Penn College men’s tennis team looks strong, archery coach resigns
While the Pennsylvania College of Technology men’s tennis team gears up for its opener this Saturday at Susquehanna University, five other fall sports teams saw their seasons begin last week and the college’s longtime archery coach resigned.
Men’s tennis
Hard-hitting and consistent. Those are two key components that should propel the Wildcats this season, according to head coach Jessica Bower.
Returning from the spring season, when the team went 5-2, are sophomore Tucker Phillippe-Johansson of Mattituck, New York; senior Blake Whitmire of Shickshinny and junior Joey Morrin of Morrisville. Phillippe-Johansson was named to the all-North Eastern Athletic Conference first team and also won Rookie of the Year honors while Whitmire and Morrin garnered NEAC second team honors.
Also returning are senior Luke Whitenight of Berwick and sophomore Tommy Cavanaugh of New Hope.
Freshmen coming into the program include Zackary Burhart of Milton and Jesse Kight of Williamsport.
Phillippe-Johansson will start at the No. 1 singles position with the other spots still up for grabs. The doubles lineup, according to Bower, most likely will include Whitenight-Whitmire at No. 1, Phillippe-Johansson and Morrin at No. 2 and Burkhart-Kight at No. 3.
“I think the team should be strong this fall. We have some very key returners and some strong newcomers. The top of the lineup are heavy hitters. The bottom half may not hit as hard but are definitely consistent,” Bower said. “Winning in tennis doesn’t always correlate with hitting hard. You have to be consistent and play good points. I feel that the bottom of the lineup can be depended upon to do that just like the top half can.
“I feel that the team is a good mix of veteran and young players. The seasoned players have taken the younger players under their wings and have helped them develop stronger strokes just in the couple of weeks that we have been practicing. Everyone seems to be meshing together well.
“Our team strengths are that everyone is supportive of each other and we have a good foundation. We have been working together as a team and that will help out even when competing individually in singles. Everyone is willing to take feedback, whether it be from me or one of their teammates. The foundation, I feel, is a strength because we have some really good, talented players all through the lineup, not just the top couple of spots, and we will continue to build upon that throughout the season.”
Areas that need improvement, according to the coach, whose job status changed over the summer from interim to head coach, includes working to refine skills.
“We are working on strengthening serves so that they not only go in but that they have the key strokes to be able to increase power throughout the season,” Bower said.
“The key to this season is to keep working together as a team and to have fun, then the rest will fall into place,” Bower said.
“The fall season, we don’t play any conference matches, so this is the time to figure out who the best doubles matchups are going to be, and work on strengthening the communication and relationships between the players,” Bower continued.
“I am really excited to be back working with the team in the official capacity of head coach am really excited to see this group of young men grow and develop their skills. They have been working hard and I’m sure that will pay off with high dividends in the end,” Bower added.
Longtime coach says goodbye
The resume of archery coach Chad Karstetter is impressive, to say the least:
· 17 seasons at the helm during stints from 2001-11 and 2014-19.
· 10 top 10 national team finishes — among them two seconds, two thirds and three fourths.
· Coached 33 archers bestowed All-American honors 76 times.
· Coached 10 national championship teams.
· Coached nine individual national champions.
· Coached five individual national runners-up.
· Honored as the 2011 national collegiate coach of the year.
· Inducted into the college’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012.
“It’s been a great ride,” Karstetter said recently, acknowledging that he is stepping down to spend more time with his family.
“With two kids, last season it was pretty tough because Chase, 7, was into everything in the spring with baseball and in the fall with soccer. And Leah, 10, is a soccer player and she has been playing almost year-round, now,” Karstetter said. “My wife, Debra, goes one direction. I go the other direction. It was time for something to give, and it looks like archery is going to be it, for a little while.”
While announcing his decision now, a conversation with his son more than a year ago set things in motion.
“(It was) at the end of the archery season as we were jumping on the bus to go to Florida for nationals. You see those TV shows where the son asks the father, ‘Hey, let’s go out and play ball,’ and the dad is like, ‘No, I’ve got to go to work.’ That actually happened to me and it was the real start that got me thinking I need to not miss these (family) things,” Karstetter said.
Looking back on a sport that has dominated much of his life, Karstetter, now 41, related: “I came from a family that did a lot of archery hunting. When I was 12 years old, one of my birthday presents was my first compound bow. My father and my two uncles used to shoot at paper targets at a local shop — Chappell Archery — during the wintertime in an indoor league. I did it a little bit and that sparked my interest.”
As his passion grew for the sport, he went to work for the shop owner, Danny Chappell, who also was Penn College’s first archery coach.
“He hired me on the farm out there in Mill Hall, and when we weren’t working we were shooting bows together out on a 3D course. We traveled all over the country,” Karstetter recalled.
After graduation from the former Bald Eagle-Nittany High School in 1996, Karstetter enrolled at Penn College as a student in January 1997. He shot for the archery team that spring and finished second nationally in the male compound division.
Karstetter went on to earn All-American honors — the result of indoor and outdoor national scores — all three years he was on the squad, and in addition to his individual award, he was a member of the men’s compound team that placed third in 1997 and won national championships in 1998 and 1999.
His first year out of college, Karstetter was an unpaid assistant to Chappell with the Wildcats. Then, in 2001, when Chappell stepped down, Karstetter stepped in as the head coach. He also now is employed at Penn College as the lead person of General Services’ horticulture and grounds department.
“When I first took over the archery program, we were known in the men’s compound division. That’s where we were the strongest and had the most talent and interest. (Over the years) It was nice to see it evolve into a men’s and women’s program (with individuals and teams in nearly every category),” Karstetter said. “It’s been good to have the success that we’ve had.
“When I gave it up a few years ago, with our second child coming along, I really did miss (coaching). I know I’m going to miss it again. When the season comes around, I hope to continue to be a part of the program, but just a small part.
“I hope archery at Penn College continues to grow. … Archery, across the country, is growing and there are new colleges that are participating in it that no one ever heard of before. That’s how Penn College was when we started in 1997, it’s like ‘Who’s Penn College?’ And, then, the next thing you know, everybody was like, ‘Penn College is here and now we better get serious.’ ”
Support from above also has been a key to the program’s success.
“The Athletics Department has stood behind the team for many, many years. (President) Dr. Davie Jane Gilmour has been a great supporter for us from the first day I met her in 1997,” Karstetter said. “I couldn’t thank her enough for everything she has done over the years.”
Even though he won’t coach at the college, Karstetter said he will continue to shoot on his own, and hopes one day to pass the family tradition onto his children.
A search for Karstetter’s successor is underway, according to John Vandevere, director of athletics.
Men’s soccer
In its season opener Friday at Hood College, the Wildcats gave up two first-half goals in a 3-1 loss. Derek Eckman of Lancaster scored the lone Penn College goal at the 75:33 mark. Both teams took 10 shots, Hood led in shots on goal 7-5, and Hood led in corner kicks, 7-2.
On the road Saturday against Wilson College, Josiah Potts of Brooklyn, New York, scored for Penn College at 20:23 on an assist by Colton Wartman of Ellicott City, Maryland, as starting goalkeeper Brendan Skwirut of Aston blanked the home team in the first half. But Wilson battled back with two goals in the second half against Wildcats freshman goalkeeper Joshua Stanley of Warsaw, Virginia, in a 2-1 loss that dropped Penn College to 0-2. The Wildcats led in shots, 11-5 (7-4 on goal), and in corner kicks, 11-1.
Women’s soccer
Opening at home Friday at UPMC Field for the first time, Penn College dropped a 2-1 decision to King’s College. The visitors scored both of their goals in the first half before the Wildcats got on the board with a goal from Miya Roman of Benton at 79:23. King’s led in shots 19-9 (12-5 on goal) and in corner kicks, 6-4.
Men’s-women’s cross-country
At the Misericordia University Invitational Friday, the men finished fourth in a seven-team field and the women last among seven teams.
Matt Leiby of Danville topped the Penn College men by finishing 17th in a time of 18:26 and Katie Plankenhorn of Montoursville led the women’s team, placing 29th in 21 minutes.
Women’s volleyball
Competing in its opener Saturday in a quadrangular at Clarks Summit University, Penn College lost 3-0 to the host team, Lycoming College and Wilkes University, dropping to 0-3. Individually on the day, Kylee Butz of Lawrenceville had 34 digs and Hannah Burnett of Middlebury Center had 21 assists. Emalie Marnati of Canton had four kills against Lycoming and three against Wilkes, along with four aces against Clarks Summit.
NEAC names interim assistant commissioner
Presidents’ Council Chairwoman Gilmour and Interim Commissioner Stephanie Dutton have announced the appointment of Phil Paquette as the NEAC interim assistant commissioner for sports information, effective immediately.
Paquette succeeds Dutton, who was named interim commissioner over the summer.
Before joining the NEAC, Paquette was the director of New Media/Communications at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference where he served as the media coordinator of the 2019 NCAA Division Women’s Basketball Albany Regional. Before the MAAC, Paquette spent two years at Fairleigh Dickinson as an assistant director of athletic communications.
The Rhode Island native attended the University of New Haven and earned a bachelor’s degree in management of sports industries and Texas A&M University-Commerce for graduate school where he earned his master’s degree in business administration.
SCHEDULE/RECORDS/RESULTS
Men’s soccer
Overall: 0-2
NEAC: 0-0
Friday, Aug. 30 – at Hood College, L, 3-1
Saturday, Aug. 31 – at Wilson College, L, 2-1
Tuesday, Sept. 3 – host Keystone College, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 11 – host Lycoming College, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 14 – at Penn State Harrisburg (NEAC), 1 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 15 – host Shenandoah University, 5 p.m.
Women’s soccer
Overall: 0-1
NEAC: 0-0
Friday, Aug. 30 – host King’s College, L, 2-1
Saturday, Sept. 7 – at St. Joseph’s College, 6 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 8 – at College of Staten Island, noon
Saturday, Sept. 14 – at Penn State Harrisburg (NEAC), 3 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 15 – host Alfred State, 2 p.m.
Women’s volleyball
Overall: 0-3
NEAC: 0-0
Saturday, Aug. 31 – at Clarks Summit University, L, 3-0 (26-22, 25-20, 25-19); vs. Lycoming College at Clarks Summit, L, 3-0 (25-13, 25-11, 25-21); vs. Wilkes University at Clarks Summit, L, 3-0 (25-10, 25-17, 25-17)
Wednesday, Sept. 4 – host Fairleigh Dickinson University, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 11 – vs. Marywood University at Misericordia University, 6 p.m.; at Misericordia University, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 14 – host Alfred State, 10 a.m., host Cairn University, 2 p.m.
Men’s cross-country
Friday, Aug. 30 – at Misericordia University Invitational, finished 4th in a 7-team field
Saturday, Sept. 7 – Steven A. Ward Invitational at SUNY Cobleskill, 11 a.m.
Saturday, Sept. 28 – at Cazenovia College Invitational, 11 a.m.
Saturday, Oct. 5 – Bud Smitley Invitational at Penn State Harrisburg, 3 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 12 – at DeSales Invitational, 10:30 a.m.
Saturday, Oct. 19 – at Gettysburg College Invitational, 10:30 a.m.
Saturday, Nov. 2 – NEAC Championships at SUNY Cobleskill, 11 a.m.
Saturday, Nov. 16 – NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Championships at Bethlehem, TBA
End of season
Women’s cross-country
Friday, Aug. 30 – at Misericordia University Invitational, finished 7th in a 7-team field
Saturday, Sept. 7 – Steven A. Ward Invitational at SUNY Cobleskill, 11 a.m.
Saturday, Sept. 28 – at Cazenovia College Invitational, 11 a.m.
Saturday, Oct. 5 – Bud Smitley Invitational at Penn State Harrisburg, 3 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 12 – at DeSales Invitational, 10:30 a.m.
Saturday, Oct. 19 – at Gettysburg College Invitational, 10:30 a.m.
Saturday, Nov. 2 – NEAC Championships at SUNY Cobleskill, 11 a.m.
Saturday, Nov. 16 – NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Championships at Bethlehem, TBA
End of season
Golf
Wednesday, Sept. 11 – at Keuka College Invitational, 10 a.m.
Monday, Sept. 23 – host Williamsport Country Club Invitational, noon
Monday, Sept. 30 – at Penn State Hazleton Invitational, 11 a.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 8 – at Gettysburg College Invitational, 12:30 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 21 – at Lebanon Valley College Invitational, noon
End of season
Men’s tennis
Saturday, Sept. 7 – host Susquehanna University at Elm Park, 4 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 14 – host Elizabethtown College at Elm Park, 3 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 21 – at Marywood University, 11 a.m.
Thursday, Oct. 3 – host Lycoming College at Elm Park, 4 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 6 – at King’s College, 2 p.m.
End of season
Women’s tennis
Saturday, Sept. 14 – host Elizabethtown College at Elm Park, 3 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 21 – at Marywood University, 11 a.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 2 – host Lycoming College at Elm Park, 4 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 6 – at King’s College, 2 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 13 – host Berkeley College at Elm Park, 2 p.m.
End of season
