Athletics News

Hall of Fame Inducts Six Members
Kutztown University added six new members into its Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday, Oct. 20. This year’s induction class included (pictured, left to right): John Gabriel ’78, a men’s basketball player who went on to become a National Basketball Association (NBA) General Manager; Lorie (Erie) Schmalzle ’98, an All-America short stop in softball; Kevin Kelly ’99, a multiple All-America decathlete in men’s track & field; Tom Roth, son of the late Dr. Dennis Roth, a long time administrator and track & field and basketball coach; Linda Garber, daughter of the late Clyde Rothenberger ’31; one of Kutztown’s first champions in men’s track & field; and Barb (Bergstresser) Dietrich ’86, a record-setting forward for the field hockey team.

KU Rugby Ranked 7th by USA Rugby News
Kutztown University Men’s Rugby Football club competed for the East Penn Rugby Union (EPRU) Collegiate Championship against #8 University of Delaware on November 4 at 12:30 PM on the campus of Ursinus College. KU began the season ranked #18 by USA Rugby News and, after compiling a 9-1 record, is currently ranked #7. The KU B-side Squad completed an undefeated season (10-0) and were crowned EPRU B-side champions for the second consecutive year by defeating University of Delaware B-side 18-10 in the championship game.

Women’s Cross Country, Volleyball Reach New Heights
A trio of Kutztown University women’s sports teams brought excitement to the start of the 2006-07 athletic year this fall. Women’s Cross Country won the East Regional, women’s volleyball won its second consecutive Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division title and advanced to the NCAA playoffs for the first time in school history. In addition, women’s soccer made another post-season run.

PSAC and East Region Coach of Year Ray Hoffman’s women’s cross country team placed second at the PSAC Championships and won its first-ever East Regional title. The team advanced to the NCAA Championship for the third consecutive season and placed 14th, its best-ever finish. During the season, the team was ranked as high as 11th nationally, the highest ranking to date in school history. The team was led by senior Desiree Bower, junior Stephanie Williams and sophomore Joanna Horstmann. The trio of runners earned All-Conference and All-Region honors. Senior Chelsea Thomas earned all-conference honors, while freshman Maureen Watson earned all-region honors.

Kutztown’s women’s volleyball team finished 24-8 on the season, 9-1 in the PSAC East and claimed its fourth overall and second consecutive PSAC East crown. KU reached the semifinals in the conference playoffs, as well as the NCAA semifinals for the first time in school history. In addition to being named PSAC East Coach of the Year, 10th-year coach John Gump earned his 200th win at KU, as well as the 400th overall in his 18-year career. The Golden Bears were led by right side hitter Sarah Brandon, who finished her career as the all-time leader in kills with 1,840. Brandon was named PSAC East Athlete of the Year for the third consecutive year, first team All-PSAC East, earned a pair of all-region and All-America honors, as well as All-Academic honors. Dani Witherite finished her career as the all-time leader in both digs (1,479) and service aces (151). Witherite and teammates Erin Waters, Nicole Biuso and Austin Kinney were named to the All-PSAC East second team.

The women’s soccer team finished second in the PSAC East standings with a record of 10-8-3 overall and 7-3-2 in the PSAC East. KU defeated Shippensburg, 1-0, in the PSAC quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals for the third consecutive season where it lost to eventual champion West Chester. Junior Kim Kelty was named to the PSAC East first-team for the third time along with being named to the all-region team for the second straight year. Also joining Kelty on the All-PSAC East first team was Shelby Varone, while the sophomore duo of Alex Butler and Cheyenne Brunner were selected to the All-PSAC East second team.

The women’s cross country, women’s soccer and volleyball teams were not the only Kutztown sports in action this fall. Below is how the rest of KU’s fall sports teams fared.

Fall Athletics Review
The men’s cross country team had five top-10 finishes in 10 meets this season including runner-up finishes in the first two meets. KU finished ninth at the PSAC Championships and 11th at regionals. Junior Pat Bone led KU in both races, for the second consecutive year, finishing 25th at PSAC’s and 31st at regionals. In addition, he also had the best overall time this season when he ran 26:16 at the Paul Short Open. Senior Dan Wilde finished 39th at PSAC’s and 37th at regionals.

Led by 27th year head coach, Betty Wesner, the women’s field hockey team finished the season at .500 with a 10-10 overall record and 5-9 in the PSAC East. The Golden Bears were led by All-PSAC second team and all-region honoree Kelley Healey who scored a team high of 18 goals along with four assists. Her 40 points are the fourth-most in a single season in KU history. Seniors Laura Belfatti and Mandi Turner scored six and seven goals, respectively. Belfatti earned All-PSAC first team and all-region honors. Courtney Geibel was named to the all-PSAC second team.

In the inaugural season of new head coach Raymond Monica, the football team laid the foundation for future success. Armed with a whole new offensive system, KU finished the season ranked third in the PSAC in passing offense. A major factor was the connection of junior QB Kyle Spotts and junior wide receiver Elfren Quiles. Spotts finished the season with the fifth most passing yards in a season (2,155) and fourth on the single-single touchdown list (20) at KU. Twelve of those touchdown passes went to Quiles, a school record. He also set a school record with a touchdown reception in seven consecutive games. He finished the season with a team leading 54 catches for 816 yards.

Defensively, junior Brian Bingnear and senior Mike Grosso led the way. Bingnear recorded 90 tackles, which was second in the PSAC, to go along with four interceptions. Grosso had 70 tackles, the most by a lineman since 1990. He also tallied 14 tackles for loss, three sacks, an interception and two fumble recoveries. A total of nine players were named to the All-PSAC East team. Bingnear, Grosso and tight end Jason Henley were named to the first team while Quiles, Maurice Adams, Dan Chominski, Nick Cresta, Brett Harbach and Ryan Nye were selected to the second team.

Henley and Bingnear also earned second-team Daktronics All-Region honors.

The women's golf team finished 7th out of eight teams at the PSAC Championships, which was up one spot from last season. KU competed against five men’s teams and two other women’s teams. The Golden Bears were led by sophomore Lauren Foulke. Foulke broke the KU 36-hole record and finished 22nd out of 40 golfers, shooting 78-80-158 in the two-day event. Holly Shubilla finished second for KU at 82-87-169 and third was Angela Petak with scores of 86-84-170. The ladies finished the fall season with a scoring average of 349.2. Their season will resume in the spring.

This year’s men's soccer team was filled with youth as the Golden Bears consisted of three seniors, eight juniors and sophomores and eleven freshmen. Even though the youth was evident in the record, two of the freshmen, Mike Choiniere and Jarrett Cutsler were tied for the team lead in goals with two apiece and assists with one. They were tied for the goal lead with sophomore Bill Frosoni. Goalkeeper Ryan Kratz recorded two shutouts to go along with his 116 saves and 2.67 goals-against average.

The men's tennis team completed a limited fall schedule. They participated in the ITA East Regionals and PSAC Individual Championships. At ITA Regionals, the team of Santiago Baquerizo and Lukas Lubitsch won the “A” Doubles bracket and went on to the ITA Small College Championships where they finished seventh. Baquerizo made it to the singles finals at both the ITA Regionals and PSAC Championships. At PSAC’s, Rubens Vianna and Arpit Sharma advanced to the doubles finals. The Golden Bears resume their season in the spring where they look to repeat as PSAC champions.

In a rebuilding year, the women's tennis team has been led by Priya Pachkawde who was the lone point getter in a season opening loss to Clarion and she advanced to the quarterfinals at the PSAC Individual Championships. Pachkawde and teammates Katie Miller and Sabrina Arnaud represented KU at the ITA Regionals. The team will look for their first win when the season starts up again in the spring.