— LION’S EYE — December 4, 1996 = 8) Women Hoopsters Hope To Go From Worst To First By Mary Doolittle The 96-97 women’s Basketball team is on a rebound from last season. The Women hope to improve their disappointing record of 1-15 of last season. The team is led by returning tri-captains Andrea “soup” Campbell, April Best, and Nakia Daniels. In the Women’s opening game against a strong Philadelphia Bible College they were reminded of last season as they fell to the four year college 60-19. The team was led by the freshman starting guards Katie Porter, Kate Donaldson and Alissa Pugliese. The attempts on rebounding of Jamie Goodman and Mary Doolittle were especially futile as PBC overwhelmed Delco on the boards. “The team looks good. We have a lot of fresh faces. I think that we will be contenders. We have the talent.” Coach Brian Donaghue said before the season started. : The team is very strong, and young with little experience. Most of the girls played Catholic Youth Ball: Donaldson, Doolittle, Pugliese, Porter, and Kate Rafferty. “We haveall played each other at one time or another. I played with Porter and Doolittle in summer league. Kate Rafferty and I played together through grade school and high school.” Commented High School Hoops At Delco By Lisa Colucci Women from Upper Darby and men from Academy Park won the third annual PSU Delco Invitational Basketball Tournament, on November 29 and 30, and two outstanding players brought home PSU Delco scholarships home to their schools. Tournament Director Mike Bradley, a member of the Penn State Advisory Board, started this tournament for a specific reason. “The tournament was initiated in order to give the PSU Delaware County Campus exposure in the community,” said Bradley. Mike Bradley is proud of the expansion of the tournament. “We had four female teams added to this year’s roster. It used to be males only.” Chester, Great Valley, Upper Darby, and Academy Park high schools formed the roster for the women, while guys from Christian Academy, Upper Darby, Academy Park, and Sun Valley competed for the men’s side. Sponsors of the tournament included Bell Atlantic and Nynex Mobile. Proceeds from the tournament went to the M.J. Bradley Memorial Scholarship Fund for incoming Penn State Delco students.. “A lot of people don’t know about the facilities that PSU Delco has to offer,” said Mike Bradley. “We have increased our responses from high schools each year so far.” Two scholarships were awarded at this year’s tournament. A female from Upper Darby and a male from Academy Park each brought home a scholarship in their honor for an incoming freshman to PSU Delco next fall. Pugliese. Onlookers to the game were very supportive to the team. The student body came out in full force to cheer on the team. “They played well, however, their defense left much to be desired.” stated Shannon Borrelli a spectator. “The team is very strong, and young with little experience.”’ The team had a game on November 23 against Manor College which was canceled due to the flu which fell on most of the Manor team. “Unless they do some hard work soon, this is going to be a long season. Bright spot is, things can only get better. But through thick or thin I love the girls and will stick by them.” Says Vince Screnci the Intramural director of the SAA. Coach Mike Menichini commented, “We need a lot of work. Saw a lot of positives, but they were out weighed by the negatives.” The Women have games Dec. 3,4 and 7. So if you attend the Winter Ball and the next morning you see a group of girls leaving in uniforms come out to support them as they try to go from worst to first. Paddy Burner scores for Delco against Williamson as Scott Piffath (32) and Chris Eggleston (32) look on. Intramurals: A Sport For Everyone By Mary Doolittle This fall aside from football, hockey has already started with a unprecedented start with six teams. The team of Vince Screnci, Cora Suratt, Al Bianchi, Dan Vusaro, Jake Austin, Michael Jordan, Henry Shwarzmann, and Jeff Simpson have dominated the common hour. Simpson with his phenomenal puck handling skills have cruised to two easy victories. “This is one sport in which Forbes team is going to be overmatched, it is fun beating up on them.” said Screnci a fifth semester English major. This semester Barbara Rostick a new Kinesiology Professor has also taken over Aerobics which was quite popular among students and faculty last year. “I am excited about the aerobics, it should be fun, I don’t like using the weight room so this should break the monotony of lifting weights,” commented Bonnie Bracken, third : 111 Ed Ea Jamie Goodman (25) scores the first Delco basket in the seson opener against Phila. Bible College as Kate Donaldson (11) and Mary Doolittle (23) watch. Men’s B-ball Underway To Another Winning Season By Margie Henry “We are eager to prove to ourselves and our coaches our improvement and dedication,” commented freshman ENADM major, Rich Wright, about this year’s men’s basketball team. Dedication is among one of the many qualitites the team has. With the direction of head coach, Bill Wiley, and assistant coaches, Dave Fisher, and Ron Massa, tri-captains, Chris Eggleston, Steve Spinosa, and Ronnell Durante are responsible for getting the team focused. One of their most important responsibilities is to keep the team psyched for the season, even during those early Saturday morning practices. “[The captains] are three of our strongest players and they work hard to keep the team motivated and control the tempo of the games we will play,” Wright added. Last year’s team finished up with a winning season, but fell short at a shot in the playoffs. This year’s Lions have high hopes of beating last year’s record, so being motivated is key. After their first scrimmage against Glouster County College, a very tall and physical team, the Delco Lions knew they had a lot to work on. “] don’t think we were really ready for that game. Our offensive plays were limited and we hadn’t perfected the plays we had,” semester communications major. Next semester the Student Athletic Association will hope to have Coed Basketball, handball, Olympics, and softball. The Allocations committee has turned down Lindsay Braceland’s application for a softball club so all interested girls should turn out for this softball. “I am very disappointed in the committees decision, I mean Article 9 which is for women in sports and equality and all, our campus should support all ideas to get more women involved in sports on this campus, Tiz is always going crazy to get girls involved.” said Braceland with much disappointment. So you can’t play a varsity sport. You don’t have enough time. You just want to have fun. So why are you not playing intramurals. This year Delco has offered more intramural activities than in previous years. sophomore captain Steve Spinosa said. One of the most essential areas the team agreed they needed to work on, however, was teamwork. “With a lot of new players this year, we didn’t really gel as a team at first. Now that we are all used to how each other plays, [playing] is easier and we build on each other’s talents,” Spinosa added. The team’s improvement was easy to see from the bleachers. Despite big losses in their first two scrimmages, the Lions opened up their season to Williamson on November 20 only losing by"a mere two points. Standouts on the team include sophomore captain and number three guard, Chris Eggleston sinking three pointers at every opportunity, and 6’4 freshman forward, Scott Piffath, who is taking charge with rebounding. The other two captains, freshman point- guard, Durante, and shooting guard, Spinosa, are also among the leading scorers for the team. “One of the best parts of being on the team is the friendship,” Wright concluded, “We have a lot of talent as a team and the more we come together, the more unstoppable we will be.” The Delco Lions will travel to take on PSU Hazleton on December 7. Don’t forget to come support the guys in their next home game against neighboring rivals Delaware County Community College on January 4. The fall started out with Football, The nucleus of Tom Forbes, Mark Johnston, and Chris Smith who have sworn to win every competition that is offered by Delco started off the year by dominating the would be competition in intramural football. Also strong contributions were made by Randy Navickus, Bill Brannick, and Anthony Turner. Intramural Director, Forbes further went on to say “I will win every sport and crush everyone in the process, I challenge someone to think of a sport that me and the Team will not win in.” This campus offers many opportunities to the students and intramurals are just one aspect of it. “It is an opportunity for people to meet people, there are a lot of new faces and a lot of old ones. We couldn’t be any happier. More people to fear me and my crew.” Said Forbes.
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