As students returned to campus for the spring semester, there have been many uncertainties involving how COVID would impact things. However, something that has remained consistent for our student athletes is their drive and motivation to continue pushing themselves against the competition. With that being said, January has been quite the month for Penn State Behrend Athletics and it’s many competing teams.

To begin, the women’s basketball team went a perfect 7-0 in the month of January. This run can be credited to the work of this team as a whole. On the season, Caitlin Carnuche has led the team in points scored with 267 and is averaging a team-high of 14.8 points per game. Right behind Carnuche is Kara Haslett, who has 244 points scored on the season averaging a respectable 14.4 points per game. On the rebounding side, Alanna Dibble has accumulated 166 total boards on the year and is averaging 9.8 rebounds per game. Overall, the Lady Lions are 16-2 this season and are on quite the winning streak. 

The men’s basketball team has also been dominating over the past month. They also went undefeated over the month of January as they were winners of 12 straight games. Not only are they lossless in January, but they also did not drop a game in December. Behrend has not lost since their contest against Cleveland State all the way back on November 27. The Lions are a perfect 10-0 in conference play this season and are led by senior guard Kenny Fukon, who is averaging 18.9 points per game as well as senior forward PJ Gourley, scoring 18.1 points per game. Gourley leads the team in both total points scored with 290 on the season as well as rebounds on the season with 141. The Lions are 15-2 as a whole this season.

Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams are surging at the start of 2022. They will look to build their momentum as they enter the month of February with confidence and poise.

In men’s swimming, Jake Schmidt has been tearing up the competition. Schmidt set a new team record in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay. In the 200 freestyle, Schmidt had a time of 2:00.77 last Saturday in a meet with Nazareth. He proceeded to win the 400 freestyle as well with a time of 4:19:53. Schmidt was named an Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Athlete of the Week thanks to his efforts. Meanwhile, Behrend’s women’s swimming and diving team set eight team records at the meet as well. These eight records were broken by seven different members of the team. Emma Webster and Marcella Puglia were standout performers at the meet amongst a great day from the team as a whole. 

Behrend athletics will continue to perform at high levels this month. Stay tuned for more updates about the student athletes and their teams as they compete.