McKeesport, PA. – On Saturday May 4th, hundreds of people will pack the Wunderly Gymnasium at Penn State Greater Allegheny to celebrate the class of 2019 as they receive their diplomas and get ready to leap into adulthood. While 50 students get ready to receive their diplomas, the PSUGA Athletics Department will see 21 of its student-athletes finish up their athletic careers and prepare for the next step in their lives off the court.
This year’s graduating class has been one of the most successful on the court in PSUGA history. Combined the group has been to the Penn State University Athletic Conference playoffs 12 times, brought home two PSUAC Championships, and made the United States Collegiate Athletic Association National Tournaments three times. In their senior season’s the athletes combined to go 51-56-2 between their six sports and five of those six teams made the post-season.
Men’s Soccer leads this year’s group of graduates with eight of it’s players moving on. Yam Bista (Pittsburgh, PA./Baldwin HS), Dharma Kharel (White Hall, PA./Brashear HS), Radha Timsina (Pittsburgh, PA./Baldwin HS), Prajal Sharma (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin HS), Belmo Nurkic (Pittsburgh, PA./Baldwin HS), Jagesh Subba (Pittsburgh, PA./Baldwin HS), Nic Babic (White Hall, PA./Baldwin HS) and Raghu Chimoriya (Pittsburgh, PA./Ellis Prep Academy) lead Soccer to the PSUAC playoffs for the fourth year in a row with a record of 7-4-2. They made it to the semifinals after defeating PSU-York in the quarterfinals with a 2-0 win, but PSU-Brandywine proved to be too much as they fell 4-0 ending their year.
Women’s Basketball will see one of it’s players receive their diploma as senior Andrea Burroughs (New Rochelle, NY./New Rochelle HS) moves on. Burroughs has helped the women’s basketball team continue to grow over her four years leading to a PSUAC playoff berth in her senior season. Her team set the new program record for wins in a season going 15-11 (11-4) and grabbing the #2 seed in the PSUAC West Division.
Men’s Basketball finds themselves second on the list with seven seniors in 2019. Antonio Hill (West Mifflin, PA./West Mifflin HS), Mhonte Newsome (Baltimore, MD./Our Lady of Mt. Carmel), Jordan Owens (Pittsburgh, PA./Allderdice HS), Juwan Ledbetter (Pittsburgh, PA./Allderdice HS), Jordan Jenkins (Pittsburgh, PA./University Prep), George Prota (Elizabeth, PA./Elizabeth HS), and Jordon Payne (McKeesport, PA./McKeesport HS) led their team to the playoffs for the fourth straight year. This year’s senior class is the only one in PSUGA history to make the PSUAC playoffs in all four of their years and leave PSUGA with a combined record of 72-37 (51-16) making them the winningest class in program history.
Baseball will see three of it’s athletes move on as Dylan Ernst (McKeesport, PA./McKeesport HS), Zack Craven (McKeesport, PA./McKeesport HS), and Marcos Lopez (Caglas, Puerto Rico/Ramey HS) end their careers. It was another playoff season for their team as they made the playoff for the third time in their four-year careers. They grabbed the #3 seed in the PSUAC West Division after a series sweep over PSU-New Kensington and the senior class produced one PSUAC All-Conference player when Ernst was named 1st-Team All-Conference on Thursday.
Softball will see Savanna Simm (West Mifflin, Pa./West Mifflin HS) move on after two years with the team. She started her career in the 2016 season as a freshman where she hit .207 In 19 games. She came back strong this season hitting .256 and finishing third on the team with six RBI in 18 games played.
Track & Field rounds out the list of seniors with the first-year program seeing Chris Clinton (Pittsburgh, PA./Allderdice HS) continue on. It was a big year for the Track team as they sent nine to the USCAA National Championships. Clinton was one of those nine competing in the 100-Meter dash where he received a bronze medal with a time of 12.33 seconds.
The PSUGA Athletics Department wishes all of it’s seniors the best of luck as they take the next step in their lives. Congratulations on all your accomplishments here at PSUGA and we hope you carry the Be Greater mentality into everything you do.