College roundup: Robson breaks Spartan women's golf record in victory

York College women’s golf senior Natalie Robson made school history en route to an individual and team victory at the Augustine Intercollegiate over the weekend.

Robson fired a program-record 71 in the first of two rounds at Augustine Golf Club in Stafford, Virginia. She followed up with a round of 78 to take the individual title with a score of 149. York College posted a 642 score as a unit (324-318), easily outpacing Catholic (697) and Arcadia (766) for the team championship.

The senior from Bradenton, Florida, led by 10 shots after her even-par 71 on Friday. The previous low round in Spartan women’s golf history was a 72 by Anna Moore in October 2018, and Robson’s previous career best was a 73 in April 2021. 

A Saturday 78 secured Robson’s fifth career individual title and a career-low total of 149 strokes over two days. She had previously tallied 153 twice.

Robson was named MAC Commonwealth Women’s Golfer of the Week on Monday in recognition of her performance.

Spartan freshman Tori Blanc finished second individually with a 159 (82-77), while fellow rookie Grace Strickland took third at 163 (86-77). 

The York College women have won four team events in the two-semester season, although this one came against a three-team field and another victory came against just one other opponent. Still, head coach Eric Stauffer’s young team has flashed plenty of potential this spring.

Featured:Dallastown sisters Sophia, Victoria Rodriguez running down records on track

Monday roundup:South Western softball pulls away from Central York

Boys' volleyball:Northeastern held off by Cumberland Valley in non-league clash

SPARTAN NEWS AND NOTES

Men’s golf: York College took third Monday to finish the two-day Hershey Cup, with its team score of 614 narrowly behind RPI’s 608 and Rochester’s 611. Sophomore Gavin Ganter finished third with a 150 total (76-74) to lead the Spartans, who next play at the Alvernia Spring Invitational next Friday.

Baseball: A three-game sweep of Stevenson brought York College back over .500 this season. The Spartans (12-10, 8-4 MAC Commonwealth) won 12-7 on the road Friday, then swept Sunday’s doubleheader with comeback victories of 3-2 (eight innings) and 5-4 (seven regulation innings). 

The Spartans host Salisbury at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. This story will be updated.

Softball: It was a less successful weekend for these Spartans, who dropped both legs of a doubleheader to Lebanon Valley. York College (8-10, 3-3) followed a 2-1 loss in 10 innings with a 12-2 defeat in five frames. The team visits Susquehanna for a non-league twin bill Wednesday, then hosts Ithaca for two Saturday.

Men’s lacrosse: The No. 12-ranked Spartans are over .500 for the first time this season thanks to three straight wins, including two dominating performances against MACC foes. York’s 20-4 win last Wednesday over Hood and its 19-6 victory at Messiah brought the team’s overall record to 5-4 (2-0). Up next is a highly anticipated home clash with No. 5 Gettysburg at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Women’s lacrosse: No. 8 York is 7-2 (2-0) with five straight wins after Saturday’s 10-5 victory over No. 11 Messiah. Senior goalie Bella Garabo saved 10 of 15 shots to repeat as MACC Defensive Player of the Week, while freshman Sydney Mentzer (York Catholic) scored twice to tie for the team lead with 23 goals. The Spartans host Mary Washington at 4 p.m. Wednesday and No. 6 Salisbury at the same time Saturday.

Tennis: The men’s and women’s teams both returned to action last weekend, opening their spring MACC schedules with wins Friday over Albright before falling Sunday to Salisbury. The women (6-4, 1-0) won 7-2 and lost 8-1, while the men also won 7-2 before losing 9-0. Conference play enters full swing this week, as both teams visit Messiah during the week before hosting Lebanon Valley on Saturday.

Track and field: The Spartan men and women officially began their outdoor season over the weekend at the Danny Curran Invitational hosted by Widener. 

Julia Pena led the women with first-place finishes in the long jump and pole vault, as well as a second-place finish in the 100m hurdles. Bre Kaiser (Susquehannock) added a second-place finish in the women’s 3K, with teammate Lindsay Fry third. Dillsburg’s Andrew Mott took first in the men’s discus by breaking his own program record with a 49.08-meter throw. While team scores were not recorded, the men’s team had a total of 17 top-10 performances.

The York College Twilight Meet is set for Wednesday, with throws at 1:30 p.m. and track events starting at 4. Programs from around the region are slated to compete.

MIDSEASON SPRINT

The Penn State York baseball team concluded a stretch of six games in four days Tuesday afternoon, as the Lions split a doubleheader with Central Penn. Over the weekend, PSY took three of four games against Penn State Schuylkill, sweeping a doubleheader Saturday at WellSpan Park before halving a twin bill in Hamburg. The hot streak has brought the Lions to 6-6 this season after a 2-4 start.

LOCAL IMPACTS

Done in Dallas: South Western graduate Taylor Geiman and Virginia Tech women’s basketball team brought their brilliant season to the Final Four before losing to eventual champion LSU in the national semifinals. Geiman did not play in the game — only six Hokies did — but finished the season with 31 appearances, scoring 20 points across 211 minutes. Geiman is eligible to play one more season; multiple Virginia Tech standouts have already announced they will use their COVID year to play for the Hokies in 2023-24.

Katy Rader (York Catholic) started most of this season for Christopher Newport, which advanced to the Division III title game unbeaten. But after suffering an injury in the round of 16, Rader could only watch as the Captains fell to Transylvania, 57-72, Saturday afternoon in Dallas. Rader is also eligible to play another year after averaging 7.2 points in 20 minutes per game this winter.

Hitting streak: In D-I college baseball, Gardner-Webb’s Peter Capobianco (Dallastown) had perhaps the best week of his junior season. The Bulldog second baseman went 5 for 14 (.357) with four homers and eight RBIs in four games. He launched two homers in a win over Charlotte last Tuesday, added a three-run homer Friday against Radford and drilled another long ball Saturday against the Highlanders. 

Capobianco still holds just a .220 batting average this season, but that number is already up from .195 a week earlier, and his seven home runs have already matched his career high.

Injury scare: Trinity Thomas, the reigning NCAA gymnastics all-around champion and former West York athlete, suffered a right leg injury competing for No. 2 Florida during the Pittsburgh Regional on Friday. But the Gators pulled through, finishing second in the region to advance to the national finals for the 39th time in the event’s 41-year history.

Thomas did not compete in Sunday’s meet, but was on the sideline to cheer on her teammates. Her status is day-to-day, per the school, which likely means she’ll be able to compete at nationals. Thomas captured the all-around, floor exercise and uneven bar titles in 2022.