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SOCCER ALUMNI UPDATE

 The collegiate soccer teams of 2009 NA grads Dawn Murphy and J.P. Fulton both won their conference championships and qualified for the NCAA Division III tournament this weekend. J. P. scored important goals off the bench for Div III #1 ranked Messiah in both the semi-finals against Lebanon Valley and the finals against Arcadia University to win the Commonwealth Conference Championship and the automatic NCAA bid. Dawn played central defender for all 105 minutes of Washington and Jefferson's 2-1 overtime upset of Div III #25 ranked Thomas More in the semi-finals and all 90 minutes of W&J's 1-0 upset of #1 seed Grove City in the PAC Championship and also won an automatic bid.
Both teams will learn their NCAA opponents and begin tournament play this week.

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WATER POLO ALUMNI UPDATE

HILTY NAMED TO DIVISION III
EASTERN ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Peter Sauerhoff (Sr., St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs School) earned Most Valuable Player honors to lead six Johns Hopkins University players on the 14-member Division III Eastern All-Tournament Team.

Sauerhoff, who earned his second All-Division III Tournament award after being recognized on the Second Team last year, is one of four JHU players to earn first team honors joining teammates Kyle Gertridge (Sr., Palo Alto, Calif./Gunn), Alex Whittam (Fr., Hillsborough, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep) and goalie Jeremy Selbst (Jr., Old Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich).

Overall, he ecorded 18 goals (on 21 shots), six assists, six steals and one ejection drawn in four games to earn MVP accolades and guide the Blue Jays to their 12th Division III Eastern Championship. For his MVP performance, he has also named the October 26 Men's Varsity Southern Division Player of the Week.

He is one of two Blue Jay players to be recognized for a second time with All-Division III Tournament honors as Gertridge also garnered First Team honors in 2008.

Joining Sauerhoff, Gertridge, Whittam and Selbst on the First Team are Steve Hilty (Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) and William Kidston (Sr., Pawley's Island, S.C./Northfield Mt. Hermon) of Washington & Jefferson College, along with Sam Mitchell (Jr., Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Chadwick School) of Connecticut College.

The award marks Hilty's second All-Tournament selection as he garnered All-Division III Eastern Second Team honors last year.

On the Second Team, JHU's Kielan Crow (Fr., Portola Valley, Calif./Lick-Wilmerding) and Reid Fox (Sr., Harleysville, Pa./Souderton) are joined by Connecticut College's Brenadn Kempf (Sr., Santa Monica, Calif./Loyola) and Sam Burns (Fr., Albuquerque, N.M./Valley), Pennsylvania State University-Behrend College's Colin McGarry (Fr., Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) and Washington & Jefferson's Andy Rish (So., North East, Pa./Cathedral Prep), while goalie John Todd (Sr., Joppa, Md./Calvert Hall) of W&J rounds out the selections.

In addition, Washington & Jefferson head coach Vaughan Smith was named Outstanding Coach of the Tournament.

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Steve Hilty (2006 graduate) has played and will letter all four years at Washington and Jefferson College.  His position is hole set.  Last year, Hilty was an academic All-American in the sport and set the school record for goals scored with 56.  Steve, a senior, was named one of the captains for this season.  Due to his play at the Claremont Convergent Tournament in Southern California last weekend, he was honored as the Co-Player of the Week by the Collegiate Water Polo Association.  During the tournament, Steve scored 12 goals, had three steals and five assists.

Cam Illes (2009 graduate) is in his freshman year at George Washington University.  His position is goalie.  Illes also was honored by the Collegiate Water Polo Association by being named rook of the week twice this season!

CONGRATULATIONS TO STEVE AND CAM!

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ELLIOTT NAMED TO USROWING U23 TEAM

U.S. Rowing has just announced the roster for this year's Under-23 team that will compete at the World Championships in Racice, Czech Republic, on July 23-26.  2006 NA Grad and former rower SINGEN ELLIOTT was named to the team.  Elliott has been a participant in the big boat camp, and has now officially been named the stroke man of the Quad Scull.

Next year, Singen will be a Senior at Cornel University where he is studying Animal Sciences.

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NA GRAD HERBERT CONTINUES GREAT YEAR

by Ken Wunderly (Tri-State Sports  & News Service - 7/3/09)

It's been an incredible year for JAKE HERBERT ... and it's only reached the midpoint of 2009.  Herbert, a graduate of North Allegheny High School, won his second NCAA Divison I wrestling title in March and was awarded the Hodge Trophy, collegiate wrestling's equivalent of football's Heisman Trophy.  He was also voted to the National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Academic Team after earning a degree in communications at Northwestern University at Evanston, Ill.

But that's only the beginning.  In April, Herbert won the 84-kilogram (185-pount) weight class at the U.S. Open Freestyle Championships, which took place April 13 at Las Vegas.  That earned him an automatic berth in the finals of the World Team Trials, which took place May 31 in Council Bluffs, Iowa.  Herbert faced former Bloomsburg University wrestler Bryce Hasseman in the best-of-three final at the team trials and came away with the title.  The victory earned Herbert a trip to Denmark for the World Team Championships, scheduled for September 21-27.

"This isn't just the result of three months of training, it's years and years and years of hard work," said Herbert, who resumed his freestyle training after the college season.  "Everyone out on the mat knows that, but it's hard for people on the outside to see all that goes into winning an event like the World Team Trials.  It's just unbelievable."

But that still isn't the whole story.  Earlier this month, Herbert was the 2009 recipient of the prestigious Jesse Owens Athlete of the Year Award, which recognizes him as the top male athlete in all sports in the Big Ten Conference.  "This is such an honor and one that I never really imagined that I could win," Herbert said.  "It's just great to be able to represent Northwestern wrestling and the entire athletic department so that everybody in the Big Ten and rest of the country knows the amazing things that go on at this school."

Herbert can't wait for his trip to Denmark for the World Championships.  "My mom, dad and grandma will be joining me in Denmark," Herbert said.  "I expect nothing less that to win the gold.  You don't train to place or to just make the team.  I have wrestled in thousands of tournaments and won hundreds of them.  This is another tournament to win.  I am ready.  I don't feel anybody will be able to take this from me."

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NA'S HUNGERMAN SIGNS WITH ROCKIES

by Jerry DiPaola (Tribune-Review - 6/14/09)

Payday finally arrived for North Allegheny graduate JOSH HUNGERMAN, who signed a professional baseball contract with the Colorado Rockies.  Hungerman's deal included dollars, years, and hope for a bright future.  His mother and father were rewarded, too, with something even more meaningful.

Hungerman, a left-handed pitcher who was drafted in the 17th round out of Cleveland State, made arrangements to sign the contract in Room 609 of UPMC Passavant Hospital, where his mother Rebecca has been a patient for the past two weeks.  "I just wanted to make sure both of my parents were there," he said.  "They have been with me through my whole baseball career.  There is no reason why they shouldn't be there on the best day of my baseball life.  If I deserve it, they deserve it even more".

With the hospital staff giving the family total privacy for the hourlong signing, Rebecca was joined by her husband, Dave, who has been his son's coach since he was 6 years old, and Rockies regional scout Ed Santa, a North Catholic graduate who has followed Hungerman's career since he first came to Santa's tryout camp in 10th grade.

"It was really exciting," Rebecca said from her hospital bed.  "I feel bad for the poor kid trying to make arrangements to have the signing here.  But she was pleased to see the culmination of many years of hard work.  Rebecca's role included some backyard batting practice in the early years, and, often, staying up past 11 o'clock on game nights washing uniforms for the next day.  "We just wanted to give him every opportunity to make his dream happen," she said.

Less than 24 hours after signing the contract, Hungerman boarded an airplane bound for Casper, Wyo., where he will join the Casper Ghosts, a Rockies rookie affiliate in the short season Frontier League.  Games began June 23.  Hungerman, 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, was a first-team All-Horizon League designated hitter for Cleveland State this season, with a .345 batting average and a team-high 11 home runs and 50 RBI.  His pro career will still commence as a pitcher.

Santa said Hungerman throws in the 88-91 mph range and possesses the one characteristic many bigger, faster pitchers lack.  "He has great control (of his pitchers)," he said.  "Some (coaches) think you can teach that to kids, but it's really hard to do.  Josh has it."

Hungerman, who led Cleveland State with 13 starts and 88 innings, walked only 37 while recording 91 strikeouts and a 4.60 earned run average.  Hungerman's dad Dave is the coach of the Allegheny Athletics of the Tri-State Collegian League, which gives college home for the summer an opportunity to continue playing.  Josh played for the team last summer and showed enough promise to be drafted by the Rockies for the second straight year.  He was a 50th-round choice in 2008, but he decided to stay in school.

After Josh gets settled, Dave and Rebecca hope to travel to Wyoming this summer and become big Ghost fans.  Dave will try to watch with an objective eye, but it won't be easy.  "As his dad and his coach," he said, "I think he has a lot of ability."

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FORMER NA ROWERS EXCEL IN COLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Heavy-weight women's varsity programs compete at NCAAs for their national championship, while the men's programs and the women's lightweight boats compete at IRAs (Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships).

Last weekend, IRAs were held on Lake Natoma in Sacramento, CA and the following results were achieved by NA alumni:

*          Silver for Kim Weaver (2006) in the Bucknell women's lightweight eight

 *          Silver for Andrew Kaiser (2005) in the Yale men's lightweight eight

*          Gold for Alan Meininghaus (2008) in the U of Washington men's open four (UW also won all four of the eights races and were named national champions)

*          Second in the petite final of the men's second varsity eights for Joe Brendel (2006) and his Stanford crew

*          Third in the petite final of the men's varsity eights for Singen Elliott (2006) and his Cornell crew

Also, on May 29 & 30, the varsity women competed at NCAAs at Cooper River, NJ.  Ali Bogart (2005) and her crew from Mercyhurst College won the silver medal in the women's Division II varsity eights.  Brianna Pittman (2007) also won silver in the U of Wisconsin Division I varsity four.

Singen Elliott was invited to try out for a sculling boat for the Under 23 team.    John Brendel said his chances of making the team are good.

(Thanks to Dianne Duursma for the updated information!)

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NA GRAD BRIANA PITTMAN HELPS WISCONSIN TO HIGHEST FINISH

CHERRY HILL, N.J.

The Wisconsin varsity four made school history at the 2009 NCAA Rowing Championships on Sunday at the Cooper River. Rowing in the school’s fourth NCAA grand final in any boat, the Badgers claimed second place to gain the highest NCAA finish for a Wisconsin crew.

The Badgers started steady over the first 500 meters, but hit the mark in fifth place, exactly three seconds behind leader and eventual champion Clemson.

“I was in the boat trying to row as fast as I could,” said sophomore Kirsten Morelli. “I try not to worry about where other people are. I could kind of tell we were down off the start, but we just relaxed, settled into it and made our way back through the field.”

The Badgers made their way through the field quickly and used the fastest second 500 of the field to jump up into second place and to begin closing the gap on the Tigers. The Badgers kept things going in the third 500, closing to just over two seconds back of Clemson. In the final 500, Wisconsin continued to close, getting within 1.76 seconds of the Tigers, but the early lead was too much to overcome. The Badgers finished in 7:28.54, while NCAA champion in the varsity four Clemson won in 7:26.28.

“It was a great race for them,” said head coach Bebe Bryans. “They did exactly what they wanted to do. They had a little trouble off the line, but it didn’t shake them at all. They just did what they were supposed to do which showed that strength and composure can prevail. Good technique, too.

“I think Kevin Luecke, their on-the-water coach for the most part, deserves a lot of credit. He was able to help them go with the flow and not be intimidated and bring out their fiercest self. I think they are fired up already to come back next year and have that happen across the board.”

Wisconsin’s history making varsity four included junior coxswain Molly Evjen (Portland, Ore.), senior Brittany Rapp (Glenview, Ill.), Briana Pittman (Pittsburgh), Bronwyn Knaebe (Madison, Wis.) and sophomore Kirsten Morelli (Arlington Heights, Ill.).

“There are so many great people who have rowed here, so to be able to say you finished the highest out of anybody who has ever been here is really an accomplishment,” added Morelli. “It is a testament to how hard everybody has worked as a team. It is not just us, it is everybody.

“I think we’ve gotten faster. We’ve had a lot of different people in the boat, but everyone has been working really hard and I think it showed today. Everybody wants the boat to go fast. We had a lot of people here, the spares, everybody, that helped us a lot too.”

Finishing out the finals of the varsity four were third-place Yale (7:30.81), fourth-place California (7:32.01), fifth-place Stanford (7:32.29) and sixth-place Virginia (7:34.26).

As a team, the Badgers finished with 26 points and placed 13th out of the 16 schools at the championships. There are 87 crews in NCAA Division I women’s rowing. Stanford, coached by former Wisconsin coxswain Yasmin Farooq, won the team title with help from a victory in the varsity eight. The Cardinal scored 88 points to edge second-place California (85 points) and third-place Yale (85 points). California earned second place with a higher finish in the varsity eight.

“This is by far the most competitive national championships I’ve ever been to, and I’ve been to all of them,” Bryans continued. “Women’s collegiate rowing has just taken a huge step. The closeness and the speed of all the racing across the board was pretty phenomenal. We made the jump too, but we didn’t make a big enough one. We are committed not only to staying with the pack, but we want to take that big jump next year.

“Overall, we did here what we came to do. We gave our best effort. We prepared as well as we could. We did what we could do and came away with the highest finish we’ve ever had at an NCAA championships, so that is a great finish and also a great building block for next year.”

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KELLY CARIOTO LEADS CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY TO 3rd PLACE FINISH

The CUA women's track and field team earned a third place finish at the Landmark Conference Championships Saturday afternoon wracking up a total of 139 points at the meet.  The squad had a number of strong performances in each of the events, including a pair of event winners at the meet.

Highlighting the afternoon's performances was thrower KELLY CARIOTO (Pittsburgh, PA, North Allegheny), who's win conquered the women's shot put with a toss of 12.09 m.  She also finished second in the discus, earning 8 points for the 35.75 m throw.  The freshman also earned Female Field Athlete of the Year in the Landmark Conference for her impressive performances throughout the year. 

Kelly also qualified for the ECAC (Eastern College Athletic Conference) Championship in both shot put and discus.  The ECAC Championship will be held at Springfield College in Springfield MA on May 14 & 15.

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ROBERTSON TAKES FIFTH IN PITTSBURGH MARATHON

NA grad ERIC J. ROBERTSON finished in 5th place at the Pittsburgh Marathon last week.

Please send any alumni information to Athletic Director Bob Bozzuto at:  bbozzuto@northallegheny.org