Junior Groth sets Kutztown sprint record in 60 meters

It appears that junior Kelly Groth is going to have a big season sprinting for the Kutztown women’s track team.

Groth, from Audubon and a Methacton High grad, kicked off the indoor season for the Golden Bears by finishing first in both the 60 meter dash and the 200 meter dash at Lehigh’s Fast Times Before Finals meet on Dec. 7-8 in Bethlehem. Her time in the 60 was a personal best and a school record 7.73 and her time in the 200 was 26.07. Both are PSAC qualifiers.

Groth finished 10th in the 60 (7.86) and 14th in the 200 (25.97) in the PSAC Indoor Championship last year as a sophomore and was seventh in the 60 (7.88) and 11th in the 200 (25.87) as a freshman. That 200 time is a personal record.

“Kelly’s record in the 60 comes as no surprise,” Kutztown coach Ray Hoffman said. “When you show up every day and work your tail off good things are going to happen.”

The coach said that Groth decided to make a name for herself when she walked onto the campus as a freshman three years ago.

“Kelly surrounds herself with good people, has outstanding teammates to work with every day and holds herself accountable to do all the little things,” Hoffman said. “The best part is that we have the rest of this year and all of next year, too.”

Kutztown returns to the track Saturday when it hosts the Golden Bear Invitational.

KYLE DIX (PERKIOMEN VALLEY) >> The redshirt junior was named PSAC Men’s Swimmer of the Week on Dec. 11 for his standout performance with Bloomsburg. It was his second honor of the season and this one was for two weeks because the league didn’t issue one the previous week. Dix helped the Huskies finish second in the Zippy Invitational on Nov. 30-Dec. 1 in Akron, OH. He competed in eight events and finished no lower than third in all of them. He won the 100 butterfly in a school record and NCAA B time (48.23). He finished second in the 50 free (20.54) and the 100 breaststroke (45.26) and third in the 100 butterfly (45.37). And he was a member of four relays teams, all of which finished second.

MADDIE COOKE (PHOENIXVILLE) >> The sophomore is a key performer with the Penn State women’s swim team. She helped the Nittany Lions kick off their home schedule on Oct. 12 in University Park by swimming legs on the winning 200 medley relay (1:42.51) and the 400 free relay (3:29.75) in a 196-99 victory over George Washington. Individually, Cooke has the team’s second best time in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.30) and is third on the performance list in the 200 breaststroke (2:23.57) and the 100 butterfly (57.82)

MORGAN BAILEY (OWEN J. ROBERTS) >> The 6-foot-5, 230-pound senior forward was named Atlantic East Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Dec. 21 after a strong game for the Immaculata men’s basketball team in a 91-88 double overtime victory over Alvernia on Dec. 19 in Immaculata. He had 10 rebounds and four blocked shots to go along with eight points. He had 10 points and eight rebounds in a 76-75 loss to Moravian on Dec. 5 also in Immaculata. He’s averaging 3.0 points and 4.3 rebounds a game.

SUSAN BOSSLER (POPE JOHN PAUL II) >> The senior is leading the Gwynedd Mercy women’s basketball team in scoring with a 15.0 average. She’s been the team’s top scorer in five games and has hit 33 of 81 from 3-point range (40.7 percent). Bossler is also averaging 4.7 rebounds a game and is second on the team in assists with 34 and second in steals with 14. The Griffins are 6-7 overall and 0-1 in Atlantic East Conference play after a 66-45 nonleague loss to Scranton on Dec. 18 in Gwynedd Valley.

AVERY CLOSE (PHOENIXVILLE) >> The 6-foot-6 sophomore forward continues to be a solid player for the Gettysburg men’s basketball team, the Bullets 3-9 overall and 2-3 in Centennial Conference play after a 71-59 loss to No. 25 Scranton in a non-league game on Jan. 2 in Scranton. Close had 10 points and seven rebounds in the game but fouled out after just 16 minutes of action. He’s second on the team in scoring (12.4) and rebounding (5.8) and leads the team in blocked shots with 23. LUKE WAITE (PERKIOMEN VALLEY) >> The junior is swimming freestyle for the Rollins men’s team. He finished third in the 100 free with a time of 50.56 to help the Tars top Baldwin-Wallace in the final meet before the semester break on Dec. 18 in Winter Park, Fla. His best time in that event came in the SCAD Invitational No. 29-Dec. 1 in Savannah, Ga., when he was clocked in 49.82. He finished third in the 500 free in 5:04.15 earlier this season but topped that mark in the SCAD event with a time of 4:54.00.

TIM LAGRECA (OWEN J. ROBERTS) >> The junior is the only diver competing for the Lafayette men’s swim team. He’s been in two meets thus far this season and only in the 1-meter dive. LaGreca opened the season by finishing second in a 157-110 loss to Loyola on Oct. 20 in Baltimore, Md. His score was 136.20. He improved that score when he finished second in a 202-80 loss to rival Lehigh on Nov. 16 in Easton. His score in that meet was a careerbest 158.18.

SUSANNA SHIER (PHOENIXVILLE) >> The West Chester junior competed in the pole vault her first two seasons with the women’s track team but she kicked off the indoor season by competing in the weight throw and shot put at Lehigh’s Fast Times Before Finals meet on Dec. 7-8 in Bethlehem. She finished 15th in the weight throw with a toss of 39 feet, 5 inches and was 21st in the shot put with a heave of 28 feet, 1 inch. Shier competed in 16 meets as a pole vaulter for the Golden Rams and had a personal best height of 9 feet, 10 inches.

JACKIE HAMMILL (UPPER PERKIOMEN) >> The senior wrapped up the first semester with her two solid efforts for the Widener women’s swim team. In a 197-65 victory over Salisbury on Dec. 1 in Chester, Hammill finished third in the 200 butterfly (2:31.86), third in the 100 butterfly (1:11.87) and fourth in the 100 freestyle (1:02.70). In a 158-95 triumph over Misericordia also in Chester, she was fourth in the 200 IM (2:32.92), fourth in the 200 fly (2:32.01) and eighth in the 100 fly (1:07.01).

AMANDA LYNN (METHACTON) >> After a slow start, the sophomore has been coming on for the Cabrini women’s swim team. She had her best finish of the season when she was third in the 200 butterfly with a time of 3:30.61 in a tri-match between the Cavaliers, Bethany (W.Va.) and Franciscan (OH) Dec. 8 in Radnor. Prior to that, she finished sixth in both the 1000 freestyle in 14:48.49 and the 200 backstroke in 3:10.86 in a 142120 victory over Alfred State on Dec. 1 in Alfred, N.Y.