Anne Carlson

Edinboro hired Anne Carlson as the head track and field coach/director of cross country operations today, replacing retired coach Doug Watts.

Athletic director Bruce Baumgartner said Carlson will serve as the men’s and women’s track and field coach and will oversee the incoming cross country head coach. Edinboro will begin searching for a cross country coach soon, Baumgartner said.

Watts announced his retirement in April after coaching Edinboro’s running programs for the past 44 years.

Carlson has been an assistant women’s track and field coach at Edinboro since June 2011. She is a former Central Missouri All-American and won the pentathlon national championship in 2009.

“Obviously, Anne has some big shoes to fill,” Baumgartner said. “But we are supremely confident that she is a young coach with a bright future.”

Watts supported the choice of Carlson for the job.

“In the two short years she’s been here, Coach Anne has proven to be a superior technician and an excellent role model,” Watts said. “Having her inherit the program made it easy for me to pass the reins of this outstanding tradition of excellence to her.”

As the college spring sports seasons come to a close, area athletes continue to collect postseason accolades.

Aaron Cressley

Nick Grow

In this week’s On Campus notebook, read about a pair of former Erie County 
high school pitching standouts — Corry’s Aaron Cressley and North East’s Nick Grow – earning all-conference honors.

Cressley, a sophomore pitcher at Pitt-Bradford, was named to the AMCC second team after leading the team with a 2.25 ERA.

Grow, a relief pitcher for Westminster, was named to the honorable-mention all-Presidents’ Athletic Conference team. He broke the Titans’ single-season saves record with eight and set the career saves mark with 11.

Three area softball players recently were named to the National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association Atlantic Region all-star team. Mercyhurst sophomore Shaina 
Bunker and Edinboro senior catcher 
Marissa Pullo made the first team, while Gannon freshman center fielder Alexa Archambeault made the Atlantic Region second team.

Also featured in this week’s notebook:

• McDowell graduates De’Vion Tate and John Dahlstrand helped Akron’s track team win the Mid-American Conference outdoor championship.

• Fort LeBoeuf grad Anthony Peluso, a sophomore at Seton 
Hill, was a member of a WVIAC-title winning 400-meter relay team.

• Mercyhurst North East recently named Conneaut Lake graduate Aaron Smith its Outstanding Wrestler of the Year.

Get all the details in this week’s On Campus notebook.

North East distance runner Ryan Smathers, seated, accepts his appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point in a ceremony at the North East library Monday. Smathers is joined by, from left, his mother, Gracie Smathers, North East track and field coach Dick Gregg, distance coach Ted Miller and his father, Cliff Smathers. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

 

North East standout distance runner Ryan Smathers has accepted an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Smathers will attend the United States Military Academy Preparatory School for one year before heading to the Academy. He will run cross country and indoor and outdoor track.

Smathers has been a four-year star at North East in both cross country and track. He is the defending PIAA Class AA champion in the 1,600 meters and holds the District 10 record in that event.

By accepting the appointment, Smathers is making a 10-year commitment —  one year at prep school, four years at the Academy and five years of active service.

Penn State Behrend athletes enjoyed their first meet at their new track Saturday. ANDY COLWELL/Erie Times-News

The Penn State Behrend track and field team enjoyed a landmark moment Saturday when it hosted the first meet at its new track and field facility.

Read more about Behrend athletes’ reaction to the new track in an Erie Times-News story and check out a photo gallery from the four-team meet, which Behrend won.

Joseph Stark

Cathedral Prep graduate Joseph Stark was featured in the On Campus notebook in today’s Erie Times-News.

Stark, a former District 10 swimming star, has been a standout in the pool with the U.S. Naval Academy. He’s not the only one in his family who’s at the Naval Academy either.

Also featured in the notebook are Fairview grads Derick Fiedler and Lauren Morosky.

Read the On Campus notebook in the Times-News every Sunday.

Today’s On Campus college notebook in the Erie Times-News featured items on athletes previously posted on the On Campus blog, such as Steffanie Smith-Jasper, Patrick Cochran, Kirsten Olowinski, Emma Swabb and Julia Adams.

However, today’s notebook also features items on Strong Vincent graduate Shataya White and Gannon’s new junior varsity baseball program.

Patrick Cochran

McDowell graduate Patrick Cochran, a junior at the University of Michigan, placed third among 22 competitors in the triple jump Saturday at the Spire Invitational in Geneva, Ohio. It was his first indoor meet of the season. Cochran’s personal-best distance of 49 feet 1 3⁄4 inches (14.98 meters) was the eighth-best mark in the Big Ten standings during the indoor season.

Cochran’s former McDowell teammate, John Dahlstrand, a sophomore at Akron, placed eighth in the Spire Invitational triple jump with an effort of 48-1⁄2.

Another former Erie high school standout, Cathedral Prep’s Joe Oduho, placed eighth among 28 competitors in the long jump at the Spire Invite. The freshman turned in a leap of 22-5 3⁄4.

Cochran and Michigan will return to the Spire Institute Feb. 22-23 for the Big Ten Championships. The Spire Institute is less than an hour’s drive from Erie on Interstate 90.

Steffanie Smith-Jasper in 2009

Area track and field great Steffanie Smith-Jasper was inducted into the Georgetown University Hall of Fame Saturday.

She is a 1989 graduate of Academy High School and a 1993 graduate of Georgetown. Smith-Jasper still holds District 10 Class AAA records in the 200-meter dash (24.77 seconds, 1988) and 400-meter dash (56.44, 1988) and was a member of the 1989 Academy 400 relay team that still holds the record of 49.58 seconds. Smith-Jasper also won two PIAA titles and nine medals. She was inducted into the Metropolitan Erie Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.

At Georgetown, Smith was a six-time All-American and a six-time Big East champion. She set school records in the 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 and was a key member of several of the Hoyas’ record-breaking relay teams.

“Now I’m part of a legacy,” she said at Georgetown’s induction ceremony. “I couldn’t have imagined this when I came here. We didn’t set out to be trailblazers; we were just out to run and be good.”

This week’s Varsity print edition in the Erie Times-News featured a story on the area high school indoor track and field season.

Included in the story was information on the Edinboro University’s Mike S. Zafirovski Sports and Recreation Dome. The facility has become a center for high school track and field during the winter season, including weekend meets and Tuesday training sessions.