to the ESPN The
Magazine All-District Academic Third
Team. She was chosen by the College
Sports Information Directors of
America (CoSIDA).
Andrus has started in all 24 games -
to date - for the 2007-2008 season.
She just placed herself in the top-ten
all-time scoring list tallying 941 total
points thus far. She averages 12.8
points and 3.9 rebounds per game.
Andrus performs well both on and
off the court. Her work ethic and high
performance numbers per game also
reflects in her schoolwork. She has
managed a GPA of 3.88 throughout
her four years at Behrend and is
majoring in Biology. She is planning
on pursuing something in the medical
field with her Biology degree.
Last season Andrus started in all 27
of the Lady Lion games as well as Behrend athlete Julia Andrus drives in for a layup
being named to the ESPN The
Magazine All-District Academic Second Team. She averaged
12.7 points per game as well as 4.1 rebounds per game.
Throughout her four years of play, Andrus has received a
number of honors and awards both as an athlete and as a stu
dent. She received the AMCC All-Academic honor as a soph
omore and junior, as well as named to the All-AMCC team. All
three of this years seniors were named to the AMCC All-
Academic Squad in the 2006-2007 season
sights were on other things
than nationals. "I was really
just trying to qualify for the
ECAC (Eastern College
Athletic Conference) champi
onship. When they told me
that my scores were good
enough for nationals, it was
quite a shock.” said Kovach.
A graduate from Charters
Valley High School, Kovach
was never on a diving team
until joining Behrend. “I
actually started diving this
past summer,” says Kovach.
“I really didn’t even know
that we had a diving team at
Charters Valley until after I
graduated.” Kovach has been
a gymnast since she was little
and learned to dive after she
was hired to work at a diving
event. “1 pick up on it pretty
Jessica Lee Carlson
sports editor/writer
Carlson has been writing for the Beacon since
her sophomore year at Behrend and became an edi
tor for the last semester of her senior year. Along
with being a writer, she has also been a part of the
Behrend women’s soccer team for the last four
years. The women made trips to the ECAC tourna
ment her freshman and sophomore year, and the
NCAA tournament her junior and senior year after
beating Frostburg both years for the AMCC title.
Along with knocking balls around on the field, she
also is the PR Director for the SGA and is a TOPS
Soccer volunteer.
Bom and raised in Pittsburgh, it’s not hard for
Carlson to pick the Steelers, Pirates and Penguins
as her favorite sports teams.
Carlson met McLachlan in 2004 when they had
English class together with Prof. A 1 Richards....
Four years later he suggested she become a sports
editor.
Carlson will also be graduating in May with a
degree in Communications and Media Studies.
“Being a part of the Beacon staff has been a lot of
fun. 1 wish 1 could have become more involved
earlier but you can only do so much.” - Carlson
Kovach is the first Penn State Behrend diver
to qualify and earn a bid for the NCAA title
The women currently sit No. 4 in the AMCC standings after
they fell a hard-fought battle against the No. 2 Lake Erie Storm
on Wednesday, Feb. 19. The game against the Storm was also
senior recognition night for the three senior Lady Lions.
Accompanying Andrus were forwards Meagan Bielanin and
Anne Priester who were
acknowledged for their four
years of contribution to the
women’s basketball program.
All three seniors have had
a noticeable impact for the
Behrend women’s team. By con
tributing high number on offense,
as well as averaging strong num
bers on defense, the seniors have
played in the postseason in all
four years of their play.
Last Saturday, Feb. 16, the
women had a big win over the
Laßoche Redhawks. The Lions
were tied with the Redhakws for
No. 4 prior to the start of the
game with an AMCC record of 9-
6 and clinched the standing by a
final score of 53-48.
Behrend Lions wrap up
their regular season on Saturday,
Feb. 23, when they travel to Pitt-
Bradford for a 2 p.m. match up. Pitt-Bradford sits in the No. 9
spot in the AMCC standings with a struggling record of 3-14.
It should be a sure win for the Behrend women on Saturday
which would finish off their regular season at 11-7 in the
AMCC and 11-14 overall.
The Blue and White have clinched a spot in the AMCC play
off tournament, which will begin after Saturday’s game on Feb.
26. Opponents and location will be announced after the regu
lar season final matches on Saturday.
Men’s basketball grabs AMCC division title
by Ryan Smosna
sports w riter
rnssoos@psu.edu
Feb. 22, 2008
The Behrend Men’s Basketball team kept up their
winning ways this past week and will now host the
AMCC Tournament Friday, Feb. 29 and Saturday,
March 1. The latest victims of the Lions fury were
La Roche and Lake Erie.
Last Saturday the Lions played a tight game
against conference foe
La Roche. La Roche
came into the game in
fourth place in the
AMCC conference, but
left with a loss and seri
ous jeopardy of not
making the AMCC
Tournament. The Lions
had to fight for every
basket and once again
senior center and
AMCC player of the
week Kevin Buczynski
played a dominant
game
Buczynski scored 31
points, had 11
rebounds, and three
blocks in the Lions win
59-51. Buczynski said
“we knew La Roche was going to come out and
play hard” and that they did. At the end of the first
half the Lions were down by a score of 27 - 24.
However, in the second half the Lions came out
determined to keep their winning streak going. The
men turned up their defense to another level and
pounded the ball inside to a red hot Buczynski.
Senior forward David Gahan dropped a game high
three assists to help his teammate surpass the 30
point mark. The win against La Roche set up a
heavy weight match against conference rival Lake
Erie.
On Wednesday night the Lions took sole posses
sion of first place in the AMCC and received the bid
to host the AMCC Tournament. In front of the
largest crowd this year, the Lions came out with
energy and enthusiasm. Early on in the game the
quickly and have really
enjoyed it,” said Kovach.
While looking for col
leges last year, Kovach was
searching outside of the
state, but ended up at
Behrend after falling in
love with the campus. “My
mom really wanted me to
stay local and I could not
be any happier being at
Behrend,” says Kovach.
When visiting the campus,
Kovach and her mom got a
chance to speak with
Behrend’s Swimming and
Diving Head Coach Jen
Wallace. While only hav
ing about two months of
experience, Kovach joined
the team, unknowing of
what was ahead of her.
“I’m a big fan of just being
Senior Doug Straub was vital against Lake Erie
The Behrend Beacon I
Friday, May 2, 2008
outside and involved in activities, so 1 saw the team
as a chance to be apart of something great and have
something to occupy sometime while I was up
here,” says Kovach.
While excelling at diving, Kovach admits that she
does have some faults. “1 am by no means a good
swimmer and at times I can be clumsy.” With
Kovach preparing for ECAC and the NCAA's, she
knows that if anything, it will be a great experience.
“It was something that I thought that was out of
reach and unachievable, but now I am just really
excited to compete and hope for the best." Kovach
is one of the two divers that is on the Behrend ros
ter and is the only female diver on the team.
Behrend’s female swimmers currently are 6-7 on
the season, putting them in first place in the AMCC.
The men are also in first, with a record of 8-3. The
next match up for the swimming and diving team is
the AMCC championship, held in Grove City on
Feb. 14. Kovach will also travel to the ECAC
championship that will be held in Pittsburgh. Pa on
Feb. 29.
Lions were hot from the field: sophomore Adam
Kaiser was nailing three pointers like they were
going out of style. The Lions also got help from sen
ior forward Dan Zeigler and sophomore forward
Adam Potter. Potter and Zeigler cleaned the glass
throughout the game snatching rebounds when nec
essary.
Behrend again played with intensity on defense
and at the end of the first half the Lions were up 32
- 23. But the Lake Erie Storm fought back in the
second half and generated turnovers and open three
point shots. Once again the
Lions had an answer for
Lake Erie. Each time the
Storm got within a handful
of points Behrend fought
back and got open looks at
the basket. Senior guard
Doug Straub stroked home
three very important three
pointers in the second half.
Also senior center
Buc/ynski battled inside the
paint to hit some clutch bas
kets.
The story of the game
was the sharp shooting by
the guards. Kaiser and com
pany continued to stroke
home three pointers all
night. Kaiser had a game
high 16 points shooting an
amazing 5-6 from the three point line, while
Behrend shot 12-22 from beyond the arc as a team.
Kaiser said “we knew we had to play well and hit
our shots to win” and the win was a huge one
because the Lions will now host the AMCC
Tournament next weekend.
The men play a game on Saturday Feb. 23rd
against Pitt Bradford in which a win or loss will not
affect them in the standings. Next week the Lions
will rest up and prepare for what looks to be anoth
er dramatic finish to the AMCC.
The Behrend men’s basketball
team will host the AMCC
Playoff Tournament.