Penns Valley held a signing day event to honor 16 student-athletes. Here’s where they’re going
Penns Valley honored 16 student-athletes on Wednesday during the school’s signing day event.
The day was met with claps and hugs from parents, teammates and siblings alike in the gymnasium. For track and field athlete Colton Sands, the situation was all of the more special with his teammates joining him.
“It’s awesome to see my teammates succeeding,” Sands said. “To send three guys from our team to D1 programs is so fun and just to have this day with guys that I’ve ran with since junior high out here succeeding is awesome.”
Sands is attending North Carolina, or “The University of National Champions,” in his own words. His goal is to uphold the school’s nickname. He has won three PIAA titles, his first as a sophomore in the 3,200-meter run in track and field, then he won two individual state cross country titles, his junior and senior seasons. He also placed 10th at the Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego in 2019 to earn All-American status.
His teammates Brendan Colwell and Daniel Kelly will also attend Division I programs this fall, with Colwell going to Penn State and Kelly to Saint Francis. Colwell is excited that he’ll be staying close to home.
“I think that it’s awesome that it’s super local,” Colwell said. “It’s a lot of athletes here at Penns Valley that are heading to Penn State, so it’ll feel like home meets. We’ll have the Big Ten Championships in the fall at home. A lot of people will come out and watch, which is cool. Growing up as a kid and watching Penn State football, it’s always blue and white. So, to be a part of that culture, I’m super excited and ecstatic for it.”
Penns Valley football standout Stephen Ripka committed to play for Penn State as a preferred walk on in April. He started for three seasons at Penns Valley, finishing with 63 receptions for 964 yards and 18 touchdowns as a receiver. Ripka made his bones defensively as a cornerback, finishing with 46 tackles and three interceptions. Ripka’s 2019 Penns Valley team went 9-1 and won a Mountain League championship, prior to making it to the PIAA 2A District 6 semifinals.
Ripka is chomping at the bit for his opportunity to be a part of a program that he grew up rooting for. He had season tickets to watch the Nittany Lions since he was a child and imagined what it would be like to suit up in the blue and white. The 6-foot-1 cornerback is set to join a Penn State program that just sent six players to the NFL.
“I think that I can contribute way more than what people may give me credit for,” Ripka said. “I’m a bigger corner, I’m a little taller and longer. I run well, I move well and I’m good with my hands. I think with the coaching up there and a little adjustments to things within my game, I think that I can make a big difference. First on special teams and then work my way up to the actual defense.”
Kelsey Hull had a strong finish to her cross country career at Penns Valley, leading the girls’ cross country team to a Mountain League Championship, their first district title since 1987, and their first state title in program history this fall.
Hull will continue her career at Shippensburg to run for former Olympic distance runner Steve Spence, who has served as the head cross country coach for 15 seasons.
“Shippensburg had the best combination of academics and athletics,” Hull said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better coach than being under the legendary Steve Spence. He’s such a fantastic guy. I met a lot of professors that were super nice and the community of ‘Ship felt like home and I felt like I (fit in) right there.”
Rams wrestler Malachi DuVall initially committed to Navy. After mulling over his decision and realizing the full gravity of the commitment that a military life would hold, the PIAA runnerup at 172 pounds in Class 2A decided to sign with George Mason. The northern Virginia school was the first program to reach out to him at the beginning of his recruitment.
“The coaching staff put in so much effort for me and they were actually the first college to reach out to me,” DuVall said. “They always had their eye on me and they pointed their full energy toward. I also decided that I lacked the military ambitions for Navy. I really loved the coaching staff at Navy and that’s why I wanted to go, but I just couldn’t get over the school hump. I decided to go to George Mason because I got to tour there for three days a few weeks ago.”
Here are the Centre County athletes who we know of so far who have committed to continue their athletic careers on the collegiate level, and where they are going (Are we missing someone? If so, please contact cdtscores@centredaily.com so we can update the list for the next time it runs.):
Bald Eagle Area
Kyler Cunningham — Lock Haven football
Trey Foster — Grove City College football
Gage Watson — Lock Haven football
Noah Williamson — IUP baseball
Mara Hockenberry — PSU Altoona softball
Lexi Skripek — Penn State volleyball
Maegen King — Mount Aloysius softball
Madison Eckley — Lock Haven volleyball
Brynne Bisel — Lycoming volleyball
Cooper Gilham — Lycoming
Bellefonte
Lexi Rogers — James Madison University softball
Bobby Marsh — Florida Atlantic University baseball
Ethan Reichner — South Dakota State wrestling
Ethan Rossman — Lock Haven wrestling
Zach Swanger — Garrett College baseball
Seth Shuey — University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown baseball
J.D. Besch - Shippensburg football
Mykayla Cole - Edinboro track and field/cross country
Sara DeHaas — Penn State DuBois basketball
Mia Elmore — IUP track and field/cross country
Mia Johnson — Edinboro soccer
Hanna Lauck — Penn State Altoona softball
Addyson Manning — University of Pittsburgh at Bradford soccer
Austin Melius — Lock Haven track and field
Makenna Port — Penn State Altoona volleyball
Maxwell Rogers — Pittsburgh Bradford baseball
Leigha Schrader — Gannon University soccer
Samantha Shaw — Bloomsburg golf
Maddie Tice — Neumann University soccer
Brynn Miller — Grove City College lacrosse
Penns Valley
Kendra Bumgardner — Millersville softball
Kelsey Hull — Shippensburg track and field/cross country
Colton Sands — University of North Carolina track and field/cross country
Brendan Colwell — Penn State track and field/cross country
Malachi DuVall — George Mason wrestling
John Aston — Bloomsburg football
Kylie Auman — Lock Haven soccer
Jadyn Butler — IUP volleyball
Collin Emel — Penn State DuBois basketball
Dani Fetterolf — Lebanon Valley College track and field/cross country
Daniel Kelly — St. Francis track and field/cross country
Mason Lieb — Penn State DuBois baseball
Connor Martz — Penn State DuBois baseball
Allie O’Brien — Penn State Harrisburg softball
Stephen Ripka — Penn State football
Ben Sharer — Lebanon Valley College football
Philipsburg-Osceola
Parker Moore — Notre Dame College wrestling
St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy
Zack Witmer — Columbia University wrestling
Clare Marsh — Catholic University of America track & field
Amonn Ohl — Edinboro wrestling
Morgan Wolf — Thiel College softball
Camryn Eby - Duquense University XC/TF
Kathleen Simander - United States Naval Academy XC/TF
State College
Nate Polo — Penn baseball
Lizzie Paterno — Robert Morris University lacrosse
Maddie Tambroni — Penn State field hockey
Kacy Sekunda — Loyola volleyball
Jake Cooper — Penn State baseball
Rebecca Bonness — American field hockey
Bayla Furmanek — Babson College field hockey
Cassie Eifrig — Amherst College track and field
Olivia Herncane —Penn State-Harrisburg softball
Ryan Terrizzi —Lock Haven baseball
Garret Holzapfel — University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown baseball
Matthew Lingenfelter — Lock Haven baseball
Erica Beyer — Southern Connecticut State gymnastics
Johannah Lee — Hofstra field hockey
Holly Feese — Wilkes University soccer
Dresyn Green — Colgate football
Trey Oyler — Pitt-Bradford basketball
Alex Hlivia — Penn State-Altoona baseball
Carson Franks - Dartmouth College football
Conrad Moore— Penn track and field
Maddy Koehle — West Chester swimming
Colleen Adams – UMBC swimming
Jordan Reed – Davidson track and field/cross county
Karsyn Kane – Appalachian State track and field/cross country
Jarod Leynes – Hiram College volleyball
Megan Lieb – Kenyon College basketball
Aiden Spitler — IUP football
Vanessa McGhee — Penn State Behrend volleyball
Megan Doucette — Lafayette swimming
Sasha Mohoruk — Penn State Behrend soccer
Lance Urbas — Penn wrestling
Colleen Adams — UMBC swimming
Jarod Leynes — Hiram College volleyball
Megan Lieb — Kenyon College basketball
This story was originally published May 12, 2021 at 8:06 PM.
