Shoudt, ‘Shoes’ quite a pair at PA Hall induction
Bob Shoudt, who began his more than 50 years of coaching track and field with a stop at Chichester High, was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in WilkesBarre Saturday night.
Shoudt chose Billy “White Shoes” Johnson, the former Chichester and Widener University football and track standout and member of the NFL’s All-75th Anniversary team, to accompany him when was introduced at the beginning of the ceremony. Johnson, who was inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame last week, is also a member of the PA Sports Hall of Fame.
“There’s no doubt about it, that he played a huge role in my success,” Johnson said in a story about Shoudt several years ago. “He was the one who taught me hard work, discipline and good work ethics, never settling for second-best, no matter what happens. He taught me that mind-set.
“That mindset made me a state champion and even a professional football player. I had plenty of good influences, but he was probably the major catalyst for me.”
After coaching at Chichester, Shoudt guided the Norristown High boys track team to the 1973 state championship. He also coached at Ursinus College and recently was inducted into the Ursinus Hall of Fame.
Shoudt took over the women’s track program at Villanova University in 1981, and the Wildcats broke the world record in the distance medley relay at the 1984 Penn Relays.
Moravian College sophomore Natalie Novotni, a graduate of Sun Valley, finished first at the Landmark Conference cross country championships hosted by Lebanon Valley College last weekend.
Novotni earned all-conference honors and was named the Landmark Conference Women’s Runner of the Year. She turned in a career-best time of 22 minutes, 58.60 seconds on the
6,000-meter course. “Natalie has made a steady ascension since March,” Moravian coach Jesse Baumann said. “She deserves a ton of credit. She worked (hard) all summer and transformed herself from someone who wasn’t even in contention for all-conference honors
12 months ago to finishing first.
“Natalie is no nonsense, no complaints, just a quiet, devoted runner who shows up each day to put in the work. Her win was entirely due to her dedication and mental toughness. She has the potential to be one of the next greats in our program’s storied history of women’s distance runners.”
The Sports Legends of Delaware County Museum, located at 301 Iven Avenue in Wayne, has put together a 2019 calendar featuring photos of a number of the county sports legends whose accomplishments are saluted in the museum’s displays.
The limited edition calendars will sell for $10 apiece or three for $25. An additional $5 charge will be made for each calendar more than three per order.
For information, contact museum curator Jim Vankoski at 610-909-4919.
Villanova sophomore Riley Dolan, an All-Delco selection during her days at Bonner & Prendergast, was one of four Wildcats named to the All-Big East field hockey second team.
She was joined in earning second-team honors by senior goalie Erika Miller and juniors Megan Vermeil and Christen Pennington. Miller and Vermeil played for a state championship team while at Villa Maria, and Pennington is a graduate of Neshaminy.
Dolan, a midfielder, scored one goal and had five assists as Villanova posted a 9-9 record in the regular season and qualified for the Big East playoffs for the first time since 2015.
Miller twice was named Big East Defensive Player of the Week, and Vermeil shared honors with Lydia Sydnor (Radnor High) as ‘Nova’s leading goal scorer with eight.
Penn State Brandywine senior Brianna Banks has been named the Penn State University Athletic Conference women’s soccer player of the year for the third consecutive season. Brandywine junior Arianna Segich was chosen as the conference’s top defensive player.
Banks scored three or more goals in five games this season and had at least one point in each of her team’s eight conference games. She has 74 career goals and 20 assists.
Segich helped the Brandywine defense record six shutouts and allow only three goals in conference play.
Among the Penn State Brandywine players earning all-conference honorable mention were goalkeeper Emily Bush, and midfielders Averie Florschutz, Emily Jefferson, Amanda Roy, and Rachel Weir.
Brandywine (12-4) is the No. 6 seed in the USCAA Tournament and will face Albany College of Pharmacy in the first round Friday.
Jill (Depetris) Batcheller, an All-Delco from Archbishop Carroll, is the new women’s lacrosse coach at Drexel University. She comes to Drexel after six seasons as head coach at Bryant University, where her teams won three Northeast Conference titles.
After playing at Syracuse University, where she scored more than 100 points, helped the Orange to its first Big East title (2007), and earned Big East All-Academic honors, she spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Saint Joseph’s University then was an assistant at Brown University for three years before heading to Bryant (Smithfield, Rhode Island).
Maddy Lesher, another Carroll All-Delco, will be one of Batcheller’s assistants at Drexel. She has been an assistant coach at Bryant for two seasons, helping the 2018 team to the program’s fifth consecutive NEC regular-season championship.
Lesher, who has worked with Phantastix Lacrosse’s highly successful program, played at Loyola (Md.), where she was named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year three times and earned AllAmerica honors.
She is a member of the Philadelphia Fire team of the Women’s Professional Lacrosse League.