York College spring sports teams set to chase conference titles, NCAA berths

York College has already claimed its first conference championship of the 2024 spring sports season. Nine more Spartan squads will hope to follow suit this week.

The York men’s golf team captured the MAC Commonwealth title on Sunday at Golden Oaks Golf Club in Fleetwood, Berks County, firing team scores of 303 and 290 to win the championship by seven strokes over Stevenson. The Spartans had previously won the conference crown in 2021 before finishing second in 2022 and 2023.

Gavin Ganter, last year’s MACC individual champion, led the Spartans with a T-2 finish after following a 78 on Saturday with a field-best 70 on Sunday. Matthew Salter and Thomas O’Connell finished one stroke behind Ganter (149) to tie for fourth and earn all-conference first team honors. Jason Velez (150) tied for ninth and Jacob Fripp (151) finished 12th individually. Four scores in each round counted toward the team total.

The York coaching tandem of Jordan Koller and Chris Bupp was named MACC Coaching Staff of the Year. Koller was named the program’s head coach earlier in the month — this was her first official event — while Bupp had served as interim coach after Eric Stauffer left college athletics midseason.

The triumph earned York College an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament, a four-day event beginning Tuesday, May 14, at the Boulder Creek Country Club in Las Vegas.

The Spartan women’s golf team will compete for the MAC title — the Commonwealth and Freedom conferences are combined on the women’s side — this Saturday and Sunday at Golden Oaks. And York College baseball, softball and men’s and women’s lacrosse, tennis and track all have postseason competitions on deck as well.

All MAC tournament champions will receive NCAA berths. York reached the dance in men’s and women’s lacrosse, softball and women’s golf in 2023. Here’s how the Spartans are shaping up this time around.

Men’s lacrosse: The Spartans (10-7, 7-0) secured the outright regular-season title with Saturday’s dramatic 21-19 home win over Messiah. They’ll battle No. 4-seed Eastern at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the semifinals, with the winner playing either Stevenson or Messiah on Saturday afternoon. As the top seed, York will host the title game should the Spartans advance.

Women’s lacrosse: York College’s women, much like the men, battled through a slow start against a tough schedule before dominating conference play. The Spartans will enter the postseason 11-6 overall and 7-0 in the MACC. They beat Messiah for first place with Saturday’s 14-6 triumph and will host Widener at 4 p.m. Wednesday, with Messiah and Stevenson on the other side of the bracket.

Baseball: The Spartans endured an eight-game losing streak down the stretch but regrouped to win their weekend series against Alvernia and secure a MACC tournament berth. No. 4-seed York (20-17, 11-10 entering Tuesday’s non-league game vs. Susquehanna) will need to beat top-seeded Messiah in a three-game road series starting Friday and concluding Saturday. Alvernia hosts Hood in the other semifinal. The winners will square off in a best-of-three championship series next weekend.

Softball: This four-team, double-elimination tournament will be played entirely at Penn Park in Philadelphia, with No. 3 York (24-16, 9-5) battling No. 2 Messiah at 2 p.m. Thursday to start the weekend. The field will be trimmed to two on Friday, with a champion to be crowned Saturday. Eastern and Alvernia complete the quartet. The Spartans were also the No. 3 seed last spring when they made a surprise run to the tournament title.

Women’s golf: The Spartans enter on the heels of a second-place finish at the nine-team MAC Preview, which was held April 13 at Golden Oaks. Alvernia edged York for the title by six strokes; the Spartans were 65 shots clear of third place. Grace Strickland led York with an individual runner-up in a playoff during the preview tournament.

Tennis: Both York teams earned the No. 3 seed in their respective MACC tournaments. The women (5-9, 3-2) will visit Messiah on Tuesday, while the men (4-10, 3-2) will travel to Stevenson on Wednesday. The higher remaining seeds will host Saturday’s championship matches.

Track and field: The three-day MAC championships will run Thursday through Saturday at Widener University in Chester, Delaware County. York’s men finished fourth and the women placed 10th of 16 teams in 2023. Top individual performers will advance to the NCAA championships in late May.

SPARTAN STANDOUTS

Four York College athletes earned MACC weekly honors on Monday, some of whom are becoming accustomed to such recognition.

Women’s lacrosse defender Sarah Christensen was named MACC Defensive Player of the Week for the fourth consecutive week after leading the Spartans with 16 draw controls and anchoring a stout defense in wins over Hood and Messiah. The grad student has a team-high 62 draw controls and 30 ground balls in 2024.

Vinny Facciponti earned top defensive honors on the men’s side after a record-setting performance on Saturday. The senior faceoff specialist won 33 of 39 draws and picked up 27 ground balls in the Spartans’ win over Messiah; the 33 faceoff wins are a new program record, while the 27 ground balls tied the team record.

Emma Wade earned MACC Softball Player of the Week by going 7 for 16 with four homers and 12 RBIs across five contests. The junior actually lowered her batting average to .452 with the performance; she leads all of Division III with 69 RBIs and has 13 homers and 31 runs scored.

MAC Field Athlete of the Week Andrew Mott broke his own school record again in the shot put Saturday, posting a throw of 17.45 meters to claim first place at Shippensburg University’s Paul Kaiser Classic. The Dillsburg native and Trinity graduate also took first in the discus at the invitational.

LION’S DEN

The Penn State York baseball team saw its PSUAC tournament run cut short on Saturday with an 11-5 loss to Penn State Brandywine in the play-in round. The local Lions, who needed a victory to advance to the double-elimination portion of the tournament, dropped to 25-9.

It’s unclear if PSY will get another chance. The USCAA will select 10 baseball and softball teams Tuesday for the Small College World Series, which will be hosted May 12-16 by reigning national champion Penn State DuBois. PSU York entered last week ranked No. 7 in the USCAA coaches poll, three spots ahead of Brandywine.

If the Lions’ season is over, it’ll still be a historic campaign. And with only three seniors on the roster, head coach Todd Meckley’s team has a bright future in store.