PROFESSORBRIGGS.COM
THE Sports
Authority in Mercer County!
Note: This does not reflect the opinion of Grove City College, WSAJ-FM, The Herald, or their respective sponsors and supporters.
News and Notes -- January 5, 2005
A number of Mercer County-area products are making their mark on the collegiate hardwood in our region. Here's a look at what's going on in that area.
*Kennedy Catholic graduate Lauren Friedrich is a sophomore guard at Mount Union. Friedrich has started all 11 games for the Purple Raiders (3-8) this season. Friedrich is averaging 11.7 points and four rebounds per game. Friedrich is playing nearly 28 minutes per game and is second on the team with 16 three-point goals.
*The Slippery Rock University women's basketball team features a pair of local products that are making significant contributions during the 2004-2005 season. Grove City High grad Amber McFeely is in her third year as The Rock's starting point guard while Kennedy Christian product Erin Frankovich will earn her fourth letter at SRU this season.
Frankovich, a senior forward, has started all 11 games for Slippery Rock (4-7) and is averaging 10 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. She is shooting 54 percent from the floor and has 12 blocks this year. McFeely, a junior, has also started all 11 games this season. She is averaging 6.1 points and nearly seven assists per game. McFeely also leads the team in minutes played, averaging 35.2 per game. Her 17 steals rank second on the squad.
*Reynolds graduate Jessica Saul is in her freshman season as a member of Clarion University's women's basketball team. Saul has appeared in seven games for the 8-3 Golden Eagles. Saul has nine points and three rebounds in limited action this season.
*Mercer High grad Abby Moose is currently with the United States Deaflympic Team in Melbourne, Australia for the 2005 Deaflympics. Moose and the U.S. Team will open pool play Wednesday night at 7 p.m. (locally), or 11 a.m. Thursday in Melbourne. The Deaflympics run from Jan. 5-16.
Moose is currently away from the Grove City College women's basketball team, where she is averaging 16.6 points per game. She has 987 career points and is currently eighth on Grove City's all-time scoring list.
*Kennedy Catholic graduate Danny McElhinny is a junior guard at Eastern Michigan University. He has started seven of 11 games for the 8-3 Eagles. McElhinny is averaging 7.2 points per game. He is shooting 45 percent from three-point territory and leads EMU with 22 triples. McElhinny had a season-high 20 points Dec. 11 in the Eagles' 86-72 home win over Canisius.
He started the first seven games and is now coming off the bench for Eastern Michigan, which visits Kent State Wednesday night, Jan. 5.
*Continuing with the Kennedy Christian/Catholic theme (I know the folks in Sharpsville are probably steamed by now), John Reimold is a senior forward at Bowling Green. Reimold has started all nine games for the Falcons (7-2, 1-0 MAC) this year and is averaging 15.3 points and 5.0 rebounds. He's also shooting 57.5 percent from the floor and is 23 of 48 (48 percent) on his three-point attempts.
Reimold is the Mid-American Conference's leader in three-point percentage and is eighth in the league in scoring. He is also second in total field goal percentage and is third in three-pointers per game. Reimold's 32.7 minutes per game leads Bowling Green.
*Sharon graduate Nicole Valentino and Farrell product Fontella Jones have each started all 13 games for the Thiel women's basketball team this season. Valentino is averaging 9.8 points per game while Jones is contributing 6.5 points and 5.5 rebounds. Thiel is 3-10 under first-year head coach Artina Trader.
BASKETBALL IS A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE
Sometimes, the term "international flavor" is used to describe a team with a couple of foreign players on the roster. Then there's the Seton Hill University men's basketball team.
The Griffins, in their second year of intercollegiate action in the NAIA, feature players from seven different countries as well as two United States territories.
The list includes: sophomore guard Naor Amiel (Herzelia Pituach, Israel), junior guard Dimitar Simovski (Skopje, Macedonia), sophomore swingman Bojan Nikolovski (also from Skopje, Macedonia), sophomore forward Zarko Kostic (Belgrade, Serbia), sophomore swingman Serge Poppe (Brussels, Belgium), junior center Daniel George (Brisbane, Australia), sophomore forward Ido Givon (Givataim, Israel), freshman guard Danley Marshall (Christiansted, Virgin Islands), freshman guard Jose Sanchez (Arecibo, Puerto Rico), senior forward Olanrewaju Kayode (Lagos, Nigeria) and sophomore center Vuk Ivanovic (Pancevo, Serbia).
There are also eight players from the mainland United States on the team. The Griffins are currently 9-3 overall and 2-0 in the American Mideast Conference.
THOSE TOUGH TARTANS
The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team is off to its best start in years at 8-2. The Tartans improved to 8-2 Monday night with a 91-66 paddling of Oberlin. The Tartans have run roughshod over a menagerie of teams, including University Athletic Association power Rochester, Johns Hopkins, Hiram, Skidmore and Hood.
The Tartans' two losses? An 81-73 loss in the season opener to Professor Briggs' beloved Grove City Wolverines in a game that, if this were pro wrestling, would have been classified as a "grudge match." CMU also lost to defending Presidents' Athletic Conference champion Westminster, 102-100, Nov. 28. CMU: 1-2 vs. the PAC; 7-0 against everyone else.
HE'S ON THE HORN
Bethany College has hired Ernie Horn as its new sports information director. Ernie comes to Bethany from Concord College in southern West Virginia. Horn replaces Kirk Reed, who left at the end of December for a similar position in Albany, N.Y. Congratulations and welcome are extended to Ernie Horn.
There's been quite a bit of turnover among the region's sports information directors in the past year or so. Longtime pal Brian Rose went from CMU to Allegheny after Ken Baker left for Robert Morris University. Mark Fisher, formerly of Mercyhurst, is in his first year at Carnegie Mellon. Ty Patton replaced Fisher as John Leisering's top lieutenant at Mercyhurst. Back in August, Matt Kifer replaced Justin Zackal, who took a graduate assistant's post at West Virginia.
Candy Rice, wife of Hiram men's basketball coach Tim Rice, is Hiram's new SID after Jason Tirotta moved on to Kent State. Tom Byrnes, formerly of the Patriot League, is sports information director at California, Pa.
Professor Briggs is in his third year at Grove City and I feel like a grizzled veteran with all of these changes! I have no plans to be listed in the "Transactions" section of the sports section any time soon.
THIEL ON THE RADIO
Once again, News/Talk 790 WPIC is the radio home for Thiel College basketball this winter. WPIC will carry a total of 10 Thiel games (men and women combined) this year, including doubleheader clashes with Westminster and Grove City. Joe Klimchak and Greg Evans will be the primary Thiel broadcast team this season, replacing Todd Bartley (no longer with Cumulus Broadcasting) and Jim Powers (moved to St. Louis, Mo.). Professor Briggs will be pinch-hitting for Joe Klimchak this Saturday as Thiel hosts Fredonia State (N.Y.) at 3 p.m.