Colleges: Suburban's Stewart matches Division I intensity
The Atlantic Coast Conference is very competitive when it comes to any sport, and men’s swimming is high on the list. It’s even tougher for a freshman. But York Suburban graduate Coleman Stewart has been up to the task.
Stewart, who swam for the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, is a key performer on the North Carolina State men’s team, which finished the dual meet season 5-0. The team is ranked first on the College Swimming Coaches Association of America poll.
Stewart competes in the 100 and 200 backstroke and ranks second on the team behind junior All-American Hennessey Stuart. His top 100 time is 46.90, while his top 200 time is 1:42.91. Heading into the ACC championship meet, Stuart is seeded first in the 200 and third in the 100. Stewart is seeded fifth in both events. The championships are Feb. 27-March 2 in Atlanta.
“Coleman has adapted well to the intensity level and workload pretty quickly,” coach Braden Holloway said. “He isn’t the biggest guy so he doesn’t break down and can handle consistent work.”
The coach said it helps Stewart to continue to progress on a daily basis. However, he feels that there is a different reason for the freshman’s success.
“The group that he trains with and their expectations and training level has helped him transition,” Holloway said. “He just joins in and competes every day.”
Stephen Braswell (Northeastern)
The 6-foot-2 redshirt junior outside hitter had seven kills and seven digs to help the 5-8 St. Francis men’s volleyball team turn back No. 13-ranked Penn State, 3-2, on Tuesday in Degol Arena in Loretto. It’s the first-ever home court victory for the Red Flash over the Nittany Lions, who haven’t lost at Degol since a 1997 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association tournament game. On the season, Braswell has 138 kills, 72 digs, 12 blocks, nine service aces and has scored 153.5 points. He recorded 20 kills in a season-opening 3-1 loss to Concordia on Jan. 6 and he posted 17 kills and 10 digs in a 3-2 loss to Lewis on Jan. 21.
Sam Saxton (Central York)
The redshirt freshman was named PSAC East Division Freshman of the Week on Monday for his play with the 13-9 Bloomsburg men’s basketball team. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound guard made his first start of the season and helped the Huskies turn back Millersville, 90-58, on Feb. 8. He played a total of 31 minutes and posted a career-high 14 points and three rebounds. He shot 5-for-8 from the floor, including a career-high four 3-pointers in six attempts. Saxton, a transfer from Le Moyne, entered the game averaging 3.9 points and 0.8 rebounds in 17 games.
Lia Breeden (West York)
The junior is competing on the balance beam and in floor exercise for the 10-2 New Hampshire women’s gymnastics team. In a 194.700-193.850 victory at Bowling Green last Saturday, she finished tied for fifth on beam (9.800) and finished sixth on floor (9.775). On Feb. 5, in the George Washington Quad Meet in Washington, D.C., Breeden finished tied for fourth on floor (9.850) and tied for 10th on beam (9.800) to help the Wildcats finish second.
Rileigh Devine (Red Land)
The PSAC East had an easy selection for its Freshman of the Week in women’s basketball. The Lock Haven freshman scored a career-high 30 points to help the 8-14 Bald Eagles defeat league foe Millersville, 77-70, in double overtime last Saturday in Millersville. Devine played just six minutes and didn’t score a point in the first half, but she shot 10-for-14 from the field in the second half and overtime, including 2-of-5 from 3-point range. She went 8-for-9 from the foul line and grabbed four rebounds. Before that 30-point outburst, she was averaging 3.4 points a game.
Dillon Hildebrand (Red Lion)
The 6-foot freshman outside hitter has stepped right into the lineup for the Penn State Behrend men’s volleyball team. Hildebrand leads the Lions in kills with 55 and digs with 47. He also has five service aces. He recorded 16 kills and 11 digs in his first college game, a 3-2 loss to Penn State Altoona on Jan. 28. He posted eight kills and 14 digs to help the Lions turn back D’Youville, 3-0, on Tuesday night to lift the team’s record to 2-4 overall. The team is 0-2 in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference play.
Cassidy Barshinger (Red Lion)
The Lock Haven junior is seeded 17th in the 400 meter dash for the PSAC indoor track championships Feb. 25-26 in Edinboro. Her time is 1:00.02, recorded at the Valentine Invitational last weekend in Boston. Barshinger also is a member of the 1,600 and distance medley relays. The 1,600 relay is ranked eighth on the PSAC performance list with a time of 4:32.32, while the DMR is ranked seventh with a time of 12:55.98.
Holly Arey (South Western)
The Liberty junior is heading to the Big South indoor track championships for the third straight season, competing in the shot put and the weight throw. As a freshman, Arey finished eighth in the shot and 12th in the weight throw. The next year as a sophomore, she was eighth in the shot and 11th in the weight throw. The Big South meet is Feb. 25-26 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Arey is seeded sixth in the weight throw with a personal best 52 feet, 7 ½ inches and seventh in the shot put with a toss of 39 feet, 11 ¼ inches.
Camden Stoops (Eastern York)
The Gettysburg senior finished fourth at 197 pounds at the Centennial Conference wrestling championships last Saturday in Hoboken, New Jersey. Competing in his third weight class in the championships, he placed for the first time. He scored a pin in his opening match but was pinned by the eventual champion in the next round. Stoops bounced back in the consolations with a 16-0 technical fall, but was pinned in the third-place match. He wrapped up his career with a record of 72-68, wrestling at 285, 197 and 184.
Paige Landes (West York)
The freshman is competing on balance beam and floor exercise for the Ithaca women’s gymnastics team. The beam is her main event. She finished eighth with a personal-best score of 9.450 in the Rhode Island College Quad Meet on Jan. 15 in Providence and finished sixth with a score of 9.050 in an 189.975-182.400 loss to Brockport on Feb. 4 in Brockport, New York. Landes was 15th in both of her floor events at the RIC meet and in the Ithaca Tri-Meet on Jan. 21 in Ithaca, New York.
Clint Wright (South Western)
The McDaniel sophomore competed at 149 pounds at the Centennial Conference wrestling championships last Saturday in Hoboken, New Jersey. Wright suffered a technical fall in a quarterfinal loss to eventual champion Alex Kramer of Ursinus. Wright came back to win his first match in the consolation round with an 11-4 decision against Jake Bracken of Gettysburg, but his tournament run ended in the consolation semifinals when he dropped a 4-2 decision to Tommy Grifa of Johns Hopkins.