HS roundup: State College swimming opens its home schedule with a win, as Matt Brownstead sets a pool record

Matt Brownstead set a new pool record in the 200-yard freestyle event with a time of 1:38.78 in State College swimming and diving’s home season opener against Chambersburg Tuesday.

The girls’ team was led by Abby Whipple, who finished the 50-yard freestyle race in 25.04 seconds to place first. Whipple also placed first in the 100-yard freestyle.

Foster Heasley also had a good showing for the boy’s team, snagging first-place finishes in the boys’ 200-yard IM and 100-yard breaststroke.

Both the boys’ and girls’ won with scores of 116.5 to 69.5 and 142 to 37, respectively, for a combined score of 258.5 to 106.5.

Girls’ basketball

While winter weather disrupted several planned games this past week, there was still plenty of action.

St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy, Bald Eagle Area and Penns Valley each picked up wins this week. Led by Hannah Montminy, the Rams earned a 45-32 win over Bellefonte Friday night. Montminy scored 16 points, and is just 12 shy of the 1,000-points milestone. Leah Beben had 8 points for the Rams, while Mallorie Smith was Bellefonte’s leading scorer with 10.

BEA’s won came by way of a 53-24 victory over Philipsburg-Osecola. The Eagles were led by Lacee Barnhart with 22 points, and Maddie Perry with 11.

“I thought we played with real good energy on the defense end tonight and loved how we got on the floor for loose balls,” BEA coach Darin Hazel said.

St. Joe’s split the week, with a 46-43 win over Williamsburg and a 56-43 loss to Jersey Shore.

Bellefonte dropped two other hard-fought games last week, 45-36 to Central and 45-40 to Central Mountain.

“This is our third game in four days, and we have given up 45 points in each of those games,” Bellefonte coach Marcus Toomer said after the loss to Penns Valley. “The defense has been there, we just need to make more shots on offense.”

P-O dropped a 47-24 road contest to Curwensville Monday night, and fell 59-40 to Clearfield.

Boys’ basketball

P-O’s 61-54 win over intracounty foe BEA Friday night was the highlight of last week’s boys’ basketball action.

It was the Eagles who initially led, jumping out to a 16-10 lead after the first quarter, with the help of 7 points —two 3-pointers — from Nathan Hoover.

The Mounties, however, outscored the Eagles 20-9 in the second to take the 30-25 lead at the half. Jaden Jones almost got the lead back for the Eagles in the third, scoring 13 points in the quarter, including three 3-pointers. P-O, however, clung on to a 6-point lead heading into the final period. Each team scored 10 points in the fourth, giving the Mounties the win.

Ryan Whitehead led the scoring for P-O with 19 points, while Jake Desimore was second with 16, and Kaleb Richardson had 10. Three Eagles also reached double figures in Jones (19 points), Nick Maynard (16 points) and Hoover (13 points).

Bellefonte dropped a 55-47 game to Central, while St. Joe’s fell to Williamsburg, St. John Neumann and Ridgway.

Wrestling

This season’s installation of the Bellefonte vs. BEA wrestling rivalry did not disappoint, as the Red Raiders came away with the 42-30 win after a back-and-forth affair Thursday night.

Ethan Rossman got the Bellefonte crowd going early with a pin right out of the gate at 182 pounds. However, BEA’s David Close earned a pin in just 47 seconds at 285 pounds to put the Eagles back in the dual. Red Raiders Jude Swisher, Alex Coppolo and Ethan Richner also picked up pins, as did Eagles Coen Bainey, Gage McClenahan and Drew Koleno.

BEA also earned a 54-22 win over Central last week, which also saw pins for Close, Bainey and Koleno, and a technical fall for McClenahan. Jeffrey Piffer and Zander Ballock also earned falls against Central.

State College started out the week with a bang, stringing together eight pins and 18 takedowns to Harrisburg’s three for a 66-12 win over the Cougars. However, the Little Lions’ hot streak was cooled with their first loss of the season, 36-29 to District 6 rival Mifflin County.

P-O split the week, earning a 45-33 win over Altoona, but falling 39-29 to DuBois. Penns Valley lost a close 39-32 dual to Tyrone.

Indoor track & field

State College girls’ indoor track and field kicked off its season Saturday with a second-place finish at the Dickinson Invitational.

The top Little Lion placewinners were Rachael Spencer, first place, high jump, 5’1”; Lizzie Gilpatrick, second, 1600m, 5:21.72; 4x800m relay team of Jodie Challis, Lilly Johnson, Eloise Dayrat, Maggie Leahey, 3rd, 1:54.62; 4x200m relay team of Jessica Lose, Olivia Noel, Casie Eifrig, Katelyn Peachey, third, 1:54.62; 4x400m relay team of Lilly Johnson, Grace Morningstar, Lizzie Gilpatrick, Karsyn Kane, fourth, 4:33.62; Grace Morningstar, fourth, 400m, 2:32.36; Casie Eifrig, fourth, 55m dash, 1:02.48; Jessica Lose, fifth, 55m dash, 7.77 / 7.62; Marlee Kwasnica, fifth, 1600m 5:30.03; Jodie Challis, seventh, 3200m, 12:59.01.

Boys’ hockey

State College shut out Greater Johnstown 5-0 Thursday at Pegula Ice Arena. Zander Faust started off the scoring for the Little Lions, with a goal off a Thomas Hay assist in the first period. Robert Zimmerman made it 2-0 in the second, assisted by Adler Gabel.

The Little Lions broke the scoring open in the third, when Faust and Zimmerman each added another goal, and Caleb Wilson made it 5-0. Zimmerman and Casey Wible also had assists. John Olsen earned the win in the goal with 17 saves.

Cross country

Penns Valley cross country’s state champ Colton Sands is continuing to compete at a high level, even after the fall season has ended. He placed 10th with a time of 15 minutes and 30 seconds in the Foot Locker Cross Country National Championships in San Diego. He qualified by placing ninth in the regional race.

Girls’ lacrosse

State College announced the hiring of Tara Hohenshelt as the new girls’ lacrosse coach on Tuesday.

Hohenshelt comes to the Little Lions with 22 years of coaching experience, including 15 as an assistant at Penn State, four as head coach at Western Albemarle High School in Crozet, Virginia, and a year as the head coach at the Covenant school in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2013, when they won the state championships.

Hohenshelt was a four-year starter at Penn State, where she helped lead the Nittany Lions to an NCAA semifinals appearance in 1995, and to the quarterfinals in 1996 and 1997.

Among those whom she has coached and mentored are 47 All-conference selections, 19 IWLCA All-Americans, three conference goalkeepers of the year, an NCAA goalkeeper of the year, a Big Ten midfielder of the year and two women’s professional lacrosse league draft picks.

This story was originally published December 23, 2019 at 1:12 PM.