BY MIKE MASTOVICH
In the three years since her injury-shortened freshman season, Samantha Pollino has emerged as one of the Atlantic 10 Conference’s top stars on the basketball court and in the classroom.
A redshirt junior at Duquesne University, Pollino has been collecting numbers and honors similar to those she had at Conemaugh Valley High School, where she led the Blue Jays to a state runner-up finish and earned Pennsylvania Class A Player of the Year in 2006.
Pollino scored more than 2,000 points and had more than 1,000 rebounds for the Jays.
This season with the Dukes, Pollino was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference Second Team in a vote conducted among the conference’s 14 head coaches. She also was named to the All-Academic team. A physical therapy major, Pollino has a 3.61 grade point average. On the court, she averaged
12.1 points and 6.1 rebounds a game and ranked in the A-10’s top 13 in four different statistical categories. She topped the 1,000-point and 500-rebound marks for her college career.
Sixth-seeded Duquesne will play No. 11 George Washington in Friday’s opening round of the Atlantic 10 Championship Tournament.
Pollino started 29 of 30 games this season. She started all 32 games as a redshirt sophomore and all 30 games as a redshirt freshman. That’s a pretty impressive run considering that Pollino suffered a season-ending knee injury against city rival Pittsburgh during the second game of her true freshman season in 2006-07.
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Moving on: Former Bishop McCort girls basketball coach and Johnstown native Mike Kirkpatrick’s Gettysburg College women’s basketball team continues to enjoy what has been described as a “magical postseason run.”
Kirkpatrick’s team will play in this weekend’s NCAA Division III Tournament Sectional hosted by Amherst College.
Gettysburg is 24-4 and advanced to the program’s first ever Sweet 16 appearance after beating Farmingdale State College (68-57) and Utica College (71-55) last weekend. Gettysburg will meet 27-3 Babson College on Friday. Undefeated Amherst (29-0) will face Williams College (20-7) in the other first-round game.
Kirkpatrick had been named Centennial Conference Coach of the Year after leading Gettysburg to a tie for first place in the regular season. His team has already broken the school single-season record for wins.
Kirkpatrick grew up in Moxham and graduated from Bishop McCort. He served as an assistant coach with the McCort girls program for four years before holding the varsity head coach position for three seasons from 1979-80 through 1981-82.
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On the right track: Windber High School graduate Nate Davis was named Great Lakes Region Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Tuesday.
Davis is in his third season as an assistant at the University of Wisconsin in the Big Ten.
The former Ramblers standout coaches the Badgers’ jumpers, pole vaulters, multi-event athletes and sprint hurdlers. This year he’s helped three athletes qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships, and two of those won Big Ten Conference championships this season.
Davis’ athletes combined to post a total of 17 NCAA qualifying performances during the indoor season.
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Griffin success: Richland High graduate and Seton Hill freshman Calsie Boyd finished as the runner-up with a
1.60-meter high jump during the NYU Fast Track Invitational at the Armory in New York City.
Three other area graduates are on the Griffins women’s track roster: Junior Tiffany Boyd of Richland; sophomore Katie Vann of Conemaugh Township; and freshman Ashton Walton of Richland.
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Making a pitch: Eric Faint continues to create and capitalize on opportunities for himself in the pro baseball game.
Faint, who stood out at Westmont Hilltop High School, Pitt-Johnstown and in the AAABA League, has been a successful relief pitcher. The 6-foot-2 right-hander specializes in using a side-arm/submarine delivery.
He received an offer to play winter ball in the Arizona Winter League in January. Faint went 1-1 with a 1.61 ERA and five saves for the San Luis Atleticos. The 22-year-old hurler struck out 25 and walked four in 221⁄3 innings. He earned top pitching honors in the league.
Better yet, Faint was offered a pro contract to play for the Tucson Toros in the Golden League.
Mike Mastovich is a sports writer for The Tribune-Democrat.
