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Kellie Goodman

Rec Hall electric for volleyball

The news came on Monday: the Penn State women’s volleyball team is once again the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, their fifth week at the top spot; but this time around, the ranking is unanimous. For the Nittany Lions, the designation is just another footnote in a long and storied legacy that includes seven national championships, 35 straight NCAA tournament appearances and 16 Big Ten titles under coach Russ Rose. The Lions host Indiana Wednesday evening, the last game of the regular season, in what will likely be an electrified Rec Hall. The venue, which stands just a few ...

NASCAR’s drivers looking to survive

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup teams are just two weekends away from the off-season and the crowning of the 2017 champion. Kevin Harvick’s win at Texas this past weekend punched his ticket to Homestead’s Championship Four, joining points leader Martin Truex Jr and Kyle Busch. The final spot will be decided next weekend at Phoenix. Brad Keselowski stands in fourth place, ahead of Denny Hamlin, while Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott and Jimmy Johnson round out the rest of the Cup hopefuls. Anything can happen, and these last two races could get very interesting. Johnson has been very ...

Sports, Halloween together for one night

Commentary Halloween is one of those holidays that infiltrates every corner of pop culture, including sports. Bats, ghosts and jack-o-lanterns embellished the M&M’s theme on Kyle Busch’s Halloween paint scheme for the NASCAR race at Kansas earlier this month. (Collectors-edition models of the special race car are already for sale.) Over the weekend, NFL broadcasts featured spooky themes, Halloween graphics packages and lots of costume-clad fans in the stands. Tonight’s World Series Game 6 in Los Angeles is expected to draw Halloween-celebrants, who will have to consider a ...

Observations from fading fall season

Some random thoughts while wishing the fall sports season didn’t fly by so fast… n The Penn State women’s soccer team held its senior day festivities over the weekend, an appropriate time to look back at the accomplishments of the graduating class. They brought home the program’s first NCAA championship last season, not to mention three regular season Big Ten titles. Their statistics are impressive, without a doubt; but perhaps even more than their wins, trophies and accolades is an intangible impact, which will be felt for years to come. They have set a standard that ...

Martz shines on both soccer, football fields

Dedicated. Hard-working. Trailblazer. These are just a few of the words used to describe Bedford Area High School senior Emily Martz. Last year, she was part of the Bisons’ first-ever district champion girls’ soccer team. This year, she set her sights on kicking footballs. “It was really my sister who set me on this path,” said Emily. “She’s in 8th grade, kicks, and is obsessed with football; and she pretty much taught me how to (place) kick.” For Bedford football coach Kevin Steele, it was all about putting his team in the best position to be successful. “If ...

Lesson learned from Newton ordeal

NFL quarterback Cam Newton got a wake-up call this past week after comments he made toward a female reporter during a news conference. Newton chuckled at the reporter’s question about his receivers’ routes, saying: “It’s funny to hear a female talk about routes.” I’m sure many women reporters, myself included, have witnessed that kind of attitude from a coach or athlete, even if not so blatantly articulated. And maybe we should be thanking to him for putting that attitude out there, and sparking the conversation. It was so outrageous it’s hard to believe he really meant ...