Lake-Lehman graduate Connor McGovern goes into his junior football season at Penn State on the preseason watch list of candidates for the Rimington Trophy, which goes to the nation’s most outstanding center.

The award is named for former University of Nebraska standout Dave Rimington.

A.Q. Shipley was Penn State’s only Rimington Trophy winner in 2018.

McGovern moved from guard to center before the start of his sophomore season. He anchored the offensive line for the nation’s seventh-highest scoring offense at 41.1 points per game.

Penn State had its second-best season ever in teams of yards per play (6.58) and total offensive yards (5,984).

Many former Back Mountain athletes recently completed their spring college seasons.

MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

Dominic Hockenbury, a former state champion from Lake-Lehman, finished his redshirt freshman season at Syracuse University by competing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association East Regionals in Tampa May 24.

Hockenbury was one of 13 Syracuse men to make it to regionals. Five of them were in the same event, the 10,000-meter run, where Hockenbury wound up as the Orange’s third finisher.

A sixth-place finish at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships led to the regionals berth where Hockenbury finished 34th in 30:52.22 in the pursuit of 12 berths at NCAA Division I Nationals in Eugene, Oregon.

Dominic DeLuca’s senior season at Cornell University included a championship in the 3,000-meter run at the Penn Challenge in 8:21.90. DeLuca was also a state high school champion during his career at Dallas.

Erik Dyrli, a Messiah University junior from Dallas, placed in the top 10 in three events at the Middle Atlantic Conference Outdoor Championships. He used career-best efforts to finish seventh in the shot put and 10th in the hammer throw while also finishing eighth in the discus while helping Messiah finish third as a team.

WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

Former Dallas teammates Lindsey Oremus and Ally Rome had career-bests in different distance events at the same meet, the Larry Ellis Invitational at Princeton University in late April.

Oremus, a junior at St. Joseph’s University, finished second out of 14 in the 3,000-meter run in 10:02.47.

Rome, a sophomore for the host Tigers, was fifth out of 14 in the 5,000 run in 18:05.29. She was a two-time state cross country champion at Dallas.

Oremus ran her career-best in the 5,000 to finish 10th in the Atlantic 10 Conference in 17:33.15.

Bryanna Dissinger, a senior from Dallas, finished second at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 11:11.56. She was fourth in the 5,000 run.

Caroline Banas finished 17th in the high jump at the NCAA Division III National Championships May 24 in Wisconsin to complete the first season of University of Scranton track and field.

Banas, a sophomore who is a Dallas resident and Holy Redeemer graduate, was the Landmark Conference high jump champion of both the indoor and outdoor seasons.

BASEBALL

Jordan McCrum’s relief pitching helped Monmouth University finish first in the regular season in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

McCrum was 3-1 with a save and 2.61 ERA for the Hawks, who finished 16-7 in the MAAC and 30-25 overall.

The junior from Dallas appeared in 13 games. He gave up 20 hits and nine walks while striking out 19 in 20 2/3 innings.

SOFTBALL

Chelsea Skrepenak was the leading hitter on the Fordham University team that won its sixth straight Atlantic-10 Conference title and advanced to the NCAA Division I Tournament.

The junior outfielder is a Dallas resident and a graduate of Holy Cross High School in Dunmore. She earned Atlantic-10, first-team, all-star honors while hitting .331 with eight home runs, 41 runs scored and 33 RBI.

Fordham finished 33-23.

Traci Kromko had a game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of the NCAA Division II Tournament opener for Lock Haven University.

The junior infielder from Tunkhannock started 50 games for Lock Haven, which went unbeaten in the PSAC East. She batted .241.

Molly Hampsey, another junior from Tunkhannock, batted .274 in 34 games, including 33 outfield starts, at the University of Scranton.

She has started 95 games in her first three seasons with the Lady Royals.

Lake-Lehman graduate Connor McGovern goes into his junior football season at Penn State on the preseason watch list of candidates for the Rimington Trophy, which goes to the nation’s most outstanding center.
https://www.mydallaspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_McGovern-Minnesota-cmyk.jpg.optimal.jpgLake-Lehman graduate Connor McGovern goes into his junior football season at Penn State on the preseason watch list of candidates for the Rimington Trophy, which goes to the nation’s most outstanding center. Dallas Post file photo

By Tom Robinson

For Dallas Post

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