Duquesne senior Rachael Ross was named to the 2013 Atlantic 10 Women's Rowing All-Conference team as a first-team selection.
Ross, a fifth-year pharmacy major, is a fourth-year rower and team captain racing in two seat of the second varsity eight. She is also a tri-captain.
Grove City senior pitcher Lauren Clarke, a Burrell graduate, earned Capital One/College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District honors in softball from the region's sports information directors Thursday night.
Clarke advances to the nationwide Academic All-America ballot.
Clarke helped anchor the Grove City pitching staff this year by posting a career-low 2.68 earned run average. She went 7-9 and struck out 67 batters in 102 innings. Clarke appeared in 21 games and made 16 starts in the circle. She threw 11 complete games and two shutouts.
Few WPIAL baseball programs can match the success attained by Burrell over the years. This century, the Bucs have made the WPIAL playoffs every season and have finished no lower than second place in their section in any of those years.
The Bucs appear to have a good chance to keep those streaks going this season.
Burrell is tied for second place in Class AA Section 3 with a 2-1 record. The Bucs are 2-4 overall. After starting the season 0-3, the Bucs have won two of three, including section victories at Ford City and against Summit Academy.
“We always take a couple weeks off, then you get started up again,” said Burrell head coach Rob Niederberger. “It lets the season ‘digest’. And it’s not just for the players, I need it too.”
So, what does “starting up again” entail for Burrell (19-8)?
“Typically, we’ll go about two to three days a week in the spring,” said Niederberger. “That will go to, like, four-to-five days a week in the summer. And we’ll play summer leagues.”
Niederberger speculated that the Burrell team would go to team camp this summer, although it hasn't been planned out yet. Last year, the Bucs traveled to Erie and stayed at Mercyhurst for team camp.
As always, however, Burrell’s offseason basketball activities will be directly influenced by the number of players available. Many Burrell basketball players compete in other sports during the fall and spring.
Let’s rehash Burrell's performance in this year's PIAA tournament:
Mar 8: Burrell 65, Bellwood Antis 46
Mar 12: Burrell 45, Sharpsville 18
Mar 15: Bishop Canevin 41, Burrell 29
In the all-out rout of Sharpsville Sydney Bordonaro scored 13 points and Natalie Myers shot for 10. This tells us that the Bucs have succeeded on balance this season.
The Burrell team finished the season with an overall record of 24-4.
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