Briefs: W&J big hit in PAC picks
Washington & Jefferson College’s baseball team was picked to win the Presidents’ Athletic Conference in the preseason coaches poll.
The Presidents, winners of last season’s championship tournament, received eight of the league’s nine first-place votes, finishing with 80 of a possible 81 points. Thomas More collected 71 points to finish second and was followed by Thiel, which secured the final first-place vote while totaling 52 points.
Saint Vincent College was fourth (51), followed by Waynesburg (49), Bethany in sixth (39), Geneva in seventh (24), Westminster in eighth (22) and Grove City in ninth (17).
Waynesburg University opened its season with a split of a doubleheader with LaRoche, winning the first game 5-2 and dropping the nightcap, 6-2, at Beckley, W.Va., in a non-conference college baseball game.
Brian Resnik, a Burgettstown graduate, picked up the win in the opener.
Daylon Miracle found the pocket early, then brushed by the leader in the lane to capture Thursday’s $22,500 Filly & Mare Winners Over $10,000 Life/Preferred Handicap Trot at The Meadows.
Daylon Miracle was content to let Magic Wheel set the fractions on the sloppy, tiring surface. But when Aaron Merriman cut her loose late, she easily kicked past the game Magic Wheel and downed her by 1-3/4 lengths in 1:57.3. Mistress Valentine was a good third from Post 9.
Two men who pleaded guilty to the 2011 beating of San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow at Dodger Stadium have been sentenced in Los Angeles.
Judge George Lomeli excoriated smirking convict Louie Sanchez and handed him an eight-year state prison term Thursday, with some credit for time served.
Co-defendant Marvin Norwood received a four-year sentence.
The California University swimming team scored in three events and four individuals registered NCAA “B” times during the first day of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships Thursday at the Graham Aquatic Center.
The Vulcans are third in the team standings with 73 points after the opening day. Seven-time, defending-champion West Chester holds a commanding lead in the team standings with 226 points, while IUP is second with 73 points and Cal is third.
Cal featured a trio of swimmers in the finals and consolations of the 50 freestyle and five swimmers recorded season-best times in the event Thursday. Senior Clarissa Enslin finished second during the preliminaries with a time of 23.78 seconds before placing fourth in the finals after touching the wall in 23.88 seconds. She improved her previous NCAA “B” time by more than a quarter of a second during the prelims. Freshman Jade Arganbright hit an NCAA “B” cut during the prelims and finals, placing sixth in the finals with a season-best 24.09.
The Vulcans registered back-to-back finishers in the 1,000 freestyle with swimmers scoring in the event with NCAA “B” and career-best performances. Senior Rachel Nauman placed 10th and shattered her personal best by more than 13 seconds with a time of 10:28.33. Freshman Braelyn Tracy was in 11th place after touching the wall in a season-best time of 10:29.28.
Karvel Anderson scored 26 points as Robert Morris overcame a 10-point second half deficit to beat LIU Brooklyn 73-64 Thursday.
Anthony Myers-Pate added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Colonials.