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The Central Michigan women’s gymnastics team needed a big effort from Gianna Plaksa to remain unbeaten in Mid-American Conference dual matches and the senior came through with flying colors.
Plaksa, from Mountain Top and a Wyoming Seminary grad, captured the uneven bars with a season-best score of 9.825 and picked up an important third-place finish on balance beam with a season-best score of 9.800 as the Chippewas moved to 9-1 overall and 4-0 in league play with a tight 195.175-194.925 victory over Kent State last Sunday in Kent, Ohio.
“Gianna has been consistent this year,” assistant coach Christine MacDonald said. “She started off the season where she left off last year. Her performance has developed and improved throughout the course of the year.”
Plaksa has been a solid performer for Central Michigan in all four of her seasons with the squad.
Her best efforts in her career are 9.900 on bars, beam and in floor exercise and a 9.800 on vault. Her best all-round total is 39.350.The all-around score captured the title at last year’s MAC Championship.
She was named to the All-Tournament team for that performance and was an All-MAC regular-season second-team pick. She is also a two-time All-MAC academic first-teamer.
This season, Plaksa has three victories on bars and one in floor exercise and her top scores are 9.675 (vault), 9.825 (bars), 9.850 (floor), 9.800 (beam) and 39.050 (all-around).
The Chippewas return to action Friday with a MAC battle with Eastern Michigan in Mount Pleasant, Mich.
David Sadvary (Lafayette)
The senior finished fourth in the 3,000 meter run at the Monmouth Winter Collegiate Invitational last Saturday in West Long Branch, N.J. He was the third college finisher with a personal best time of 9:00.54. That bettered the Coughlin grad’s previous time in that event when he was 13th at the 21st Annual Bison Open on Jan. 26 in Lewisburg when he covered the distance in 9:10.78. And that time easily bettered his first 3,000 of the season when he finished sixth in the annual Lehigh-Lafayette Meet in 9:41.09.
Darius Washington (Eastern)
The 6-foot-1 senior guard drained a 3-point basket with seven seconds left in regulation to give the Eastern men’s basketball team an 89-88 MAC Freedom victory over Manhattanville last Saturday in St. Davids. The Holy Redeemer grad finished with 22 points and was 4-for-8 on 3-pointers. He leads the team with a 16.1 average and has connected on 63 of 177 from outside the arc (35.6 percent). Freshman Draig Ruff, a Wyoming Valley West grad, had 12 points against Manhattanville and is averaging 8.5 points a game.
Abby Norwillo (Penn)
The freshman finished second out of 34 competitors in the pole vault at the Fastrack National Invitational last Saturday at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, N.Y. The Pittston Area grad cleared 12 feet, 5 ¼ inches which was an ECAC Division I qualifier. She tried three times at a height of 12 feet, 11 ½ inches but came up short all three times. Norwillo’s personal record is 12 feet, 6 ½ inches which she recorded when she finished first in the Penn 8-Team Select meet on Jan. 19 in Philadelphia.
Autumn Kaminsky (Bloomsburg)
The sophomore had her best meet of the winter at the Bucknell Tune-Up last Saturday in Lewisburg. The Holy Redeemer grad finished fourth in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 9.63. She trailed three women from Division I Lehigh. Kaminsky also finished fourth in the 60 meter dash with a time of 8.63. She finished 11th in the 60 hurdles with a personal best time of 9.33 at the PSAC Indoor Championships last February.
Colin Browne (Penn College)
The true freshman has a 7-15 record competing at 174 pounds for the Penn College wrestling team but the Elmer L. Meyers grad is 4-3 in his last seven matches. Browne picked up an 18-2 technical fall as the Wildcats dropped Alfred State 50-6 last Sunday in Rochester, N.Y., to help the team record a school record 12th dual meet victory on the season. His other victories came against Southern Vermont (15-6 decision), Penn State Mont Alto (.40 second pin) and against Wilkes (11-5 decision).
Karalyn Sitch (Immaculata)
The junior finished third in the mile run at the Albright Invitational last Saturday in Reading. Her time was 6:30.41. She finished first in the mile at the Muhlenberg Indoor Invitational on Jan. 25 in Allentown with a time of 6:13.60. Sitch from Weatherly and an MMI Prep grad, posted a personal record time of 6:08.58 in her freshman season. She was a key performer with the Mighty Macs’ women’s cross country team last fall, finishing 16th in the Atlantic East Conference Championship in October.
Emily Carey (Ithaca)
The Ithaca sophomore finished fourth in the pole vault at Colgate’s Class of ’32 Invitational last Saturday in Hamilton, N.Y. with a height of 10 feet, 11 ¾ inches. The Northwest Area grad also finished seventh in the long jump with a 14 foot, 9 ¼ inches. She was the second best Division III finisher. Carey hit a personal record height of 11 feet, ¼ inches in the pole vault when she finished sixth at the Bomber Invitational on Feb. 2-3 in Ithaca, N.Y. That met the ECAC Division III Championship standard.
Marcus Joseph (Sacred Heart)
The 5-foot-9, 180-pound sophomore has played in 25 games on defense for the Sacred Heart men’s hockey team, the Pioneers 12-13-1 overall and 11-9-2 in Atlantic Hockey League play. The team has won five straight and has outscored opponents 21-9, Joseph and the defense limiting foes to one goal in two of those contests. Joseph is from Mountain Top and played with three different junior hockey teams prior to going to Sacred Heart. He played in 29 games and had four assists as a freshman.
Jared Krawetz (Ursinus)
The 5-foot-11 junior had a solid meet as the Ursinus men’s swim team defeated Washington College 152-103 on Feb. 2 in Chestertown, Md. The Dallas grad captured the 200 freestyle (1:48.29), finished second in the 500 freestyle (4:58.45) and swam the anchor leg on the winning 400 medley relay (3:34.88). Senior Reid Luksic, also a Dallas grad, finished third in the 200 breaststroke (2:21.89) and fourth in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.14) for the Bears.
Carly Ray (Lock Haven)
Along with Steph Parker were honored on Senior Day with the Lock Haven women’s swim team last Saturday in Lock Haven, the Bald Eagles losing 125-90 to Kutztown. Ray, a Coughlin grad, captured the 50 freestyle (25.77) and swam a leg on the winning 200 medley relay (1:57.99). Parker, a Berwick Area grad, also swam a leg on the 200 medley and finished third in the 100 breaststroke (1:15.60) and the 200 breaststroke (2:43.13). The PSAC Championships start next Wednesday in York.