King

Konner King, who just finished his sophomore year at Altoona Area High School, recently won the Don Swartz Sportsmanship Award for bowling for the second time in his young career.

King, 16, won the award back in 2021 and is now the first youngster to be rewarded a second time. The first time the honor was worth $500. This time it is a $1,000 prize.

This annual scholarship is awarded to a Pennsylvania youth bowler that has been nominated and chosen based on their bowling etiquette, sportsmanship, leadership, commitment and participation.

King, who started bowling when he was nearly 2 years old, is currently a Junior Ambassador for Pure It Bowling located in Ephrata. This past season he served as the President of the AAHS Bowling Club, Vice President of the Greater Pittsburgh Youth Travel League, and a repeat District 3 Champion of the PA Youth Scratch Championship.

He will also travel to Minnesota for the Junior Gold National Championships as a five-time qualifier. King is also a three-time Altoona District Youth Bowler of the Year winner, has a lifetime high game of 277 and a lifetime high series of 688.

Riccio selected

The PIAA announced the selection of 16 student ambassadors and four adults to attend the 2026 National Federation of State High School Associations National Student Leadership Summit in July.

Altoona’s Anthony Riccio was picked as the District 6 representative, and Central Cambria’s Shannon Gironda, a school counselor, was picked as one of the adult ambassadors.

Student ambassadors were selected through PIAA’s application and review process based on demonstrated leadership, academic achievement, school involvement and commitment to service.

Two make team

A pair of Penn State Altoona baseball student-athletes were acknowledged for their academic success when the College Sports Communicators released its Academic All-District teams for the sport.

Sophomore outfielder Owen Dombrosky (Bishop Guilfoyle) and senior first baseman Jonathan Rauch both earned spots on the CSC’s NCAA Division III Academic All-District team.

To be eligible for a spot on an Academic All-District baseball team, student-athletes must meet certain academic and athletic requirements. Academically, you must be at least sophomores while holding grade-point averages of 3.5 or higher.

Athletically, players must have played in at least 90 percent of their team’s games, or started two-thirds of the games.