Sports information blog: 9/11/12

Slippery Rock University Athletics

THE OFFICIAL ATHLETICS WEBSITE OF SLIPPERY ROCK UNIVERSITY

SLIPPERY ROCK ATHLETICS

First things first: As we pause to remember the 9-11 tragedy, I'm proud to say I am an American and the son of a veteran who helped defend and maintain our freedoms during World War II.

THANK YOU to the men and women who have, are and will serve in our military throughout the world.

We appreciate your efforts and your sacrifices.

Without our military personnel doing what they do and doing it well, I might very well not be able to show some ROCK PRIDE and brag about some former Rock student-athletes.

• Former Rock football standout Brandon Fusco made his first National Football League regular-season start last Sunday and helped lead the Minnesota Vikings to a 26-23 season-opening win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Fusco, who saw action in three games during the 2011 season after being a sixth-round pick in the April 2011 NFL Draft, opened the game at right guard after being drafted as an offensive center.

• Shout-outs to former Rock football standouts Andre Freeman and Devin Goda, who both earned free-agent tryouts last summer with NFL teams, Freeman with the Steelers and Goda with the Ravens.

Both men were in the running for a spot on their team’s 53-man active roster right up until final cuts. So “Job well done,” men. You made us proud!

• Congratulations to former Rock men’s cross country and track and field All-American Jeff Weiss on his recent victory in the 40th Charleston Distance Run held August 31 on the streets of West Virginia’s capital city.

Weiss, who is now employed as a physical education instructor at Ravenwood Middle School in the Mountaineer State, covered the 15-mile Distance Run course in a time of one hour, 21 minutes, 14 seconds.

An Olympic Trials qualifier last January, Weiss has his sights set on earning a spot on the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team as a marathon runner.

• Kudos also to former Rock volleyball standout Kayla Fetsko, who was recently named as head coach at West Liberty University in West Virginia. She ascended to that position after serving the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Wheeling Jesuit University.

As a WJU assistant coach, Fetsko helped the Cardinals win the 2011 NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional championship, capture back-to-back West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference crowns and record eye-popping 69-9 overall and 28-0 (no misprint) WVIAC record during the 2010 and 2011 seasons. She also added an MBA degree from WJU after earning a bachelor’s degree in marketing and management from SRU in 2010.

• A shout-out also to former Rock swimming coach Andy Waeger, who was recently hired as an assistant swimming and diving coach at Division I Texas Christian University (TCU).

SRU’s swim boss from 2003-05 after serving one season as graduate assistant coach, Waeger served the last seven seasons as head coach at Lock Haven University. He led the Bald Eagles’ women’s team to a best-ever 16th-place national finish in 2010 and tutored a total of six All-America performers.

That’s all for now. Until next time …

GO ROCK!!

Bob McComas
Sports Information Director