By Marc Weems
Many teams have signed brand new classes of athletes in an array of springtime sports at Youngstown State University. Those sports include swimming and diving, both men’s and women’s track and field, men’s and women’s golf and softball.
For coach Brian Gorby and the Horizon League champion track and field team, it added six to the women’s team and five to the men’s team.
For the women, it added Olivia Jones from England, Maggie Sebest from Poland, OH, Lauren Dolak from Austintown, OH, MacKenzie Scott from Minerva, OH, Charlotte Crouch from Cortland, OH and Hailey Puckett from Chillicothe, OH.
The men added Cole Smith from Smithville, Ohio, Seth Stokes from Lisbon, Ohio, Noah Drudy from Aliquippa, PA, Jett Murphy from Covington, Ohio and Zach Gehm from Harmony, PA.
All of them have been record holders or top players in their states or country.
To the links, both men’s and women’s golf teams added some high school talent. Coach Tony Joy added two Boardman products in Brian Terlesky and Bryan Kordupel.
Terlesky was a four-time state qualifier and was second team All-State as a junior. He was also a three-time All-American Conference player of the year.
Kordupel has only golfed competitively for the past four years and was a two-time All-AAC selection as a Spartan.
For coach Nate Miklos, he added three girls for the women’s golf team. He signed Jenna Vivo from Boardman, OH, Pang Khuanrudee and Rattika Sittigool from Thailand.
Vivo was first-team all-league and All-Northeast Ohio three times at Boardman High School.
Khuanrudee and Sittigool went to different schools in Thailand but were both very good. Sittigol won the Hurricane Junior Tournament at Augusta State.
In the pool, first-year coach Ryan Purdy got a talented class of nine girls added to his squad.
YSU added Allyson Wilson from Kings Mills, Ohio, Kayla Wrasman from Hartland, Wis., Josie Preski from Chatham, Ill., Taci Miller from Baltimore, Ohio, Mallory Pitstick from Ottawa, Ill., Tess Weiskopf from Clifton Park, N.Y., Elizabeth Wompey from Arvada, Colo., Riley Ernst from Hillard, Ohio and Averi McCarthy from Dayton, Ohio.
Wesikopf and Wrasman are divers while most of the rest of the group are freestyle swimmers. Josie Preski is the only one of the group that comes in with Butterfly experience.
Last but certainly not least, we head to the diamond as the YSU softball team and coach Brian Campbell added five talented girls for next spring’s team.
The Penguins added Sarah Bader from Baltimore, Ohio, Grace Cea from Canton, Ohio, Alex DeLeon from Warrington, Pa., Addy Jarvis from Girard, Ohio and Kayla Rutherford from Youngstown, Ohio.
Bader batted .430 in her junior year as an infielder. Cea batted in 35 runs as a utility player. DeLeon batted .391 with 17 RBIs and was all-conference as a junior.
Jarvis, a pitcher and infielder for Hubbard High School the last three years, will pitch at Mathews High School this year. She went 20-1 last year with over 200 strikeouts and a .513 average. She has 47 career wins and was a two-time league player of the year.
Rutherford, a pitcher and infielder, had 210 career strikeouts and has .508 batting average.
All of these sports signed some very talented players that should guide YSU to great places.