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Five Widener Teams Compete This Week for Conference Championships

Widener will see five of its teams in action this week as they compete for Commonwealth/Middle Atlantic Conference championships.
 
The MAC track & field championships will be held at Widener University from Thursday through Saturday.  Admission for Friday and Saturday is $6 each day for adults and $3 each day for students.  Admission for both days is $10 for adults and $5 for students.  Children under age 6 and anyone attending Thursday are admitted free.
 
The men's track & field team has won three of the last four titles to go with five straight indoor championships and last fall's cross country title.  It is looking to become the first MAC school to get the "triple crown" since Elizabethtown in 2006-07.  Widener has never accomplished this in school history.
 
Widener last year got a boost from junior All-Americas Chris Garrity (Glenolden, PA) and Tyler Williams (Hanover, PA).  Garrity was the year's Track Athlete of the Meet by winning the 1,500-meter run and 3,000-meter steeplechase before finishing eighth in the 1,500-meter run at the NCAA Championships to become an All-America.  Williams was the Field Athlete of the Meet by winning the hammer throw, taking third in the discus throw and eighth in the shot put before going to the NCAA Championships in the hammer throw.
 
Williams earlier this year was crowned an All-America by closing seventh in the weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Championships.  Last week at The Penn Relays, he had a toss of 211' 8" for the fifth longest hammer throw in school history.  At the Danny Curran Invitational earlier this spring, he covered 211' 7" that now is sixth best.
 
For the women's squad, senior Erica Szpynda (Berwick, PA) is a four-time champion with two indoor and two outdoor crowns.  She also participated in the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Championships and this year's indoor championships in the shot put.  Szpynda also was crowned the 2013 ECAC Indoor shot put champion, is a two-time Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-District pick and a two-time Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Selection.
 
The baseball team is the top seed for the Commonwealth Conference Tournament, its first regular-season crown since 2010.  Widener opens the double-elimination tournament Thursday in York, PA against fourth-seeded Lebanon Valley at 4:00 pm.  The Pride (28-11, 16-5 CC) this year broke the school record for most overall and conference wins.
 
Junior first baseman Michael Riverso (Philadelphia, PA) has been tearing it up this season with a league-best .435 batting average and .557 slugging percentage to go with sitting tied for fifth in school history with 57 hits.  Freshman third baseman Michael Elfreth (Washington Twp., NJ) is second on the team with a .379 batting average and first with 61 hits that are tied for third best in Widener annals.
 
Senior Colin Weiss (Red Hill, PA) has been a force on the mound with a 6-0 record, a league-best 1.56 ERA, a team-high 39 strikeouts and only 11 walks.  Junior Robert Barth (Norristown, PA) is 5-1 and sophomore Joe Santone (Blackwood, NJ) is 5-3.
 
The softball team in the double-elimination Commonwealth Conference Tournament as the third seed and will face second-seeded Lebanon Valley on Friday at noon in Reading, PA.  Widener (21-9, 9-7 CC) this season notched its 11th 20-win campaign led by coach Fred Dohrmann, who now is the University's winningest coach in any one sport with 538 triumphs and last week coached his 1,000th softball game.
 
Among the hitting stars for the Pride include freshman designated player Angela Hood (Mullica Twp., NJ), who leads the team with a .414 batting average, 36 hits, a .609 slugging percentage and a .454 on-base percentage.  Sophomore catcher Taylor Church (Glen Mills, PA) is next with a .389 batting average.
 
Freshman pitcher Alexis Schengrund (Hillsborough, NJ) has been dominant in the circle with a 10-5 record and has 92 strikeouts, which are tied for fourth in school history.  Freshman Ally Horvath (Chalfont, PA) owns a 6-1 record over eight starts.
 
The second-seeded men's lacrosse team (9-5, 7-1 CC) is home for the Commonwealth Conference semifinals on Thursday against No. 3 seed Albright at 8:00 pm at Leslie C. Quick Jr. Stadium.  Widener is 25-5 in conference tournaments in its history and has played in a conference final nine straight years.
 
Ticket prices are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $2 for students and free for those under age 6.
 
Senior All-America goalkeeper Mac Nestler (Chatham, NJ), a three-time all-conference pick heading into this year, again has been a force in 2014.  He sports a 9-5 record, leads the conference with a .627 save percentage and has made many remarkable saves that have kept the Pride in several contests.
 
Offensively, sophomore attacker Tim Taylor (Philadelphia, PA) paces the squad with 38 points and is second with 22 goals with sophomore midfielder Marc LaVine (Nashua, NH) leading the way with 24 goals.  Senior midfielder Robert Clemens (Aston, PA) has 25 assists this season to give him 107 career, which are fourth best in school history.
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