College notebook: Layton vaults to PSAC’s top award for freshmen
Slippery Rock pole vaulter Drew Layton was named the PSAC Male Freshman of the Year after voting by the league’s head coaches.
Layton, a true freshman from Waynesburg, picked up the first major conference honor of his career after earning All-America honors in the pole vault at the NCAA Division II Championships.
The only freshman vaulter in the country to earn All-America honors, Layton placed 10th in his debut appearance at the national meet that was held in Emporia, Kansas, with a personal-best clearance of 16-8 3/4. That followed an All-Region honor for Layton, who had the No. 2 mark in the Atlantic Region this spring, and an All-PSAC honor after he finished second at the PSAC Championships.
In baseball
Waynesburg native Tyler Switalski capped his first season at West Virginia by pitching for the Mountaineers in the NCAA Super Regionals.
A junior left-handed pitcher, Switalski had a 5-3 record and 5.10 ERA and struck out 58 in 67 innings. The Gardner-Webb transfer began the season in the bullpen but became a midweek starter early in the season and moved into the weekend rotation late in the Big 12 schedule. He appeared in 18 games and started 14.
Switalski started the NCAA Regional game against Grand Canyon on June 1 and was the winning pitcher, throwing 7 2/3 innings and allowing six hits and one run in a 5-2 victory. He walked one and struck out three.
In the Super Regional at North Carolina, Switalski started the second game against the Tar Heels and went 6 1/3 innings, allowing five hits and two runs but UNC was a 2-1 winner.
California junior designated hitter Payton Conte was named National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association first team All-Region.
Conte, who played his high school ball at California, led the Atlantic Region and ranked third in NCAA Division II with a .469 batting average (46-for-98) that eclipsed the oldest record in program history, breaking the single-season mark set by Denny Brown in 1969.
Conte also led the team with a 1.189 OPS and .526 on-base percentage, which was sixth-best in the region. The 6-4 junior tied for the team lead with 15 multi-hit games despite missing 11 games because of a persistent injury suffered in early March.
In track and field
Morgan Shriver, a freshman at Carlow, earned second team All-America status in the discus with his finish at the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Championships that were held in Springfield, Mass.
Shriver, who is a McGuffey graduate, placed 11th with a throw of 91-11 1/2.
N Washington & Jefferson’s Jadyn Hartner capped her outstanding senior season at the NCAA Division III Championships at Myrtle Beach, S.C.
A Fort Cherry graduate, Hartner competed in Heat 2 of the 400 hurdles and placed 20th overall with a time of 1:04.60.
Hartner, who won titles in both the 100 hurdles and 400 hurdles at the PAC Championships, was making her first appearance at the national championships. She made a late push to qualify by running a personal-best time of 1:02.55 at the Mount Union last Chance Meet. Hartner had entered the event ranked 38th in the nation and jumped to 15th with her time.
Hartner won the 400 hurdles at the Sparky Adams Invitational at Baldwin Wallace University with a time of 1:03.97.
“I am extremely proud of Jadyn and what she has accomplished thi9s year,” said W&J head coach Andy Upton. “She has been one of the most coachable athletes I’ve ever been around and she works as hard as possible every time she steps on the track.”
Duquesne senior Hannah Seitzinger qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 800 meters.
A Belle Vernon graduate, Seitzinger placed 30th at the first round of the national competition, which was held in Lexington, Ky. She ran 2:06.03 and finished fifth in her heat.
Seitzinger qualified with a win at the IC4A/ECAC Outdoor Championships in a school-record time of 2:04.92.
In softball
George Mason senior second baseman Marlaina Bozek, a Trinity graduate, was named an Atlantic 10 Postgraduate Scholarship Honoree.
Bozek, along with 14 other A-10 honorees, will receive $5,000 which will go towards full-time enrollment in a postgraduate or professional program.
The award is given to one graduating student-athlete in each school in the conference.
To be considered for the Postgraduate Scholarship, student-athletes must have performed with distinction both in the classroom and in their respective sports throughout their career, while demonstrating exemplary conduct in the community.
Bozek is a three-time NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete, has appeared on the A-10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll three times and was named a Peters N. Stearns Provost Scholar Athlete. She had a 3.75 GPA this spring and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in kinesiology. She has applied to medical school and plans to graduate with a medical degree in 2029. Bozek has aspirations of becoming an orthopedic surgeon.
On the field this spring, Bozek started all 52 games at second base and led the Patriots in batting average (.333) and on-base percentage (.405), as was second in OPS (.831), at-bats (162), runs (26), hits (54 – career high), doubles (8), triples (2) and total bases (69).
Compiled by Chris Dugan