College notebook: W&J coach inducted into Marietta Hall of Fame
College notebook
Washington & Jefferson head softball coach Marissa Rush was inducted into the Marietta College Hall of Fame on Feb. 14.
Rush earned four varsity letters as a catcher on the Pioneers’ softball and was the team captain her senior season. She also was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
“It’s an honor to be inducted into the Marietta Athletics Hall of Fame,” said Rush. “Marietta College helped mold me into the person I am today and put me in position to have the career path that I currently do which led me to W&J. Marietta will always hold a special place in my heart.”
Rush earned second team All-Region honors in 2011. A three-time second team All-Ohio Athletic Conference honoree, Rush led the Pioneers to the OAC Tournament in 2013. She currently ranks eighth on Marietta’s career list for RBI and for walks.
Rush is in her ninth year as the Presidents’ head coach. She entered the season with 99 career wins. She has coached 21 All-Presidents’ Athletic Conference selections, including six All-PAC first team players.
“This is a great honor for Coach Rush and her family,” stated W&athletic director Scott McGuinness. “She was a great Division III softball player, and we are so happy to see her receive this recognition.”
Rush graduated from Marietta College in 2013 with a degree in Sport Management.
In wrestling
University of Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman announced Thursday that he has removed the “acting” tag from Jeremy Hunter’s title, making the former McGuffey standout the head coach of the Fighting Illini.
Hunter becomes the 16th head coach in Illinois wrestling program history.
Hunter has served Illinois as an assistant coach for the past 25 years. He arrived in the fall of 2001 as a volunteer coach and was elevated to a full-time assistant in 2009 and was the interim head coach this season.
During Hunter’s time at Illinois, Fighting Illini wrestlers have won six NCAA. He has coached 50 All-Americans and 165 NCAA qualifiers.
“For 25 years, Jeremy Hunter has committed himself to Illinois wrestling,” Whitman said. “During his time as an assistant coach, Jeremy has played a significant role in many milestone moments for both the team and individual wrestlers. He is an incredible technician and an avid recruiter, and he has first-hand appreciation for the proud history and tradition of this program. That said, he is excited to leave his own stamp on the program and move it to even greater heights. I want to thank Jeremy for his trust and commitment and look forward to partnering with him for the advancement of Fighting Illini Wrestling in the years ahead.”
Hunter was a four-time (1993-96) PIAA champion at McGuffey and had a 171-2 record. He was a two-time Junior National champion and wrestled at Penn State, where he was the NCAA champion at 125 pounds in 2000 and runner-up in 1999. He was the Big Ten Wrestler of the Year in 2000 and a three-time All-American.
In baseball
Allegheny junior Ben Shields was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week on Monday.
Shields, a Charleroi graduate, helped Allegheny sweep a season-opening doubleheader against Regent by throwing a complete game five-hitter. Shields allowed two runs. He struck out 10 and walked only one as Allegheny won the game, 10-2.
In basketball
Ava Leroux’s inspiring story is continuing at Robert Morris.
The former South Fayette standout who had her basketball career derailed when she suffered severe injuries in a car wreck in late 2023 while she was at Elon University, is now at RMU and thriving. She has played in 17 games for the Colonials and is averaging 6.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
A redshirt sophomore, Leroux is shooting a stellar 57 percent from the field and 81 percent from the free-throw line.
She has a season-high of 21 points, set Feb. 1 against IU-Indianapolis, a game in which Leroux was 7-for-7 from the field and made all seven of her free-throw attempts. She also had a 19-point game against Wright State.
* Miami, Fla.’s Natalie Wetzel, a freshman from Peters Township, matched her career high with 14 points in the Hurricanes’ 82-70 win over Boston College on Feb. 15.
Wetzel, who was the Observer-Reporter Girls basketball Player fo the Year last season, made five of six shots from the field, including three of four from three-point range, against the Eagles.
Wetzel followed that game by scoring 12 points in Miami’s 66-51 win over Stanford.
For the season, Wetzel is averaging 4.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. Miami is 6-9 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and 15-12 overall.
In swimming
Alabama junior Ella Menear tied her career-best time in the 100-yard backstroke, swimming 52.11 in the preliminaries of the Southeastern Conference Championships in Knoxville, Tenn. The Mapletown graduate, who was a two-time PIAA champion and six-time WPIAL gold medalist, finished 14th in the SEC event with a 57.67 time.
Menear also placed 13th in the 200-yard backstroke in 1:54.88.
She helped Alabama to a fourth-place finish in the 13-team women’s team standings.
In indoor track
Penn State Behrend freshman Lee Qualk won the long jump competition at the Spire Indoor Games held Feb. 14 in Kent, Ohio.
Qualk, a California graduate and last year’s PIAA Class 2A champion in the long jump, won with a leap of 23 feet.
Qualk, who was the Observer-Reporter’s Male Athlete of the Year in 2025, has qualified in both the long jump and 60-meter dash for this weekend’s State University of New York Athletic Conference Indoor Championships that are being held in Brockport, N.Y.