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Top Lock Haven University Athletes of 2019-20

By: SAM KUPERMAN

For The Express

With the ramifications of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the end of the 2019-20 NCAA athletic season was drastically sped up. While we don’t have live sports to give us a break from our current reality, we can look back at some of the best moments.

Here are some of the top athletic performers at Lock Haven University during the 2019-20 slate.

Andrea DiSomma (Men’s Soccer): When a freshman takes a starting role on a college team in any sport, you often never know what you’ll get. For those that were unsure of what type of impact Andrea DiSomma would make to Lock Haven men”s soccer, they quickly learned. Earning Third-Team All-America honors will surely educate a person or two.

The Lancaster native netted 17 goals, which led the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), and was tied for eighth in the nation in that regard. There are catalogs worth of season-ending lists that his name falls on. But his ability to score in bunches, and to do so in key moments, is what stands out the most about his first season in the crimson and white.

DiSomma compiled six multi-goal games, half of which resulted in him scoring three goals. These all came during the final 11 games of the season. That streak started on September 28, when DiSomma’s second goal of the game at Bloomsburg was an overtime winner.

Coach Patrick Long undoubtedly has a crucial building block to his program in that of DiSomma. And the thought that Lock Haven gets three more years of this has got to excite Bald Eagles fans near and far.

Christian Kelly (Men’s Basketball):

At 6’4 210 pounds, Kelly isn’t the prototype of a great low post defender. But the two-time all conference forward was that and much much more for LHU men’s basketball during his senior campaign.

His numbers were pound-for-pound possibly the best in the PSAC. He averaged 20.9 points, which was second best in the conference. Kelly’s stats in rebounding (7.9 rpg) and blocks (1.7 bpg) rank sixth and third respectively in the PSAC. But above all else, Kelly’s leadership helped propel Lock Haven men’s basketball to the PSAC playoffs for the second consecutive year.

The Phoenixville native is consistently composed on the court. You won’t see him display frustration, even during moments that warrant it. Considering his journey from a Kutztown transfer that was seeing limited minutes off the bench just three years ago to the engine of the team, it makes sense that Kelly has this kind of poise.

He leaves Lock Haven as the 21st member of the program’s 1,000 point club, a 2020 First-Team All-PSAC East performer, a 2019 Second-Team All-PSAC East honoree, and a universally beloved player.

Laurel Moyer (Cross Country/Track):

A junior out of Central Mountain High School, Moyer has represented her hometown well during her time at Lock Haven University. Her third-place finish at the Atlantic Region Cross Country Championships in November earned her All-Region honors, and a spot at nationals in Sacramento, California.

Moyer and fellow junior Cadie Kiser formed a formidable duo that put Lock Haven in the regional team rankings throughout the season. Moyer’s finish at regionals was the best in school history, and Kiser’s sixth-place run tied a previous LHU record.

While Moyer unfortunately did not get a 2020 spring track and field season due to COVID-19, her indoor season was quite strong. Moyer took second in both the mile and 3,000-meter run at the 2020 PSAC Championships.

Jazmin Palma (Field Hockey):

Lock Haven field hockey had a special season. The Bald Eagles fought their way into the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) playoffs, and nearly pulled off an upset over nationally-ranked St. Joes. A big reason for this was the massive impact of Argentinian freshman Jazmin Palma, and her All-Region honors displayed as much.

Palma led Lock Haven with 16 points, frequently displaying her unique skillset to create opportunities out of thin air. She sees the game on a different level, consistently finding different ways to get a good shot off in a contested area or setting up teammates for looks that wouldn’t seem fathomable to most.

Palma earned the A-10 Rookie of the Week award three times during the year. This culminated with the A-10 Rookie of the Year honor that she picked up at the end of the season. While Lock Haven loses a few key players from this year’s team (including fellow All-Region performer Kayla Braithwaite), Palma will make up an exciting returning core for 2020.

Luke Werner (Wrestling):

Despite the premature ending to the 2019-20 NCAA wrestling season, Lock Haven closed out in a big way. The Bald Eagles placed fifth out of 15 teams at their first ever appearance in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championships, and sent five of their 10 wrestlers to nationals. Werner was at the top of that group, going 31-5 in his junior campaign and earning the number 13 seed in the NCAA Championships.

Werner’s season wasn’t supposed to happen this way. Initially, he was set to redshirt the 2019-20 season, and maintain two more years of eligibility. However, coach Scott Moore needed Werner back in the lineup at 125 pounds, and the Bethlehem native delivered and then some.

Werner racked up 22 bonus point wins, good for second in the country. That only trailed teammate Jonathan Ross, who in his 52-win redshirt season has racked up 25 victories via bonus points. Werner took second place at the Southern Scuffle in January. His dual meet record was 7-1, and a third place finish at the MAC Championships was how Werner capped off his season.

While his season was one of the many that ended before it was supposed to in NCAA athletics this year, Werner was poised to make at run in the 125 bracket. Fortunately, we’ll get to see him do just that next year as a senior, and the leader of what should be a highly-competitive LHU wrestling team.

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