OJR grad Kupsov earns all-region honors
Longwood University forward Emilie Kupsov (Owen J. Roberts) added another postseason accolade by being selected to the United Soccer Coaches (USC) All-Southeast Region Team last week. It comes on the heels of her selection to the All-Big South first team.
Kupsov was Longwood’s top goal-scorer for the second straight year in 2018, setting career highs with eight goals and 18 points as a junior. A native of Pottstown, she scored six of those in her final eight games of the season and tied for the Big South lead with seven goals in conference play. In her past two seasons, she has 16 goals, six assists and 36 points in 39 career games while ranking among the Big South’s top 10 in goals and points per game in backto-back years.
Joined on the All-Southeast Region team by teammate Sydney Wallace, the Big South Defensive Player of the Year, it was the first time Longwood had two players on the all-region team.
Also at Longwood, freshman Kylie Cahill (Owen J. Roberts) saw action in nine games (two starts). KEVIN BASCH (POTTSGROVE) >> Kevin Basch got off to a slow start with the University of Delaware men’s swim team this season but the junior is starting to roll and proving once again that he’s one of the top distance freestyle performers in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Basch, from Pottstown and a Pottsgrove graduate, finished first in the 500 freestyle in 4:42.08 and first in the 1,000 free in 9:43.43 as the Blue Hens dropped a double dual meet to Rider (201.5-91.5) and La Salle (185-101) on Saturday, Nov. 10 in Newark, Del.
At Cleveland State’s annual Magnus Cup on Nov. 16-18 in Cleveland, OH, Basch finished fourth in the 1,650 free in 15:47.15, eighth in the 200 free (1:41.69) and ninth in the 500 free (4:35.12). The Blue Hens finished fifth out of nine teams.
Basch has his eyes set on the CAA Championships Feb. 20-23 in Richmond, Va. As a sophomore, he finished second in the 1,650 in 16:02.77 and fourth in the 500 free in 4:27.27. He’s already bettered his 1,650 time.
FRANKIE KRAUSS (SPRING-FORD) >> The senior is having another big season with the York wrestling team. He’s currently 10-0 in the 184-pound class with two pins, two major decisions and two technical falls. He has competed in two tournaments and came away with victories in both. He went 5-0 and won the title for the second straight year with a 5-4 decision in the title match at King’s Monarch Invitational on Nov. 3 in Wilkes-Barre and went 4-0 to cop the title at the Ursinus Fall Brawl on Nov. 10 in Collegeville. Last year, Krauss qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship after finishing third in the Southeast Regionals. He won one match in the Nationals and has a 73-27 career record.
SUSAN BOSSLER (POPE JOHN PAUL II) >> The 5-foot-6 senior guard had a career-high 24 points but her Gwynedd Mercy women’s basketball team dropped the second game of the Sisters of Mercy Tournament 73-69 to Salve Regina on Nov. 25 in Dallas. She had 21 points in the title game 71-64 loss to Saiisbury in the college’s Tip-Off Tournament on Nov. 17 in Gwynedd Valley. Bossler leads the 3-4 Griffins in scoring with a 16.3 average. She’s scored in double figures in all seven games. She also is averaging 4.4 rebounds a game and is second in assists with 18.
DEMITRI D’ORSANEO (OWEN J. ROBERTS) >> The senior kicked off his season with the No. 2-ranked Ithaca wrestling team by finishing second in the Ithaca Invitational on Nov. 3 in Ithaca, N.Y. He won his first four matches with a pin and three technical falls before losing a 6-4 decision in the title match. D’Orsaneo followed that up by going 1-2 in the Northeast Duals on Nov. 10 in Troy, N.Y. He entered the season with a 25-23 record, all at 149 pounds, in his first three seasons with the Bombers.
JACKIE LERRO (POPE JOHN PAUL II) >> The Lynchburg sophomore and Johns Hopkins junior Katie McErlean (Phoenixvlle) were named to the National Field Hockey Coached Association Division III All-South Region first team last Wednesday. Lerro had 19 goals and 12 assists for 50 points with four game-winners. McEarlean finished with nine goals and seven assists for 25 points with three gamewinners. College of Wooster senior Erika Womack (Perkiomen Valley) was named to the All-Great Lakes Region second team.
CHRISTIAN KELLY (PHOENIXVILLE) >> The Lock Haven men’s basketball team has played just three games (12) but the 6-foot-4, 210-pound junior guard has already established himself on offense for the Bald Eagles. Kelly leads the team in scoring with a 17.7 average and is tied for first in rebounding with a 6.0 average. He had a season-high 23 points in a 67-59 loss to Virginia Union on Nov. 11 and 15 points and eight rebounds in a 96-80 victory over Carlow on Nov. 19.
AVERY CLOSE (PHOENIXVILLE) >> The 6-foot-6, 185-pound sophomore forward had career highs in points (25) and rebounds (11) to lead the Gettysburg men’s basketball team to a 9284 victory over Ithaca on Nov. 16 in Gettysburg. He’s second on the team in scoring (14.8) and rebounding (6.3) and leads the team with 11 blocked shots. The Bullets are 2-4 overall and opened play in the Centennial Conference with an 84-71 victory over Franklin & Marshall on Nov. 20 in Gettysburg. Close had 14 points in the game.
MITCH DOWD (OWEN J. ROBERTS) >> The Pitt-Bradford wrestling team went 0-4 at the John Carroll Duals on Nov. 18 in University Heights, OH but the sophomore went 4-0 at 197 pounds. He was the only wrestler in his weight class to post a 4-0 record. His victories were 13-2 against Lourdes, 6-4 against Waynesburg, 6-1 against Urbana and a medical forfeit against John Carroll. The Panthers, in their first season of Division III wrestling, opened with a 28-17 loss to Penn State Behrend on Nov. 2 and Dowd got the team’s first-ever pin and it came in 51 seconds.
KATIE ARMSTRONG (PERKIOMEN VALLEY) >> The red-shirt junior, a St. Joseph’s transfer, is the leading scorer on the Fairfield women’s basketball team, the Stags 2-4 after losing three games in the Turkey Tip-Off Nov. 2325 in Providence, R.I. The 6-foot-2 junior is averaging 13.2 points a game and had a season-high 20 points in a 71-43 victory over LIU-Brooklyn on Nov. 13. She’s been the team’s top scorer in five of six games. She’s also averaging 3.5 rebounds a game and has nine steals.
KYLE GORANT (THE HILL SCHOOL) >> The true freshman from Coopersburg is competing at 133 pounds for the Davidson wrestling team. Gorant has started every match for the Wildcats and is 7-4 overall and 3-0 in dual meets with five falls. He scored his team’s only points when he pinned his opponent in 5:35 in a 47-6 loss to No. 3-ranked North Carolina State Nov. 17 in Raleigh, N.C. His other dual meet victories came in a 41-3 win over Greensboro (pin in 2:53) and in a 3117 triumph over UNC Pembroke (15-2 major decision).
LAUREN SIMPSON (BOYERTOWN) >> The senior helped Simmons turn back the University of New England 248-46 in a women’s swim meet on Nov. 17 in Boston, Mass. Simpson captured the 200 freestyle in 2:03.73 and finished second in both the 200 breaststroke (2:45.63) and the 200 IM (226.08). In the first meet of the season, a 164-132 triumph over Westfield State in Westfield, Mass, Simmons finished first in the 200 free (2:05.44) and the 500 free (5:42.50) and swam a leg on the 200 medley relay which finished second in 1:58.15.