S P O R T S N E W S
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Fall Sports Recap
Football
Under the direction of interim head coach Danny LaPella 9W9 , the football team ended the season with a winning record of 4-3 . This gives Williamson a winning season for the fourth straight year , a feat that had not been accomplished since 1977-80 !
LaPella volunteered to take over after head coach Dan Drake was hospitalized with a serious illness for several weeks directly prior to the season ’ s start .
Dale Plummer , director of athletics , says LaPella did a phenomenal job . “ I can ’ t begin to thank Danny enough for his willingness to step in and take over the head coaching duties at a time we desperately needed help . He did an incredible job handling all the things that got thrown his way .
“ Being a head coach is a lot different than being an offensive or defensive coordinator . We ask a lot of our head coaches and things happen every day unexpectedly . Danny handled each of those situations with class and did a great job coaching as well . Again , we could not be more thankful for him and all he did for the program and the school .” Soccer
The soccer team started off strong once again . They defeated a nationally ranked team and tied another one in their first three games before the injury bug hit them hard once again . The team ’ s lack of depth at certain positions hurt them the rest of the way , but they still managed to finish a respectable 3-6-2 , with four losses coming to nationally ranked teams .
“ We play an incredibly hard schedule , with six nationally ranked opponents , so it is not easy for us , but our guys battled . The nice thing is we have a ton of talent returning so I know Coach Glowa and the returners are already looking forward to next year ,” shared Plummer
Cross Country
The cross country team faced a total lack of experience . Yet , by the end of the season , 18th year head coach Steve Hixson 7W3 had his guys hitting on all cylinders . This was shown by their thirdplace finish at the 2022 NJCAA Region XIX championships .
“ We only had one guy who had any true competitive experience and five guys who had never run competitively at anywhere near this level before ,” shared Hixson .
“ The great thing was the guys really bought into things and they kept at it . They didn ’ t get too discouraged when their results were not what they had hoped for early on . Each of them kept working hard and it really paid off at the end of the year .”
The nice thing for Hixson is that the entire team returns next year and they are already asking about running some indoor winter meets and some spring outdoor events . It ’ s great to see their excitement for the coming year .”
Gougler ’ 97 and Brown ’ 03 Added to Athletic Hall of Fame
Brian Gougler 9W7 and Kevin Brown 0W3 were honored as Williamson ’ s newest members of the prestigious Athletic Hall of Fame during the 55th annual Sports Awards Ceremony in April .
A nine-time varsity letter winner in football , basketball , and baseball , Gougler was a jack of all trades and a master of all as well . A team captain in all three sports , he also was the Most Valuable Player in all three sports and was named the 1996-97 Athlete of the Year . In 1966 , his play in football helped to bring the school its only Seaboard Football Conference title .
After graduating , Gougler kept close ties to the school , serving as advisor to the archery club and as a judge in the annual Wing Bowl competition . He has been serving the football team the last five years as the wide receiver coach .
Brown was a standout athlete in football and basketball , earning six varsity letters during his time at the college . He led the football team in sacks all three years and was the team ’ s MVP in 2002 .
In basketball , he is one of only two players in school history to have over 700 points , 700 rebounds , and 400 assists .
In addition to his outstanding play , Brown has been active in helping the school since graduating . He is a member of the distinguished I . V . Williamson Club and is a Young Alumnus of the Year award recipient . He also served as the paint and coatings technology director last year after earlier serving as the assistant director . For the past 16 years he has been the basketball team ’ s associate head coach and had a huge role in the school ’ s 2008 and 2009 US- CAA Division II national championships .
“ The thing about Brian and Kevin is that both men are the epitome of what a Williamson Man is all about . They are constantly giving back and both are exactly what Mr . Williamson had in mind when he founded the school . They are Williamson Men through and through ,” shared Williamson ’ s longtime director of athletics Dale Plummer .
Fall Athletes Earn Many Honors
20 Fall Student-Athletes Named to USCAA National Academic Squads
While the success of the fall sports team on the field was impressive , their work in the classroom was even more impressive . A whopping 20 fall student athletes , five soccer players and a school record 15 football players , were named to the 2022 USCAA National All-Academic team for their sports . ( Freshmen are not eligible for the teams .)
In order to be nominated and considered for the team , a student-athlete must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 or higher and must either be a starter or a significant contributor to his team ’ s success .
In each case , Director of Athletics Dale Plummer said the honor is more than warranted .
The students who were named to the squad for soccer were seniors Luke Dutton , Steven East , and Scott Wiltshire , along with juniors Zachary Bosak and Michael Hegarty . The football players named to the squad were seniors Jack Grace , Deonte Jones , Zachary Keeney , Connor Smith , and Shane Titus , along with juniors Seamus Dougherty , Kaleb Glynn , Cole Hunter , Joe Kelly , Chris Meiklejohn , Nazaire Miller , Kam ’ Ron Patterson , Chris Sheffer , Garrett Watkins , and James Williams .
“ Each one of the guys who received the honor were outstanding representatives of Williamson both on the field and in the classroom and we could not be prouder of them .”
Winter Sports are Underway
The basketball and wrestling seasons got underway in November and heading into the break , both teams are showing promise .
Despite being undersized , the basketball team has a 4-7 overall record . The wrestling team is off to a good start , with a 3-1 overall record , including an upset win over Thaddeus Stevens .
Cairy ’ 24 Named USCAA Soccer All-American
Last season , Williamson soccer player Brandon Cairy 2W4 made school history by becoming the first freshman soccer All-American in school history .
This season , he once again made Williamson history , as he became the first soccer player in school history to earn All-American honors twice , as he was named a 2022 USCAA Second Team All-American this fall .
Despite teams constantly marking him , Cairy still had nine goals in 11 games , and had two assists to go with those goals . It was his ball skills , however , that totally set him apart , according to head coach Peter Glowa .
“ Brandon has great vision and great ball skills . At times he dominated play with those skills . He also is very unselfish . In fact , there are times we want him to shoot more .
He is a great player and very deserving of this award . And the best part of all is that we have him back for the 2023 season ,” closed Glowa .
Miller ’ 24 and Kelly ’ 24 Named Seaboard Conference MVPS
Football players Nazaire Miller and Joe Kelly , both juniors , were honored as league MVPs by the Seaboard Conference in their post season awards . Six others earned first team honors .
Miller had an incredible season in a variety of ways for the Mechanics . He led the team in rushing with 473 yards , averaging 5.6 yards per carry , while adding six touchdowns on the ground .
That was good enough to have him named as a first team selection at running back . He was third on the team in receiving , averaging an astounding 25.0 yards per catch , while scoring two more touchdowns through the air . He also led the team in kick-off returns , averaging 25.2 yards per return and punt returns averaging 21.5 per return . All of that was good enough to get him named as a first team selection at the all-purpose position .
Coming off a record-breaking freshman year , Kelly , a first team selection at defensive end , was double- and even triple-teamed at times . Despite that , he still led the team in sacks with nine , and tackles for loss with 13 , as well as hurries with 17 .
He was third on the team in tackles with 33 , and he also forced two fumbles , blocked two kicks , and had one fumble recovery .
Also named first team selections were center Zach Keeney 2W3 , wide receiver Garrett Watkins 2W4 , defensive lineman Jordan Griffin 2W3 , linebackers Chris Meiklejohn 2W4 , and Chris Sheffer 2W4 , and cornerback Connor Smith 2W3 .
In addition to the wrestling team ’ s overall success , they currently have three wrestlers who are nationally ranked , as of this writing , in the NCWA national rankings . Junior Talon Pisarchuk is ranked 5th in the nation at 165 lbs ., while seniors Daniel Tommarelli and Ainsley Doyle are ranked 10th and 11th at 174 and 133 lbs . respectively .