web1_hazpetszippy.jpg

Pets of the week

web1_leaves_crop.jpg

Wilkes-Barre City announces leaf collection schedule

Regan Rome has come a long way in one year.Sophomore and Dallas graduate, showed off her stuff when she finished ninth out of 246 runners in the Wisconsin Invitational last week in Madison. She covered the 6K course in 19:54.4. Last year, as a freshman, Rome finished in 123rd place in the same race.Rome&#8217;s effort led No. 23-ranked William &amp; Mary to a 16th place finish in a field of 36 teams and finished ahead of No. 14 Wisconsin, No. 19 North Carolina, No. 20 West Virginia and No. 21 Vanderbilt. The 15 teams that finished ahead of William &amp; Mary are all nationally ranked.That performance should bode well for Rome. The Wisconsin race is considered a mirror image of the Division I NCCA Championship where the top 40 finishers earn All-American honors. Last season, Rome finished 90th in the NCAA Championship and was the 10th best among the freshmen entered. Prior to that, she finished 14th in the Southeast Regionals to earn All-Regional honors.The performance in Wisconsin also puts Rome among the frontrunners for the Colonial Athletic Association individual title, the meet is set for Saturday, Oct. 31 in Mt. Pleasant, SC. She finished fourth last year and earned All-Conference honors. She was the top freshman finisher.The Southeast Regionals are set for Friday, Nov. 13 in Charlottesville, VA, the NCAA Championship is Saturday, Nov. 21 in Louisville.Siegel ready to goThe PSAC cross country championships are slated for Slippery Rock Saturday and West Chester senior Jake Siegel is fresh from a solid performance on the same track.The Tunkhannock graduate finished seventh in the Mack Cooper Invitational last weekend. His 8K time of 26:36 is the best finish ever for a West Chester runner on that course. Prior to that, Siegel finished 58th out of 207 runners (26:01 for 8K) in the Brown Division race at the annual Paul Short Run at Lehigh.&#8220;Jake is running really well right now,&#8221; coach Andy Huber said. &#8220;He has been our top finisher in the last three meets and is running considerably faster than last year.&#8221;The coach feels that Siegel understands that his college cross country career is nearing an end.&#8220;Jake should do well at the conference meet,&#8221; Huber said.McGuire transitions wellFreshman Nick McGuire is having a strong first season with the Bloomsburg men&#8217;s cross country team. McGuire, a Crestwood grad, finished 101st out of 307 runners in the White Division race of the Paul Short Run at Lehigh. His 8K time was 28:05.&#8220;I have been pleasantly surprised by how quickly Nick has made the transition to college running,&#8221; veteran coach Bernie Empie said. &#8220;He is part of a good group of guys, and in particular, a freshmen group that is making a big contribution.&#8221;McGuire has been in the team&#8217;s top five all fall.&#8220;I feel as though Nick is going to make some tremendous improvements,&#8221; Empie said. &#8220;Success translates into how hard you are willing to work and how much you want it. Hopefully, Nick has this mindset moving forward.&#8221;The Huskies will be competing in the PSAC Championship Saturday.Elmy starting in goalPaige Elmy is just a freshman, but she&#8217;s started all 13 games in goal for the PSU-Berks women&#8217;s soccer team. The Nittany Lions 10-1-2 overall and 8-0-0 in North Eastern Athletic Conference play.Elmy, a GAR graduate, has given up just 11 goals and has 31 saves and eight shutouts. She had a college career-high eight saves in the team&#8217;s only setback, 6-0 to Messiah. Since then, she&#8217;s posted four shutouts in five games.&#8220;It&#8217;s not easy to step as a freshman in goal especially after the keeper who graduated helped the team win three conference titles and make two NCAA appearances,&#8221; coach Adrian Munteanu said. &#8220;But with the expectations being very high, I think Paige has done a good job so far adjusting to the college game.&#8221;The coach feels Elmy is getting sharper every day in training.&#8220;I think that she has a lot of potential and can develop into a very good goalkeeper,&#8221; Munteanu said.Termini fits right in Freshman Olivia Termini has started all 14 games for the Dickinson women&#8217;s soccer team which is 7-5-2 overall and 3-3-1 in Centennial Conference play.The Crestwood grad has two goals and an assist and scored her first collegiate goal and picked up an assist in a 3-2 opening-season loss to Stevenson. She also scored in a 3-0 triumph over Eastern.&#8220;Olivia has been a huge asset to our team,&#8221; coach Kelly Tyrrell said. &#8220;She is very consistent and is one of our most reliable players on the field. She asserted herself as an impact player on day one of preseason and has upheld the high standard of play that she established for herself.&#8221;Termini is playing the key center midfielder position for the Red Devils.&#8220;She plays an essential role on our team&#8217;s organization on both the attacking and defending sides of the ball,&#8221; Tyrrell said.Dissinger makes progress Sophomore Bryanna Dissinger (Dallas) is the second runner on the Shippensburg women&#8217;s cross country team. She finished eighth out of 112 runners at last weekend&#8217;s Mark Cooper Invitational at Slippery Rock with a time of 23:52. At the Paul Short Run, she finished 34th out of 387 runners in the Brown Division race with a 6K time of 22:15.&#8220;Bree was very diligent with her summer preparation for the cross country season,&#8221; coach Steve Spence said. &#8220;She got in the mileage while keeping her pace within her aerobic zone. She also focused on core and strength work and from day one at our preseason camp, it was evident that she was a stronger runner than last year at this time. I&#8217;m very excited for Bree and our team as we approach the championship season,&#8221; Spence said.Good season for KobelaJunior Melanie Kobela posted a 10-5 record both in No. 4 singles and No. 2 doubles for the Marywood women&#8217;s tennis team. At one stretch, the Crestwood grad, won six straight singles and doubles matches.&#8220;Melanie is an extremely consistent player with a competitive spirit that helps her fight through tough matches,&#8221; coach Aimee Wentzell said. &#8220;Over the past season, Melanie&#8217;s consistency and footwork improved greatly allowing her to cover a lot of the court and move the ball around. And, her net play in doubles has been an asset to the team this season.&#8221;The Pacers saw their season end with an 8-1 loss to unbeaten Gwynedd Mercy in the Colonial States Athletic Conference Tournament last weekend.Gagliardi seeing actionMackenzie Gagliardi is a backup keeper with the Cornell field hockey team, but the freshman from Wilkes-Barre (Wyoming Seminary) has played in four games with two starts and has two victories &#8211; both via a shutout.Gagliardi shut out both Vermont and Maine, both by 2-0 scores, and played a full 70 minutes in both contests. In her four appearances, she has given up just one goal and has six saves.The Big Red is 8-4 overall and 3-1 in Ivy League play.<style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_RomeIMG_7261.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Rome </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_RomeIMG_7261.jpg</photo0><caption0>Rome </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Bill ArsenaultFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @tlsports.</shirttailMeta></div>

College Corner: Regan Rome on track for big postseason