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Delaware Valley senior wrestler Aaron Karns has earned the right to shoot for his third straight All-America season.
Karns (Berwick), a two-time team captain, captured the 197-pound title at last weekend’s NCAA East Regional in Roanoke, Virginia. His 8-0 victory in the final match helped the Aggies capture the team title by one point. He had a pin and three decisions on the weekend.
This will be Karns’ fourth trip to the NCAA Championships, set for March 13-14 in Hershey. He earned All-America honors when he finished sixth in 2013 and fourth last season.
This year, Karns is the No. 1-ranked wrestler in his weight class going into the tournament. He’s 29-3 on the season and is 118-24 for his career.
ROME QUALIFIES TWICE: William & Mary freshman Regan Rome will be competing in the mile and with the 4×800 relay at this weekend’s ECAC Indoor Track Championships in Boston.
Rome (Dallas) finished fifth in the mile at the Virginia Tech Challenge with a personal best time of 4:55.31, four seconds faster than her previous best effort. She also ran a leg on the 4×800 which captured the race with a time of 9:15.68, well under the ECAC qualifying standard.
BUSY WEEKEND FOR ROBINSON: Lock Haven junior Ben Robinson competed and scored in three events to help the Bald Eagles finish third in last weekend’s PSAC Indoor Track Championships.
Robinson (Tunkhannock) finished second in the mile (4:18.22) the first day and third in the 5k (14:54.38) the second day. And, later that second day, he went out and finished sixth in the 3k (8:40.34) to score 17 points on the weekend. Lock Haven totaled 81 points.
BOLTON, VITI LEAD COUGARS: Misericordia captured its first-ever Middle Atlantic Conference women’s track championship and juniors Bianca Bolton and Amy Viti had big performances for the Cougars.
Bolton (Pittston Area) captured the 3,000 (10:26.9) and the 5,000 (18:32.43). Viti (Hanover Area) improved on her own meet record, winning the 400-meter dash in 58.24. She also finished second in the 800 (2:28.68).
Both earned a pair of All-Conference honors and Misericordia totaled 151 points to top the 11-team field.
BIG MEET FOR JIMCOSKY: Dickinson sophomore Amanda Jimcosky (Northwest) captured the high jump, finished second in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump in last weekend’s Centennial Conference Indoor Track Championships in Haverford.
She cleared 5-3 in the high jump, 34-6.25 in the triple jump and 16-3 in the long jump as the Red Devil women finished third.
VEST, ZERFOSS IN ACTION: Sophomore Collin Vest (Wyoming Valley West) and junior Sarah Zerfoss (Dallas) will be competing in the diving portion of the NCAA Division II Swimming Championships this week in Indianapolis.
Vest has qualified in both dives for the men – the 1-meter (291.14) and the 3-meter (319.6). Zerfoss has also qualified in the 1-meter (268.8) and the 3-meter (275.05) for the women.
The top 18 men and the top 22 women will move on to the NCAA Championship proper starting Wednesday.
BAKER’S ZONING IN: Marist senior Jacob Baker of Shavertown (Wyoming Seminary) will be competing in the NCAA Division I Zone Diving Championships starting Monday in Buffalo, New York. It will be his first trip to the meet.
He prepped by finishing fourth in both the 1-meter (269.50) and 3-meter (288.15) at last weekend’s ECAC Championships in Pittsburgh. He finished fourth in both events to help the Red Foxes finish second in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference a week earlier.
COLLEY BROTHERS READY: Senior Gavin and sophomore Josh Colley (Tunkhannock) are ready to go in two of the biggest meets of the season for the Widener indoor track team – The ECAC Championships this weekend at the Armory in New York and the NCAA Division III Championship March 13-14 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Gavin posted a 6.97 to easily lead the field in the 60 meter dash prelim in last weekend’s Middle Atlantic Conference Indoor Championship, but he didn’t compete in the final.
“It looked like Gavin was dehydrated and started to cramp in his calf,” coach Vince Touey said. “The meet was already in hand (Widener winning its sixth straight title) so I decided racing hard on a cramping muscle wasn’t worth the risk.”
Colley’s 60 meter time this year ranks third in NCAA Division III.
Josh Colley set a conference and school record in the long jump, his 23-9.75 effort places him second on the Division III list.
A SECOND FOR SUTTON: Sophomore Kieran Sutton (Lake-Lehman) finished second in the 5,000 meter run to help Shippensburg capture its fifth straight PSAC Indoor Track Championships last weekend in Edinboro. He covered the distance in 14:40.17, which was 30 seconds faster than he finished in the event last year.
A week earlier, Sutton posted an 8:13.91time in the 3k at the Terrier Invitational in Boston, which ranks eighth in the nation in Division II.
The NCAA Division II Indoor Championship is set for March 13-14 in Birmingham, Alabama.
TITLE FOR KARNOPP: Junior Ryan Karnopp captured the pole vault at last weekend’s Landmark Conference Indoor Track Championships in Selinsgrove to help the Moravian men’s team capture its sixth straight team title.
The defending champion, Karnopp (Tunkhannock) cleared 15-feet, 9-inches. That qualified him for this weekend’s ECAC Championships in New York. Karnopp is defending champion in that meet as well.
SILVER FOR POLLITT: Syracuse senior Donald Pollitt (Hazleton Area) finished second in the 60-meter hurdles at last weekend’s ACC Indoor Track Championships in Blacksburg, Virginia. His time was 7.83.
Next for Pollitt is the NCAA Division I Championships March 13-14 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He earned second team All-America honors last year when he finished 12th. He earned All-America honors when he finished sixth in the 110-meter hurdles outdoors as a sophomore.
POPPLE READY TO GO: Harvard junior Josh Popple (Coughlin) will take a 19-13 record into this Friday’s Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championship in Bethlehem.
Wrestling at 184 pounds, Popple has picked up six pins, four technical falls and four major decisions. He prepped for the EIWA meet by pinning Zack Hernandez in 4:13 as the Crimson dropped a 27-12 decision to Columbia.