The transfer portal taketh away, and it also giveth.
The MEC Notebook previously talked about the large number of players, just in basketball, that entered the transfer portal after this season.
But the two that stood out the most were a pair of All-Americans in Wheeling University’s Lily Ritz and West Liberty’s Dalton Bolon. Both achieved great individual success on their respective teams, and, in the case of Bolon, team success as the Hilltoppers were continually ranked Nationally in the Top 25 and make a habit of earning NCAA tournament berths.
But enter the portal they did, and both have recently selected their skills. In somewhat telling moves, both are testing those Division I waters, signing with mid-major programs for their final season(s).
Ritz, who has two years of eligibility remaining, is off to the Horizon League to play at Youngstown State.
Penguins head coach John Barnes recruited her coming out of Cambridge High School, and she paid the YSU campus a visit before ultimately selecting California (Pa.) in Division II.
What followed was a transfer and memorable two-year run for Wheeling University.
Bolon, meanwhile, is a four-time all-MEC and three-time All-American player. He led all active Division II players in both points and 3-pointers before exploring other options for his final season.
He selected the College of Charleston, a Division I program in South Carolina that competes in the Colonial Athletic Association against teams like James Madison, UNC-Wilmington, Hofstra, and Drexel.
Bolon is one of three Hilltoppers’ men to enter the portal. Nearby Wheeling has two to go with Ritz on the women’s side.
But West Liberty also gained two commitments from the portal, 6-8 power forward Viktor Kovacevic from Quincy and 6-1 point guard Christian Montague from Walsh. The former is a senior and the latter a redshirt sophomore.
Wheeling isn’t left out in benefitting from the portal either. The Cardinals’ football team received official word this week that former WVU quarterback Trent Jackson will be joining the Cardinals for the 2021 season.
Jackson came to Morgantown as a walk-on out of Maryland in 2018 but quickly impressed the coaching staff with his work ethic both on the field and in the weight room. During spring 2019 drills, head coach Neal Brown remarked that Jackson threw the best deep ball of any quarterback on the roster and that the other QBs needed to catch up.
Still, Jackson was unable to crack the starting lineup, but is headed to Wheeling and may compete with 2020 starter and current freshman Jalen Lea for the starting job. Jackson has three seasons of eligibility remaining.
Another Provisional Mark
West Liberty’s Kecli Hulit from Malvern is the MEC’s reigning Women’s Track Athlete of the Week. She won both the shot and the discus at the recent University of Charleston Invitational.
Her mark of 47.10 meters in the discus is an NCAA provisional mark and gives her the 15th-best throw nationally in the event this season. She also came in fourth in the hammer throw during the meet.
Hulit joins pole vaulter Danielle Stephens and fellow thrower Liz Fleming, both of Wheeling, as area MEC track athletes to post provisional marks this season.
At W.Va. Wesleyan’s Bobcat/Last Chance Meet recently, Hulit was victorious in discus and hammer throw, while finishing second in the shot to teammate and former Madonna standout Kennedy Martin.
Baseball Honors
Wheeling’s Chris Iazzetta and West Liberty’s Ty Helmke were named the co-Players of the Week for baseball. In addition, Iazzetta, a junior outfielder from Clinton, N.J., was selected by the National College Baseball Writers of America (NCBWA) as the Division II National Hitter of the Week.
Iazzetta helped Wheeling (19-8) sweep a series at Frostburg State with his red-hot bat. He hit a robust .588 (10 of 17), driving in 13 runs and scoring seven with three home runs and two doubles. He added three steals for good measure.
Helmke, meanwhile, homered in four-straight games, all coming against Alderson Broaddus. His slugging percentage for the week stood at 1.133, adding seven RBI in the process.
The Cardinals, under the direction of head coach and former John Marshall and W.Va. Wesleyan standout Ryan Lewicki, are leading the MEC North Standing and are approaching a program record for wins in a season.
Weekly Conference Honors
The following athletes were honored last week by the MEC as the top performers in their respective sports:
| Players of the Week |
| Men’s Track & Field: Nathan Stout, UC |
| Women’s Track & Field: Kelsi Hulit, West Liberty |
| Men’s Golf: Marco Oliverio, Fairmont State |
| Women’s Golf: Beatrice Dietz, UC |
| Men’s Soccer: Anderson Marroquin, Davis & Elkins (Offensive); Noah Underwood, West Liberty (Defensive) |
| Women’s Soccer: Alexis Prate, Frostburg State (Offensive); Christin Walls, W.Va. State (Defensive) |
| Baseball: Ty Helmke, West Liberty/Chris Iazzetta, Wheeling (Player); Eddie Blake (Pitcher) |
| Softball: Hannah Rose, UC/Aliyah Ramey, Frostburg State (Player); Kadi Cosgrove, Fairmont State (Pitcher) |
| Women’s Lacrosse: Charlotte Vari, Notre Dame (Offensive); Mackenzie Levine, Notre Dame (Defensive) |
| Men’s Tennis: Carlos Codero Fernandez, W.Va. Wesleyan |
| Women’s Tennis: Madison Chen, W.Va. Wesleyan |
Note: The MEC Notebook highlights the top news and notes from around the Mountain East Conference.
