By Matt Burglund
It was quite a year for the IUP Crimson Hawks.
Ten teams qualified for the NCAA Division II playoffs. Three hosted regional championships, and two won regional crowns.
Fifty-six student-athletes earned all-conference honors, and 243 earned Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete awards.
Two coaches—Andrew McGlashen (women’s tennis) and Dan Braun (men’s golf)—were named PSAC Coach of the Year, while another, Steve Kline (baseball), took top honors in the region.
Women’s volleyball advanced to the Atlantic Region championship match in December 2023.
The baseball team won the region and advanced to the College World Series for the first time in school history. The women’s tennis team won its fourth consecutive regional crown, and the men’s golf team made its 27th consecutive appearance in the regional tournament. The women’s volleyball team also had a season for the ages, coming within one match of the regional championship.
The year of achievement culminated with a 39th-place finish overall—and third among PSAC schools—in the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Learfield Cup, a national competition in which all 238 Division II schools are rated on their athletic success.
Champs Again
The men’s rugby club team won the crown at the National Collegiate Rugby national championships (15-player division) by beating the University of Memphis in Houston, Texas, in December. The win marks the third national championship in two years for the Crimson Hawks, who claimed the past two national titles in the seven-player division. IUP was the runner-up in 2022 in the 15-player division.
Breaking Through
Two former IUP football players arrived in the NFL after traveling a long, occasionally bumpy road.
Dondrea Tillman, who starred for the Crimson Hawks from 2016 to 2019, was elevated from the practice squad to the Denver Broncos’ active roster in September. In his first NFL game, a 26-7 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on September 22, Tillman had a stellar performance as he recorded two quarterback sacks.
A six-foot-four outside linebacker, Tillman had 174 tackles in his IUP career, including 30 sacks. He was a two-time All-PSAC selection and, after playing two seasons in the fledgling Spring League, was selected by the Birmingham Stallions in the 2022 United States Football League supplemental draft.
After two standout seasons with the Stallions, Tillman signed with the Broncos and completed his journey to the NFL.
The week before Tillman’s debut, Irvin Charles made a play that announced his arrival in the NFL as a key special teamer for the New York Jets.
Charles, who caught 39 passes for 792 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2021—his only season at IUP after transferring from Penn State—blocked a punt in the third quarter of New York’s game against the Tennessee Titans.
With the Jets holding a 14-10 lead, Charles broke through the Titans’ line and blocked the punt, setting up his team for a short drive that ended with a field goal. New York went on to win, 24-17.
Charles signed with the Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2022. After seeing little playing time for two seasons, he seems to have broken through as a critical member of the Jets’ special teams unit.
Hall of Fame
At the annual IUP Athletics Hall of Fame induction in September, 10 former student-athletes and one team were honored for their careers.
The IUP Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2024 was inducted in September. Front row, from left: Crystal Heder Kosecki, Christine Wheeler Schrott, Jackie Hynson McKelvy, Barbara Bentrim Kubala, Larry Kubala, Alexa Lodovici, and Tim Buffone. Back row: IUP Athletics Director Todd Garzarelli, Mario Hardison, Mike Higgins, Ashton Smith, Jim Wooding, Nick Sudzina, Rich Hornfeck, James Mill Jr. (representing his father, the late James G. Mill), and IUP President Michael Driscoll.
The Class of 2024 comprises Tim Buffone ’02 (football), Mario Hardison ’97 (football/track and field), Crystal Heder Kosecki ’08, M’12 (women’s soccer), Michael Higgins ’79 (cross country/track and field), Jackie Hynson McKelvy ’12, M’14 (women’s swimming), Alexa Lodovici ’13 (lacrosse), Christine Wheeler Schrott ’90 (cross country/track and field), Ashton Smith (men’s basketball), Nick Sudzina ’69 (baseball), Jim Wooding ’77 (track and field), and the 1964 football team.
Rich Hornfeck and Jim Mill were honored in the Coach/Administrator category.
The Honorary Bell Ringer Award was given to Larry Kubala ’68 and Barbara Bentrim Kubala ’68, M’73.
Career Moves
Steve Roach ’01, IUP’s director of athletics from 2015 to 2018, was hired in September as deputy director of athletics at Elon University. Roach had been executive director of athletics at Texas A&M-Kingsville since leaving IUP.
Dominic Lombardi ’12 was reunited in March with Scooter Renkin ’13, his former IUP men’s basketball teammate, when he was hired as an assistant coach at James Madison University. Lombardi had been an assistant at Morehead State, and when the head coach there was hired at JMU, he brought Lombardi along. Renkin is associate athletic director for development at JMU.
In the football world, several coaches with ties to IUP are in new positions during the 2024 season: Luke Barker, an assistant coach at IUP from 2014 to 2020, is head coach at Fairmont State; Luke Getsy, an assistant from 2011 to 2013, is offensive coordinator for the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders; James Heiss ’14, who played at IUP in 2011 and 2012, is director of football strength and conditioning at Georgia Southern University; Jalen Hairston, an assistant at IUP in 2021, is defensive passing game coordinator at Maine; Jim Hostler ’90, a former IUP player (1986-89) and assistant (1990-92, 1994-99), is a defensive analyst at the University of Southern California; Zack Johnson, an assistant at IUP in 2022 and 2023, is defensive coordinator at Fairmont State; Anthony Leonard, an IUP assistant from 2016 to 2021, is defensive line coach at PennWest-California; Ben McAdoo ’00, a former student assistant at IUP, is senior offensive assistant for the NFL’s New England Patriots; D. K. McDonald, an assistant at IUP from 2006 to 2010, is defensive coordinator at the University of Kansas; Mitch Snyder ’18, an assistant at IUP from 2017 to 2023, is defensive coordinator at Wisconsin-Stevens Point; and Tim Zetts, an assistant at IUP in 2011, is an offensive assistant with the Las Vegas Raiders.
In Memoriam
Retired IUP administrator Ed Receski M’66, an assistant football coach under head coaches Chuck Mills, Chuck Klausing, and Bill Neal from 1961 to 1972, died June 16, 2024.
For all the latest sports news that Namedroppers can’t bring you because of deadline constraints, visit IUP Athletics.