Cubbler on course for 4th trip to NCAA finals
Becca Cubbler is hoping to wrap up her career with the Bloomsburg women’s swim team by earning her fourth trip to the NCAA Division II Championships. If her showing in the first half of the season is any indication, she is heading in the right direction.
The 5-foot-9 senior from Royersford and a Spring-Ford graduate’s strong early-season showing was confirmed by veteran coach Stu Marvin.
“Becca is extremely focused on closing out her career at BU,” he said. “She had an excellent mid-season taper meet at the Zippy Invitational in Akron, achieving four NCAA provisional times.”
Cubbler currently ranks first in the 500 freestyle (5:53.82) and second in the 200 free (1:51.69), 1000 free (10:24.60) and 1650 freestyle (17:10.79) on the PSAC performance chart. She also ranks fifth in Division II in the 500, 14th in the 1000, 17th in the 1650 and 24th in the 200.
Last year, Cubbler earned three All-American certificates at the nationals after finishing 12th in the 500, 13th in the 1000 and 16th in the 1650. She holds the school record in the 200 free (1:50.94), the 500 free (4:53.65) and the 1000 free (10:09.18), the latter two marks coming this season.
“Becca will no doubt make her fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Championship in March,” Marvin said.
The PSAC Championship will be held Feb. 19-22 in York, the NCAA Championship March 1114 in Geneva, OH.
JORDANWOOD(BOYERTOWN) >> The senior is 4-3 overall and 2-2 in dual meets at 285 pounds for the 13th-ranked Lehigh wrestling team. One of his dual meet losses came against No. 3 Penn State in front of a record Stabler Arena crowd of 6,047 on Dec. 6 in Bethlehem, the Nittany Lions winning 2310. He lost a 9-4 decision to Anthony Cassar, the defending national champion and the top-ranked heavyweight wrestler this season. Wood won his match 9-4 to help the Mountain Hawks upset No. 4 Oklahoma State 21-20 on criteria (58-48) on Nov. 16.
CHRISTIAN KELLY (PHOENIXVILLE) >> The 6-foot-4, 210-pound senior forward recorded back-to-back double-doubles for the Lock Haven men’s basketball team. He had 19 points and 12 rebounds in a 77-71 loss to Holy Family in a non-league game on Nov. 26 and had 18 points and 10 rebounds in an 86-80 PSAC game on Dec. 7. They were his third and fourth double-doubles of the season. Kelly leads the 4-3 Bald Eagles in scoring (19.3) and rebounding (9.0), along with 28 assists, eight blocked shots and seven steals.
JIMMY FRATANTONI (OWEN J. ROBERTS) >> The senior is having another standout season with the Muhlenberg wrestling team. He stands 4-1 in dual meets and 12-3 overall with a pin, three major decisions and three technical falls. Fratantoni finished second in the McGinley Invitational on Nov. 9 in Wilkes-Barre and third in Messiah’s Petrofes Invitational on Dec. 6-7 in Grantham. He has a lifetime dual meet record of 32-11 and an overall record of 67-30 with 10 falls, 13 major decisions and 18 technical falls.
KATIE PARKER (SPRINGFORD) >> The freshmen helped the Monmouth women’s swim team finished third out of 13 teams at the ECAC Winter Championships Dec. 6-8 in East Meadow, N.Y. Parker swam the anchor leg on the 800 free relay which finished third. She also picked up points for finishing 16th in the 200 IM in 2:15.60 and for finishing 20th in the 200 freestyle in 1:59.17. She just missed earning points when she finished 29th in the 500 freestyle with a personal best time of 5:24.52. ALEX LONGACRE (BOYERTOWN) >> The sophomore helped the Drew men’s swim team capture its home invitational for the fourth straight season on Dec. 6-7 in Madison, N.J. Longacre finished second in the 200 backstroke in 2:06.68 and the versatile swimmer also scored points by finishing seventh in the 400 IM in 4:37.22 and ninth in the 500 freestyle in 5:09.80. He also competes in the 200 and 400 IM, the 50 and 100 breaststroke, the 100 backstroke and the 200 and 1000 freestyle for the Rangers.
MADDIE MCKEAN (THE HILL SCHOOL) >> The sophomore from Chester Springs captured the 100 butterfly for the Middlebury women’s swim team in a 176.5112.5 loss to unbeaten Amherst in a dual meet prior to the holiday break on Dec. 7 in Amherst, Mass. Her time was 1:02.17. McKean also swam a leg on the 400 medley B unit that finished second behind the A unit with a time of 3:51.28. And, she swam a leg on the 200 medley relay which finished third with a time of 1:50.58. She was one of just four individual winners for the Panthers.
MASON KENNEDY (BOYERTOWN) >> The sophomore helped the Messiah men’s swim team finished fourth out of six teams at the Gettysburg Invitational on Dec. 6-7. Kennedy finished second in the 1,650 freestyle in 17:42.84 and third in the 400 IM in 4:34.28. He also picked up points by finishing ninth in the 500 freestyle in 5:05.98. In a 189-61 victory over Lycoming on Nov. 16, Kennedy finished first in the 200 butterfly in 2:20.90, second in the 200 breaststroke (2:33.15) and swam legs on the winning 200 medley and 400 free relays.
JOEL WILLIAMS (UPPER PERKIOMEN) >> The sophomore had a strong meet for the King’s men’s swim team at the Diamond City Invitational Nov. 23-24 in WilkesBarre,
the Monarchs finishing fifth out of 11 teams. He swam legs on the 400 medley relay which finished third (3:45.37), the 200 medley relay which finished sixth (1:31.48) and the 400 free relay which finished sixth (3:25.35). Individually, Williams was fifth in the 100 backstroke (59.04) and seventh in both the 100 butterfly (57.16) and the 200 backstroke (2:10.15). MADDIE HANEY (SPRINGFORD) >> The 5-foot-10 sophomore guard is starting for the Jefferson women’s basketball team. She’s averaging 8.4 points and 4.9 rebounds a game with 15 assists and five steals. She has hit 10 of 21 3-pointer (47.6 percent). Haney had a career-high 19 points in an 8576 victory over Wilmington (Del.) on Dec. 3 which was aided by hitting 3 of 6 from outside the arc. That bettered her previous career high of 15 points which she recorded in a 70-49 loss to East Stroudsburg on Dec. 1. SETH STANKIEWICZ (THE HILL SCHOOL) >> The 6-foot senior from Reading has played in all 10 games off the bench for the Bentley men’s basketball team, the Falcons 8-2 overall and 3-1 in the Northeast-10 Conference. Stankiewicz is averaging 8.2 points a game with 22 assists, 21 rebounds and five steals. He had a season-high 14 points in a 9565 victory over New York Tech on Nov. 23 and had 11 points and six assists in a 92-61 league victory over Stonehill on Nov. 26.