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Wednesday, March 19, 2003

By Phil Axelrod, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Community College of Allegheny County-Allegheny will begin its quest for the women's national championship when it meets Sinclair Community College (Dayton, Ohio) at noon today in the opening round of the double-elimination NJCAA Division II tournament at Hagerstown, Md.

CCAC (25-1), champion Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference of Region XX, is in the national tournament for the first time since 1988.

CCAC, coached by Bob Thomas in his 10th season, has won 10 in a row after a one-point loss to Potomac State.

The Lady Cougars are led by 5-foot-11 sophomore Nicole Fischer (14.7 ppg, 8 rpg), 5-4 sophomore Alexis Pugh (14.3 ppg, 4 rpg), who was MVP of the Region XX tournament, and 5-5 Lia Wyland (13 ppg).

The tournament trail

California (36-1), winner of 16 in a row, will meet North Florida (20-11) in the NCAA Division II women's basketball Elite 8 at 1 p.m. March 26 at Missouri Western State College in St. Joseph, Mo.

The Vulcans, who have set a school record for wins in a season by a men's or women's basketball team, advanced with a 76-67 victory against Glenville State in the East Region championship game Monday at Hamer Hall on the California campus.

North Florida won the South Atlantic Region championship with a 71-58 victory against top-seeded Shaw.

Darcie Vincent's Vulcans have won by an average of nearly 25 points per game for the season. They feature 5-11 junior forward Becky Siembak (18.3 ppg, 10.1 rpg); Sameerya Philyaw (10.9 ppg), a graduate of Westinghouse High School; Sara McKinney (13 ppg), a Duquesne High School graduate; Megan Storck (9.7 ppg, 3.5 apg, 64 steals) and 6-9 Suzie Gyarfas (6.1 ppg, 116 blocks).

Take it to the mat

Pitt-Johnstown had five individual all-Americans and finished 11th in the team standings in the NCAA Division II national championships at Wheeling, W.Va. last weekend. The top eight finishers in each weight class earn All-American honors.

Howard Bell,a sophomore from Penn-Trafford High School, became a two-time All-American with a sixth-place in the heavyweight division. UPJ's other All-Americans are Thad Benton (5th, 133 pounds), Bruno Iorfido (8th, 157), Jason Nestor (8th, 141) and John Burda (7th, 184).

Gannon, led by heavyweight Lyneil Mitchell's third-place finish, was 15th. Mercyhurst, featuring Ben McAvinew (6th, 184) and Justin Mautz (4th, 197), was 20th.

No. 12-ranked Penn State, No. 15 West Virginia, No. 25 Edinboro and unranked Pitt will compete in the NCAA Division I wrestling championships tomorrow through Saturday at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.

No. 1 Oklahoma State and No. 2 Minnesota, the defending champion, are the favorites.

Penn State's top individual hopes are 127-pound Josh Moore, 141-pound Scott Moore, 149-pound Jody Giuricich, 157-pound Nate Wachter, 165-pound Chris "Doc" Vecchio, 184-pound Mark Becks, 197-pound Ryan Cummins and heavyweight Pat Cummins.

West Virginia's Greg Jones is ranked No. 1 at 184 pounds.

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference's top wrestlers will be Clarion's Rad Martinez (133 pounds), Eric Mausser (197) and heavyweight Jon Testa, Edinboro's Shawn Bunch (133), Corey Ace (141) and Matt King (165) and Slippery Rock's Brad Cieleski (149).

In the swim

California freshman Sandra Buehler earned All-American honors in three events at the NCAA Division II national swimming and diving tournament at Grand Forks, N.D. She was second in the 1,650-yard freestyle, third in the 500-yard freestyle and fourth in the 1,000-yard freestyle to earn 48 team points for the Vulcans.

The honor roll

California's Ishmieal Kamara is the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division men's basketball athlete of the year and IUP's Ed Peterson is West rookie of the year.

Kamara, a senior guard, averaged 15.6 points. Peterson, a freshman from Sto-Rox High School, averaged 10.6 points and was 10th in the league in steals (1.59 per game) and 11th in assists (3.67 per game).

League leaders

Westminster's men are first and the women second after the conclusion of the winter season in the race for the Presidents' Athletic Conference All-Sports Trophy awarded to the school with the best overall athletic program.