Nicholas Licata

PITTSBURGH -- As the javelin left Megan Penrod’s hand, she didn’t expect it to be her best throw.   She was competing at George Mason University in the Duquesne University track and field team’s third meet of the 2024 season. She set her block leg, rotated her shoulders and followed through, throwing 42.71 meters.    The distance marked a new personal best, the second-farthest women’s javelin throw in Duquesne history and the meet-winning throw.   Not only was it her best throw; it was one of her last.     Within the week, it was determined via Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) that Penrod had partially torn her Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL), ending her 2023 campaign and turning her life upside down.   However, Penrod’s self-motivating attitude and mindset have never waned.     “I have so much more to prove than I have already, said Penrod. “I know that inside. I’m not done.  I know it .”    The junior’s rise throug...

Pittsburgh Steelers (8-2) at   Cleveland Browns (2-8), Nov. 21, 8:15 p.m. Kevin Stefanski  (39-38)   vs.  Mike Tomlin  (181-102-2) Huntington Bank Field, Cleveland   THE STEELERS ARE:  In first place in the AFC North following Week 11’s 18-16 win against Baltimore… Off to their best start through their first 10 games (8-2) since 2020 (10-0)… 26-7-1 against the Cleveland Browns since hiring Mike Tomlin in 2007… 100-69 (.592) in regular-season primetime games since 1970… Own a league-best +20 turnover margin since the beginning of the 2023 season… 10-15 (.400) in games following three days rest since 1970.   DANGERUSS: Russell Wilson  is 4-0 as the Steelers’ starting quarterback since returning from injury in Week 7… Has completed 60.3% (73-of-121) of his passes for 942 yards in that time... Has thrown six touchdowns and two interceptions over four starts… His current 12.9 yards per completion are the second-most of his career (13.1 in 2013 wit...

Duquesne warms up against NEC opponent PITTSBURGH -- “Really good football teams overcome adversity.”  This was the rallying message for Duquesne University, preached at halftime by Head Coach Jerry Schmitt, en route to the team’s comeback and sixth straight win.  Duquesne (6-2) defeated NEC opponent Mercyhurst University (2-7) in a transitional period non-conference match on Saturday afternoon 31-24 at Arthur J. Rooney Field in Pittsburgh.  Adversity, for the Dukes, came in the form of Rylan Davidson, who set a Mercyhurst all-time single-game receptions record and a new NEC season-high single-game receptions benchmark with 14. Davidson produced 152 receiving yards, with 95 coming after the catch, and broke into the endzone twice during the contest. Mercyhurst quarterback Adam Urena completed 38 of 52 passes for 345 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, including completing 6 of 8 passes for 63 yards on a 69-yard touchdown drive to open the contest and give the Lak...

  The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Baltimore Orioles 5-4 at PNC Park on Saturday, April 6th, in the 11th inning off the bat of O’Neil Cruz. Cruz drove in the automatic runner, Henry Davis, with a single to right field, which marked the second walk-off of his career. The Pirates won the second game of the series against the O’s and improved to 7-2 on the season, with the rubber match of the series coming tomorrow. The Bucs are currently off to their best start to a season since 2018, and a win tomorrow would mean the ball club's best start since 1962.  The Buccos outhit the Orioles 11-4 in the contest and recorded one error to the O’s zero. Josh Fleming earned the win after retiring the side in the top of the 11th. Bailey Falter had his best start of the season, giving up one hit and no runs over 6.0 innings of work.  Joey Bart homered in his first at-bat as a Pirate, which marks the second player this season to hit a home run in their first at-bat with the team. Bart w...

    At the age of 62, Paul Hightower continues to run his athletic program the same way he has for the last 33 years- based on the maintenance of great relationships with those around him. Described as the jack-of-all-trades in his time at Duquesne, Hightower has used his interpersonal relationships to maintain his position as Senior Assistant Athletic Director of Facilities and Home Events for over three decades, an uncommon feat in today’s modern workforce. He says that the key to staying young is keeping up with the kids around him.      Hightower began his pursuit of a sports management career during his latter two years of college at Radford University. He originally had aspirations to be a sound engineer his Freshman year before switching his major to Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology. Having grown up around deaf friends, Hightower sought a career path that would put him in a position to help hearing-impaired children. However, he found that he ...

PITTSBURGH – Abortion is one of the most emotionally-charged and controversial issues plaguing the citizens of the United States. It is the process of terminating an unborn child, most commonly in the gynecological procedure of vacuum Aspiration or in the form of pills. Pro-Life activists, people against terminating an unborn child, and Pro-Choice activists, people who support women’s right to an abortion, fervently debate its legality. These impassioned debates create a looming question:  “Can Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Activists Find Common Ground?”      I walked around Pittsburgh and asked locals if they believed homogeneity and unity were possible. Overall, the public was split on the prospect.       Mason Goats, a 20-year-old Pittsburgher, is adamant that he believes a compromise is possible.      “Frankly I think if everybody just sat down and agreed upon the welfare of children they’d come to a common...