Jaworski starting at Layfayette after injury
Senior Jaworski recovered from injury and starring for Lafayette
If the Lafayette men’s basketball coaching staff had any worries about the health of senior Justin Jaworski, it ended in the season opener.
Jaworski, from Schwenksville and a Perkiomen Valley graduate, scored a careerhigh 37 points as the Leopards dropped a tough 90-89 overtime decision to Patriot League rival Lehigh on Jan. 2. He came back with 28 points to lead his team to an 80-72 triumph over the Mountain Hawks on Jan. 3. The 6-foot-3 guard, who missed the final seven games last season with a knee injury, was named Patriot Player of the Week on Jan. 6.
“Jaws is certainly back to his old self,” coach Fran O’Hanlon said. “He has worked so hard to get back fully healthy and does so many little things all over the court that lead to the success of our team.”
Lafayette is 4-1 playing only league games after nipping Loyola (Md) 77-75 last Saturday in Easton. Jaworski had a game-high 25 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals in the game. He is averaging 23.2 points and 5.0 rebounds with 11 assists and nine steals after the five games. He has connected on 17 of 38 from the 3-point line (44.7 percent).
The standout is moving up in the Lafayette record book. He became the 46th 1,000-point scorer last year and currently stands 20th in career points with 1,278.
Jaworski was named Patriot Scholar-Athlete of the Year and earned second team
All-Patriot honors and became a three-time Patriot League Honor Roll selection after a perfect 4.0 grade point average in economics during the spring semester. He averaged 17.1 points per game last season.
“Jaws is the heart and soul of our team,” O’Hanlon said. “He brings so much as far as his leadership and helping our younger guys along. He really makes us go.” MADDIE COOKE (PHOENIXVILLE) » The senior had an impressive start to her season with the Penn State women’s swim team. The Nittany Lions opened with a 157-141 loss to No. 21 Ohio State last Saturday in Columbus, OH. Cooke captured the 50 freestyle in 22.78 and finished second in the 100 butterfly in 55.33. She also led off the 400 free relay which finished second. The time for her split was 50.12, which is the top time in her career. Her top times in the 50 free (22.45) and 100 breaststroke (1:00.83) came in last year’s Big Ten Championship and are both sixth best in the school record book. JESSICA HUTCHINSON (BOYERTOWN) » The freshman from Gilbertsville and Sylvia’s Gymnastics in Perkiomenville made her debut with the Denver women’s gymnastics in a 196.600195.500 Big 12 Conference victory over Iowa State last Friday in Ames, IA. She finished second in all-events with a score of 39.150. It was the third highest score by any Denver gymnast making her debut. Her total was aided when she tied for second in bars (9.850) and tied for third in vault (9.650). She scores of 9.850 on floor and 9.800 on beam.
MEGAN JONASSEN (PERKIOMEN VALLEY) » The 6-foot junior is starting at forward for the Fordham women’s basketball team, the Rams 6-3 overall and 3-2 in Atlantic 10 Conference play. Jonassen had a double-double (14 points and 11 rebounds) in a 7964 loss to Davidson on Dec. 21 and 12 points and nine rebounds in a 71-42 triumph over Albany on Dec. 22. In the team’s 6156 loss to Massachusetts on Jan. 10, she had six points and a career-high 14 rebounds. She played in 64 games with three starts heading into this season.
JEFF WOODWARD (METHACTON) » The 6-foot-11, 265-pound freshman center has come off the bench in all five games for the Colgate men’s basketball team, the Raiders 4-1 after a 95-55 victory over Holy Cross last Saturday in Clinton, N.Y. Woodward had three points, seven rebounds, five assists and a blocked shot in the game. He kicked off his college career by scoring six points, pulling down eight rebounds and picking up two assists in 15 minutes in a season-opening 101-57 triumph over Army on Jan. 2 in a home game in Hamilton, N.Y.
EMILY SYKES (METHACTON) » The senior is in her fourth season competing with the Tennessee women’s swim team, the Vols ranked 11th in the nation and fresh from an impressive 178.5-121.5 Southeast Conference home-pool victory over Kentucky last Thursday in Knoxville. Sykes competed in three events and just missed scoring points in all of them. She was sixth in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.16), sixth in the 200 breaststroke (2:16.37) and seventh in the 400 IM (4:23.51). ALFONSO MESTRE (THE HILL SCHOOL) » The sophomore from Pottstown had a solid performance for the Florida men’s swim team as the Gators topped Auburn 521426 in the Auburn Invitational prior to the semester break on Nov. 18-20 in Auburn, Ala. Mestre finished third in the 500 freestyle (4:18.14), fifth in the 200 freestyle (1:37.62) and seventh in the 200 freestyle (1:48.26). He also posted a time of 44.90 in the 100 free prelims. All four times are personal records. Florida opens the second semester on Friday when it travels to Auburn again.
FALL SPORTS
KAMAL GRAY (POPE JOHN PAUL II) » The freshman walk-on was named Offensive Player of the Game in his only start for the Temple football team. It came in the Owls’ final game, a 28-3 loss to East Carolina on Nov. 24. The 5-foot-11, 185-pounder connected on 10 of 21 passes for 95 yards and carried the ball twice for 13 yards. He was the first true freshman to start at quarterback at Temple since 2013. He was named PAC Player of the Year last season when he threw for 2,744 yards with 38 touchdowns and rushed for 620 yards and seven scores. ALLY BRUNTON (OWEN J. ROBERTS) » The senior was the top finisher for Pittsburgh at the Atlantic Coast Conference cross country championship on Oct. 30 in Cary, N.C., the Panthers finishing 14th. Brunton finished 54th out of 131 runners and covered the 6,000 meter course in 21:23.2. That was a big improvement over her previous two efforts in the ACC meet. She finished 105th as a junior and 120th as a sophomore. She didn’t run in the event as a freshman. MATTIE GALLAGHER (BOYERTOWN) » The Navy women’s soccer team played an abbreviated fall schedule with the freshman goalkeeper from Boyertown earning the starting job for fall finale. Navy went 0-3 against nationally-ranked Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech, Gallagher getting playing time in a 4-1 loss to Pitt before starting a 2-1 loss to Va. Tech on Oct. 24. Gallagher made nine saves while allowing two goals. Navy will compete in a spring season with fellow Patriot League teams American, Bucknell, Lehigh and Loyola. MICHELE DANIELS (PERKIOMEN VALLEY) » The Monmouth senior was named to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Academic Team in women’s cross country. She majors in biology. Rider junior Teagan Schein-Becker (Perkiomen Valley) was also named to the team. She is a graphic design major. On the men’s side, Monmouth junior Shane Ainscoe (SpringFord) was named. He is majoring in business marketing. The MAAC didn’t compete in cross country this past fall because of the Covid-19 pandemic.