March 26, 2025 2:16 am
Just a week after its Men’s Basketball team lost an NCAA Division I First Four heartbreaker, Saint Francis University and the Presidents Athletic Conference have announced that the Red Flash will re-classify from Division I to Division III and join the conference, becoming the 13th full-time member institution. Saint Francis fields 22 varsity athletic teams, including nine men’s and 13 women’s. The University will retain its current affiliation as a full-time member of the Northeast Conference (NEC) until June 30, 2026, when it will begin transitioning to Division III, a process that will take three years to complete. Meanwhile, the Red Flash will have full schedules in all applicable PAC sports. Saint Francis will not be eligible for PAC Championships or compete in Conference Championship Tournaments in basketball, soccer, volleyball, tennis, lacrosse, baseball & softball until they are approved for active Division III membership by the NCAA. Red Flash programs in sports such as cross country, golf, swimming and diving and indoor and outdoor track and field will be able to compete at PAC Championships starting in 2026-27.
“The Presidents’ Athletic Conference is looking forward to welcoming Saint Francis University to the PAC,” Doug Lee, President at Waynesburg University and Chair of the PAC Presidents’ Council said in the PAC release. “Their commitment to creating an atmosphere for scholar athletes to compete in the unique and exciting dimension of Division III athletics will further enhance the strong tradition of excellence upheld by our member institutions.”
“On behalf of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference and our Presidents Council, it is my distinct honor to officially welcome Saint Francis University of Pennsylvania as they reclassify their athletic department to NCAA Division III and full PAC membership,” PAC Commissioner Joe Onderko was quoted in the release. Onderko, now in his 19th year leading the conference, added “The oldest Catholic-Franciscan college in the United States, Saint Francis is a tremendous fit, both geographically and culturally, as the newest PAC member. In addition, the Red Flash athletic department shares our unique vision that academic and athletic excellence are not mutually exclusive. We are excited to welcome them as the league’s 13th full member and believe they will be a tremendous partner as the PAC continues to grow.
With the addition of Saint Francis, the PAC has grown from nine members to 13 full-time members since 2019. Franciscan University joined the conference that year, while Allegheny College returned to the PAC as a full-time member in 2022 and Hiram College will return to full competition in the conference beginning in the 2025-26 academic year. The PAC continues to expand its championship offerings, as the conference introduced women’s and men’s lacrosse championships in 2019 and this spring, will host the first-ever Men’s Volleyball Championship Tournament.
March 25, 2025 4:25 am
DENVER (AP) — They’re playing for more than trips to the Final Four and a chance to cut down nets at March Madness. It’s also a chance to see and be seen – by other teams. In yet another sign of the times in college sports, the transfer portal opens Monday, giving basketball players a 30-day window to switch schools. It means some of the 1,000 or so players on the 68 teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament are playing to win, but also for more money, more playing time, a chance to be seen and potentially set things up for next year.
March 25, 2025 4:22 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas has hired Xavier’s Sean Miller to take over the Longhorns basketball program. Texas is turning to the coach who just knocked the Longhorns out of the NCAA Tournament. Miller will try to spark a program that struggled in its first season in the Southeastern Conference. It is also the second time Miller is leaving Xavier, a Catholic school in Cincinnati that plays in the Big East, for a bigger program. He coached at Xavier from 2004-2009 before leaving for Arizona. He then returned to Xavier in 2022 after he was fired.
March 25, 2025 4:24 am
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Bold decisions to change Major League Baseball’s longstanding rules quickened the pace of games and revived the popularity of stealing bases over the last few years. A similarly creative move may be needed to help starting pitching regain the relevance it enjoyed as recently as a decade ago. Thirty-four pitchers worked as many as 200 innings and all 30 major league teams got over 900 innings from their starters in 2014. Only four pitchers threw 200 innings last season and just four teams got as many as 900 innings from their starters.
March 23, 2025 3:00 am
The opening week of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is complete with the Sweet 16 now set. WJPA-AM (1450) is your home for all of the action of the Men’s tournament with “feature games” each day plus “wrap-around” coverage of every game. We’ll also have coverage of the Women’s tournament starting with Sweet 16 action next Friday.
Saturday, March 22
(1) Florida 77, (8) UConn 75
(1) Duke 89, (9) Baylor 66
(3) Kentucky 84, (6) Illinois 75
(2) Alabama 80, (7) Saint Mary’s 66
(4) Maryland 72, (12) Colorado State 71
(6) Ole Miss 91, (3) Iowa State 78
(2) Michigan State 71, (10) New Mexico 63
(4) Arizona 87, (5) Oregon 83
March 24, 2025 4:41 am
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Aleksander Barkov scored in the shootout round while Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all three attempts and the Florida Panthers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Sunday night. Sam Reinhart scored twice, giving him 35 goals, and Anton Lundell had a goal for the Panthers. Coming off a 2-4 road trip, culminated by Saturday’s 6-3 loss at league-point leader Washington, the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers have won 11 of their last 12 at home. Bryan Rust had two goals and Evgeni Malkin scored for the Penguins. Sidney Crosby assisted on one of Rust’s goals, increasing his points streak to seven games.
March 24, 2025 4:30 am
Tiger Woods has confirmed his relationship with the former daughter-in-law of President Donald Trump. Woods posted two images of he and Vanessa Trump on social media. In one of them, she is cuddling with him on a hammock. He wrote that “love is in the air.” And then he asked his 6.4 million followers on X for privacy. Woods and Vanessa Trump had been seen together in San Diego last month during the Genesis Invitational. Her daughter Kai and Woods’ two children attend the Benjamin School. Woods also went public with photos when he announced in 2013 he was dating skier Lindsey Vonn.
March 23, 2025 7:30 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Penn State’s Carter Starocci won an unprecedented fifth national title and Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson stunned Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson 5-4 in the heavyweight final at the NCAA men’s wrestling championships with President Donald Trump in attendance. Hendrickson, the transfer from Air Force, trailed in the last match of the evening until scoring on a takedown in the final minute — the only takedown Steveson allowed all season. Penn State claimed its third four-peat, running away from the field to claim its 12th men’s Division I men’s wrestling national title under coach Cael Sanderson. Nebraska finished second and Oklahoma State was third.
March 23, 2025 7:28 am
The Pittsburgh Pirates lost to the Baltimore Orioles 4-0 on Saturday. What makes the game unusual is that the Pirates suffered a no-hitter in the effort. Seven Orioles pitchers were successful in keeping the Bucs’ bats silent. Paul Skenes did make his final start before his assignment as the Opening Day pitcher. He worked 3.1 innings giving up only one hit and striking out four batters. The Pirates are 14-13 for the spring training season so far. They travel to Dunedin to take on the Toronto Blue Jays today at 1:07 pm.
March 22, 2025 12:01 am
Olivia Terlecki scored 19 points, leading Upper St. Clair to a 6A Girls semifinal win over Garnet Valley Friday night. The guard hit five three pointers to help the Panthers reach the state finals for just the second time. Rylee Kalocay added 13 points for USC. In a 5A Boys semifinal, Hershey used a 17-0 run late in the second quarter to build a 15-point lead. Chartiers Valley pulled to within two points three different times after intermission, but Hershey’s 16-2 run to end the game ended the Colts’ season one win shy of the state finals. Hershey will make its first-ever appearance in the PIAA championship game next Friday night.
Lailah Wright and Ryan Oldaker combined for 27 points, leading South Fayette to a 50-36 win over Peters Township in the 5A Girls semifinals. The duo was held to six combined points in the Lions’ loss to the Indians in the WPIAL Finals three weeks ago. Now, with the win, South Fayette returns to the state championship game for the second time in three seasons, hoping to avenge the 2023 loss to District 12 champion Archbishop Wood.
In the 6A Boys semis, Upper St. Clair trailed by three at the end of one quarter, but Roman Catholic used a 17-6 second period to get distance on the Panthers, then played the second half at arms’ length, eliminating the WPIAL champion, 59-46.
PIAA championship games are set for the Giant Center, March 27-29. Click for PIAA Brackets
Semifinals
Friday, March 21
6A Girls Upper St. Clair 53, Garnet Valley 49
5A Boys Hershey 66, Chartiers Valley 50
Saturday, March 22
5A Girls South Fayette 50, Peters Township 36
6A Boys Roman Catholic 59, Upper St. Clair 46
