LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Slippery Rock University head women's lacrosse coach Taryn Burkholder was named Western Division Coach of the Year and The Rock led all schools with eight selections to the 2024 All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference team that was announced Wednesday.
 
Burkholder, who is in the midst of her third year in charge of the program at SRU, becomes the first women's lacrosse coach in program history to be named Coach of the Year by her peers. She has guided The Rock to three straight seasons with at least 10 wins, becoming the first coach in the program's history to achieve that milestone. This spring, she has led the program to a school record 15 wins and its first-ever trip to the conference semifinals this weekend.
 
Slippery Rock placed five players on the first team and three on the second team after voting by the league's head coaches for the All-PSAC team. The eight selections were the most of any team in either division, one better than the seven honorees for both West Chester and Kutztown in the Eastern Division and three more than the five selections for Seton Hill and Indiana (Pa.) in the West.
 
The Rock's first team selections include Charleigh Rondeau and Brooke Wisniewski in the midfield, Camryn Whipple at attack, Paige Jenkins on defense and Gillian O'Rourke in goal. Attacker Lauren Searles and defenders Nicole Masi and Hailey Ohlsen were named to second team honors.
 
The eight All-PSAC selections are the most in a single-season in program history and the five first team honorees are also the most in program history.
 
Rondeau becomes a four-time All-PSAC honoree after also earning first team honors in 2023 and 2022 and second team honors in 2021. She is just the second player in program history to be named to four All-PSAC teams and is the first to achieve that since Amy Halls made four straight teams from 2009-12. A graduate student from Buffalo, New York, Rondeau was the 2023 PSAC West Athlete of the Year and is the owner of all SRU's draw control records, including the single-game (21), single-season (179 and counting) and career (539 and counting) records. She also ranks 17th in career scoring with 107 points and is the only player in program history with more than 100 points, 100 ground balls, 200 draw controls and 50 caused turnovers. This spring, she ranks first in Division II in draw controls with 179 and fifth on the SRU roster in scoring with 35 points on 21 goals and 14 assists. She also has 18 caused turnovers and 25 ground balls.
 
Wisniewski, Searles and Masi are all repeat selections after also being named to the 2023 All-PSAC team. Wisniewski and Masi were second team honorees last spring, while Searles was a first team selection.
 
Wisniewski, a senior from Reading, Pennsylvania, ranks 15th in SRU history with 79 career goals. She is tied for third on the SRU roster this spring with 31 goals and has also pulled down 27 draw controls and caused 10 turnovers. Searles, a senior from Strongsville, Ohio, ranks 13th in SRU history with 118 career points and 12th in program history with 89 career goals. She has a career-high 64 points this spring to rank second on the team, which includes a career-high 47 goals to go along with 17 assists. Masi, a junior from Rochester, New York, ranks 17th in program history with 47 caused turnovers. This spring, she leads all SRU defenders with 23 caused turnovers and 26 ground balls.
 
Jenkins becomes just the second true freshman in Slippery Rock history to be named to first team honors and the first since Amy Halls in 2009. She is the only freshman from the entire PSAC to be named to first team honors this spring and is one of just two freshmen in the entire league to make the All-PSAC team, joining Seton Hill's second team goalie Allison Hathaway. She has tallied 20 caused turnovers, 26 ground balls and 65 draw controls in her first collegiate season.
 
O'Rourke becomes the second goalie in SRU program history to be named to All-PSAC honors, joining Emily Bitka, who was a two-time All-PSAC selection and the 2018 PSAC West Athlete of the Year. She is the all-time career record holder at SRU in both wins by a goalie (38) and ground balls (170) while also ranking second all-time at The Rock in saves (464). This spring, O'Rourke has set the single-season wins record (15) and owns a 15-3 record with a 7.96 goals against average and a .483 save percentage. She ranks sixth in Division II this spring in goals against average.
 
Whipple and Ohlsen are both first-time selections to the All-PSAC squad. Whipple, a senior from Washington, Pennsylvania, is having a breakout senior season with a career-high 73 points on 31 goals and 42 assists. She has already set the SRU single-season record for assists and her 73 points are the second-most in a season in program history. Whipple has climbed up to No. 2 all-time in career assists at SRU with 68 helpers and she ranks 10th all-time at The Rock with 139 total points. Ohlsen, a junior from Manorville, New York, has racked up 20 caused turnovers and 25 ground balls this season. She ranks 15th in SRU career history with 56 caused turnovers.
 
Slippery Rock owns a 15-3 overall record and went 10-2 in the PSAC West during the regular season, locking up the No. 2 seed in the playoffs to mark its highest seed ever. The Rock picked up their first modern-era playoff win Tuesday in the quarterfinals and will play in the semifinals for the first time Friday with a 4 p.m. game against No. 2 West Chester at Seton Hill.  
 
2024 ALL-PSAC WESTERN DIVISION TEAM
Athlete of the Year: Skylar Orlowski, Seton Hill
Defensive Athlete of the Year: Makayla Kintner, Seton Hill
Freshman of the Year: Makayla Kelly, Lock Haven
Coach of the Year: Taryn Burkholder, Slippery Rock
 
FIRST TEAM
Attack: Whitley Easton, Mercyhurst
Attack: Gabby Gunnip, Lock Haven
Attack: Skylar Orlowski, Seton Hill
Attack: Camryn Whipple, Slippery Rock
Midfield: Sarah Reustle, IUP
Midfield: Charleigh Rondeau, Slippery Rock
Midfield: Josey Shaffer, Lock Haven
Midfield: Brooke Wisniewski, Slippery Rock
Defense: Mackenna Brown, Lock Haven
Defense: Paige Jenkins, Slippery Rock
Defense: Makayla Kintner, Seton Hill
Defense: Giavonna Spadafora, Seton Hill
Goalie: Gillian O'Rourke, Slippery Rock
 
SECOND TEAM
Attack: Kathryn Burke, IUP
Attack: Chantal Jimenez, IUP
Attack: Lauren Searles, Slippery Rock
Attack: Mila Udovicic, Seton Hill
Midfield: Amanda Bailey, Mercyhurst
Midfield: Nadia Baskot, Lock Haven
Midfield: Rylee Jones, Edinboro
Midfield: Emme Mass, IUP
Defense: Alexandra Kehrig, Gannon
Defense: Rachel Knight, IUP
Defense: Nicole Masi, Slippery Rock
Defense: Hailey Ohlsen, Slippery Rock
Goalie: Allison Hathaway, Seton Hill




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