McMahon riding the wave of Navy’s success
After getting off a slow start this season, the Navy football team’s offense has been in high gear over the last nine games.
That surge by the Midshipmen coincided with Connor McMahon, a sophomore from Canonsburg, moving into the starting lineup at left guard.
With McMahon in the lineup, Navy has gone 4-5 overall, with one of the losses a three-point setback against Notre Dame. The Midshipmen’s most recent game was a win Nov. 19 at Central Florida, which went on to play last weekend in the American Athletic Conference championship game.
McMahon is set to play Saturday in the annual Army-Navy game that will be played in Philadelphia.
McMahon, a Canon-McMillan graduate, made his first start in Navy’s third game of the season, a 23-20 double-overtime win over East Carolina.
In the win over UCF, McMahon was named Navy’s Offensive Player of the Game as the Midshipmen’s triple-option offense produced 248 rushing yards.
He was part of an offensive unit that rattled off 363 yards against Notre Dame and Navy’s 32 points against the Fighting Irish were the most it has scored in the series since 2014. McMahon also helped Navy amass 510 yards of offense, including 372 rushing, and 32 first downs against SMU.
McMahon comes from an athletic family as his father, Eric, is a graduate of Kent State, where he was a member of the football team as a defensive end. Connor’s mother, Jennifer, is a graduate of Youngstown, State where she was a member of the softball team.
In track & field
Former Waynesburg standout Daniel Layton broke William & Mary’s school record in the 60-meter indoor hurdles – twice – last weekend at the Navy Invitational.
Layton, a senior multiple-event performer, first set the record in the preliminaries, running 8.18, breaking the school mark that had stood since 2018. In the finals, Layton re-established the record by running 8.17 to finish in third place. Navy’s Brahmir Vick won the race with a time of 7.92.
Layton also placed fifth in the 400 meters, finishing in 50.03, and was 19th in the long jump with a leap of 19-8¾.
St. Francis sophomore Haiden Litwinovich, a South Fayette graduate, finished third in the pole vault at the Bison Opener hosted by Bucknell. Litwinovich cleared 12-7½.
In soccer
Hannah Stuck of McMurray and a Peters Township graduate, helped the Bucknell women’s team advance to the NCAA tournament.
A junior midfielder, Stuck played in 20 games for Bucknell, starting three. She finished the season with two goals and one assist for five points. One of her goals came in Patriot League play against Holy Cross.
Bucknell finished the season with an 8-6-6 record, including a 5-1-3 mark in the Patriot League. The Bison won the conference tournament and advanced to the NCAA tournament, losing 1-0 in double overtime to Ohio State in the first round.
In basketball
American University’s Riley DeRubbo, a junior guard from Washington and a Trinity graduate, has started all seven games for the Eagles and is averaging 8.1 points per game.
DeRubbo’s high-scoring output was a 14-point game against Arizona State. She has scored in double figures in each of her last three games, including 10 points against Howard and 11 against George Mason. She also had a five-rebound game against DePaul.
For the season, DeRubbo is shooting 31 percent (12-for-39) from three-point range and 70 percent from the free-throw line.
Courtney Dahlquist, a sophomore forward at Campbell, is averaging 5.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game for the Camels.
A Trinity graduate, Dahlquist has appeared in all seven of Campbell’s games and is averaging 15 minutes per game. Her top scoring game is 11 points against North Carolina Central and she grabbed six rebounds and three steals against North Carolina Wesleyan.