Crispin

Butler High School 2006 cross country MVPTess Crispin received a scholarship to run cross country and track for Shippensburg University in 2007-08.

Crispin finished third in total points for the 2007 Butler track season. She received the cross country newcomer award during her junior year and the track and field Golden Baton Award as Freshman of the Year during her first year.

PITTSBURGH — A city-county board approved a $325 million bond issue for a new arena and authorized a 30-year lease with the Pittsburgh Penguins.An underlying agreement also approved Thursday binds the team to the city for at least 30 years, although formal lease documents were still being finalized, Sports & Exhibition Authority officials said.The authority board also authorized extending the Penguins' current lease at 46-year-old Mellon Arena, the oldest arena in the National Hockey League. The extension gives the Penguins more control over revenue at the building as its master tenant.The bond issue is expected to cover the cost of the $290 million arena, a possible parking garage and other related expenses.The Penguins hope to move into the new arena during the 2009-2010 season, but that's not guaranteed at this point.

The Seneca Valley baseball team will face State College in the PIAAClass AAAA semifinals at 4 p.m. Monday at White Township Park in Indiana, Pa.The winner will face the Souderton-Cumberland Valley winner in the state championship at 2 p.m. June 16 at Blair County Ballpark in Altoona.

The Advanced Approach SPAASM volleyball club's 16-year-old team recently won a tournament at Penn State-Beaver.The win gives the team a new club record of seven Gold Championships in one year.The squad consists of Butler's Stephanie Mock and Becky Smith and Seneca Valley's Paige Banyas, Sarah Beals, Anna Homisky, Kellie Karasack and Cassie Kulp.The team also competed at the East Coast Championships at Penn State's main campus with 148 other 16-year-old teams.SPAASM entered the tournament ranked 18th, finished in 11th place and ended its season ranked second out of 189 teams in the Ohio Valley Region.

Seneca Valley graduate Zach Jackson allowed four hits over eight innings to lead Nashville, the Class AAA affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers, to an 8-2 victory over Omaha Friday.Jackson (7-3) allowed two runs, one unearned, struck out four and walked none.SRU soccer recruit on national TVSlippery Rock University women's soccer recruit Dana Kiger will tell her story of recovery from a brain injury on ABC's "Good Morning America" program Monday morning.Kiger suffered a rare form of amnesia after falling and hitting her head while playing a soccer game for Cincinnati Colerain High School. Two years later, she still can't remember her childhood or early teen years.Her segment is expected to run after the program's 8 a.m. news break.

Four area high school graduates, now Westminster College athletes, have been named to the Presidents' Athletic Conference academic honor roll for the spring semester.Women's track athlete Abbey Basta and men's track athlete Nate Caopello of Slippery Rock, women's basketball player Rachel Eaton of Union and men's swimmer Lee Scott of Knoch received the honors.Westminster had 43 student athletes reach the honor roll, which requires a minimum grade point average of 3.6.

Slippery Rock University had 36 percent of its 2006-07 student athletes — 157 of 440 — earn Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete status this year.Included among those are 12 area athletes, listed below:<B>Baseball</B>Billy Herman (Grove City), Scott Rice (Slippery Rock)<B>Women's Cross Country-Track</B>Emily Consbruck (Grove City), Nadya Mamoozadeh (Slippery Rock), Sarah Thompson (Slippery Rock), Lacey Cochran (Freeport), Sarah Reppermund (Knoch)<B>Football</B>Bill Elliott (Knoch), Travis Sarver (Slippery Rock)<B>Men's Track</B>John Strutt (Butler)<B>Women's Volleyball</B>Gwen Oberlin (Grove City)