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Wednesday, April 30, 2003

By Phil Axelrod, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Westminster's men won the 2002-03 Presidents' Athletic Conference All-Sports Trophy in their first season of competition in the league. The Titans finished first in the PAC's soccer, swimming and golf championships.

Grove City's women won golf and track and field titles to claim a third consecutive All-Sports Trophy and their eighth in the past nine years.

PAC championships

No. 3 seed Thiel won its first PAC baseball title since 1981 with a 12-7 victory against top-seeded Waynesburg in the final game of the double-elimination tournament at Waynesburg. Senior right fielder Frankie Muir (Allderdice) led Thiel, hitting a three-run home run and going 3 for 5 with three RBIs and two runs scored.

Top-seeded Bethany, led by senior pitcher Rachael Schafer of Perry, won its fifth consecutive softball title and can expect to receive a bid to the NCAA Division III tournament Sunday. Bethany is 29-6 with a 19-game winning streak.

Grove City's Ryan Mitchell won the 1,500 meters (4 minutes, 13.16 seconds), 3,000 steeplechase and 5,000 steeplechase (16:31.33) and was named the Most Outstanding Performer at the men's track and field championships. Thiel won the team title.

Grove City's Sally Lewis, a junior from Freedom who was the women's Most Outstanding Performer, won the 100 meters (13.12), long jump (17 feet, 7 1/2 inches) and triple jump (37-8 1/2) to lead the Lady Wolverines to the team title.

Slippery Rock baseball

The Rock (37-8), winner of 10 in a row, is tied for seventh in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America Division II poll and ninth in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper for the highest in-season ranking in school history. Slippery Rock is the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West champion for the 14th time in 18 seasons under Coach Jeff Messer. Outfielder Joe Niedrick leads the Rock with a .411 average while catcher/second baseman Alan Reichl is batting .385 and has a team-leading seven home runs and 49 RBIs. The pitching staff is anchored by Steve Norris (7-0, 2.44 ERA) and Mike Skorski (7-1, 1.26).

Geneva softball

The Golden Tornadoes (37-8) went 3-2 in Marion, Ind., to finish in third place for their best showing in the National Christian College Athletic Association tournament. Jen Picard, a sophomore pitcher from Bethel Park with a 20-3 record, was 3-0 and has won 14 consecutive games.

CMU track and field

Carnegie Mellon senior Scott Jubeck (Center) won the discus for the second consecutive year and also won the hammer throw at the University Athletic Association track and field championships at Case Western Reserve. Senior Michael Rossi was second in the 1,500 meters with an NCAA provisional qualifying time.

Tartans sophomore Nicole Gartner (Penn Hills) finished second in the women's 1,500 with an NCAA provisional qualifying time, and senior Katie Aerni won the 3,000 steeplechase with a time of 11:02.21, a UAA record and an NCAA provisional qualifying time.

The Division III men's and women's track and field championships are May 22-24 at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y.