On Campus: Keystone's 2 Division I basketball recruits among flurry of Erie-area signings
Erie's Keystone Athletic Academy celebrated its first graduating class, the Class of 2022, as two senior standouts signed to play with NCAA Division I programs for the 2022-23 season.
Yann Farrell will play his college basketball at St. Bonaventure University while Prince Mosengo has signed with the University of Akron. The 6-foot 7-inch Farrell projects as a small forward, and the 6-foot 8-inch Mosengo is a power forward.
Both players were born in Central Africa. Mosengo is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, while Farrell was born in the Atlantic coastal nation of Gabon.
They were among the out-of-town players who joined Keystone Academy, a college preparatory boarding high school that opened in September. The program played an independent basketball schedule outside of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association while traveling frequently to compete against other independent teams in tournaments. Keystone formed a partnership with Erie First Christian Academy to allow players to use its dormitory and attend classes there.
Keystone, Warren make impression: Warren, other Keystone Academy players raise recruiting stock in 1st season
One of Keystone's core missions has been to give players more recruiting exposure to college coaches, and the signings of Farrell and Mosengo fulfill that mission.
Farrell said he liked the small-school feel of Bonaventure.
"It's not a big school," he said. "You can really focus on basketball and school with no distractions. You can really focus on your goal. I'm excited to go there and play."
"Playing for Keystone gave me the chance to compete at the highest level," Mosengo said. "I feel blessed to be one of the first Keystone players to be a D-I player. I'm not taking it for granted. I'm excited to get out there and work."
Keystone coach Shannon Pullium called Farrell and Mosengo "the first of many to come" in terms of high-level recruits for the Kings. He said that both the Zips and Bonnies are getting high quality players.
"These two set the bar high for our upcoming seniors and underclassmen," he said. "They are high profile guys and high character guys.
"I think Erie is sleeping on Keystone Academy. We're not taking anything away from the high school programs. This is high-profile basketball. This is McDonald's Classic every night."
A third Keystone basketball player, Marquell Darnell, who also starred in football at Erie High, accepted a football scholarship from Akron. Another Erie resident, Dellquan Warren, is a Keystone rising junior guard who is attracting plenty of interest from Division I schools.
COLLEGE CHOICES
North East athletes announce picks: Maddy Hartner was one of four North East athletes who made their college choices officially known on Tuesday.
Hartner, who competed in cross country and track and field for the Grapepickers, will resume participation in each sport while she attends Indiana Univeristy of Pennsylvania. She was one of four seniors recognized during a ceremony held in the school's auditorium.
Also confirming their college intentions that day were Mercede Myers (Allegheny College track and field), Nathan DiGilio (Penn State Behrend track and field) and Ryan Mayes (Pennsylvania College of Technology basketball).
Missing from the ceremony was golfer Lydia Swan, who's bound for Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma. She was home-schooled but played golf for the 'Pickers. Swan will graduate as a PIAA Class 2A individual and team gold medalist.
Harbor Creek students make college choices: Harbor Creek held a signing ceremony on Tuesday as 13 Huskies committed to playing at the next level.
PIAA runner-up wrestler Connor Pierce earlier announced that he had committed to compete for national champion Penn State.
Future Nittany Lion:Harbor Creek's Connor Pierce makes wrestling dream come true with Penn State
Harbor Creek's District 10 champion volleyball team had setter Izzy Gray commit to Allegheny, while Anna Daley is headed to Hood College in Maryland.
The swimming and diving team had three commits with Morgan Ingalls to Baldwin Wallace, diver Alayna Mosbacher to St. Bonaventure and Reilly Koch to Penn State Behrend.
PIAA first-round pairings:District 10 baseball, softball teams learn PIAA schedule for Monday; McDowell's season ends
Track standouts Max Dailey and Hayden Mahoney committed to Westminster and Slippery Rock, respectively. Monica Curtis will continue her cross country career at Westminster.
Gavin Ennis will play football at Edinboro, and Mitch Devore will continue his football career at Allegheny.
Justin Hakel has committed to play soccer at Mercyhurst.
Caesar Grandinetti rounds out the 13-athlete group with a commitment to Gannon competitive cheer and dance.
Northwestern athletes headed for college: The Wildcats had six athletes commit to colleges on Friday, including three football players. Eric Dorr and Ryan Tewell are headed to Allegheny, while Eric Steinle is set to play at Gannon.
Cam Perkins, who was also part of the football team, will play basketball at Point Park.
Reagan Pettis will continue her running career at Waynesburg.
Northwestern's final signing was Mia Soerensen, a volleyball standout headed to Kent State. She was a standout for Meadville for most of her career before moving to Albion. She spent her senior year playing for the Cleveland Volleyball Academy.
WOMEN'S GOLF
White wins again for Gannon: Mercyhurst Prep graduate Sarah White, a sophomore at Gannon, has been named the PSAC Women's Golf Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row.
White led four of head coach Scott Stano's Golden Knights who earned all-PSAC accolades, and Gannon's Ditte Petersenof Denmark added another top honor with the Freshman of the Year award.
White and Petersen claimed first-team, all-PSAC honors, while Maria Arenas of Colombia and Ana Maestro of Spain were selected to the second team. White is now a two-time, all-PSAC, first-team honoree, while Arenas is a three-time selection.
White also was selected as the PSAC Athlete of the Year and Freshman of the Year last season. She averaged 79.2 over 25 rounds this season, finishing among the top 10 in seven tournaments. That included a first-place performance in the PSAC Championships.
Hurst's Coleman honored by PSAC: Mercyhurst coach Ron Coleman, a longtime area golf standout, was named the PSAC Women's Golf Coach of the Year after leading the Lakers to a runner-up finish at this spring's PSAC Championships.
Mercyhurst's Isabella Walter and Sofia Carrizosa were first-team, all-conference selections, while Villa Maria graduate Kymberly Henry was named to the all-PSAC second team.
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Goodsel receives top honor: The AMCC has named former Penn State Behrend volleyball player and graduate student JP Goodsel as the conference's Male Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR) award winner.
Goodsel is a Corry Area High School graduate who played volleyball at Fort LeBoeuf High School. He was a four-year member and two-year captain of Behrend's volleyball team. He was earlier named the AMCC Player of the Year.
Family legacy:Goodsel carries on family volleyball legacy with big final season at Penn State Behrend
Goodsel was a triple major in plastics technology, international business/engineering and finance as an undergraduate, and he posted a 3.92 grade-point average. He then earned a master's degree in manufacturing management in May after compiling a 4.0 GPA. He was a two-time Behrend Male Scholar Athlete of the Year and was the 2021 International Business and Engineering Student of the Year.
BASEBALL
Mercyhurst's Surowiec named All-American: Three organizations have named Mercyhurst University first baseman Josh Surowiec to their NCAA Division II All-America teams.
The senior was a second-team honoree by the American Baseball Coaches Association and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and a third-team selection by the Division II Collegiate Commissioners Association.
On Campus: Lucarotti transfers to Gannon; McDowell athletes commit to colleges
He earlier was named to the Atlantic Region and PSAC West first teams and was selected as the ABCA Atlantic Region Player of the Year and PSAC West Athlete of the Year.
Surowiec led the PSAC with a .430 batting average and set a program record with 17 home runs. He also led Mercyhurst with 56 RBIs.
Gannon's Sapp honored: Gannon graduate student Eric Sapp received several postseason honors recently, including D2CCA honorable mention All-America and ABCA/Rawlings Atlantic All-Region first-team recognition.
On Campus:Gannon wins PSAC's all-sports Dixon Trophy for first time
Sapp, a left-handed pitcher, was selected as the PSAC West Pitcher of the Year earlier. He compiled a 9-1 record and 2.21 earned-run average. In 77⅓ innings, Sapp racked up a school-record 99 strikeouts while allowing just 51 hits and walking 36.
In his final appearance at the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional, Sapp delivered a memorable performance by allowing one unearned run in a 1-0 loss to the University of Charleston. He endured through three lightning delays to pitch eight innings and strike out seven batters.
Contact Josh Reilly at jreilly@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNreilly.
Mike Copper and Tom Reisenweber contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: On Campus: Keystone's 2 D-I recruits among Erie-area signings
