Kristen Zawacki
Former Head Women’s Basketball Coach, Softball Coach, and Associate
Athletic Director
BY Jim Berger
More than a decade since her untimely passing, Kristen Zawacki continues to leave a mark on Saint Vincent College Athletics.
Kristen became the first female coach in the school’s history when she was named head women’s basketball coach for the inaugural 1983-84 season. Shortly thereafter, she took on the same role for the softball program upon its launch in 1985, when she also became the Athletic Department’s first female administrator with her appointment as associate athletic director.
Over her illustrious basketball-coaching career, Kristen amassed a career record of 512-276, and at the time of her death was one of just thirteen coaches in the nation with 500 or more wins. She was named NAIA District 18 Coach of the Year seven times and the American Mideast Conference Coach of the Year three times, and she was inducted into the Saint Vincent College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995.
As head coach of the Saint Vincent softball team from 1985-89, and again from 1999-2005, Kristen led the Bearcats to four playoff appearances, while as the school’s associate athletic director and senior women’s administrator, she helped lead the Department through a time of exponential growth, which included the addition of ten sports, the transformation of Kennedy Hall into the Robert S. Carey Center following a multi-million dollar 2003 renovation project, and the construction of the College’s first artificial turf field. Along with then-athletic director Father Myron Kirsch, O.S.B., and assistant athletic director Sue Hozak, Kristen also played a major role in helping the school successfully complete the transition from the NAIA to the NCAA Division-III ranks, a four-year process that commenced in 2006.
Kristen’s inaugural 1983-84 basketball team boasted just eight players but more than exceeded expectations, finishing 14-10 and reaching the NAIA District 18 playoffs. It was a sign of things to come for the Zawacki-led program, as over the next twenty-six years, the Bearcats reached the postseason twenty-three times, including nine District 18 titles, four American Mideast Conference titles, and eight trips to the NAIA National Tournament. Fifteen players coached by Kristen received NAIA All-America honors, while twenty-four scored more than 1,000 points.
The 1990s were a decade of prominence for the Saint Vincent women’s basketball team, as the Bearcats went a combined 222-85 between the 1990-91 and 1999-2000 campaigns. The team won the District 18 title every year from 1989 through ‘97, and in 1997-98, the Bearcats’ first year of competition in the new American Mideast Conference, SVC made quick work of its opposition, posting a 16-0 conference mark and a 25-7 overall record. By the end of the decade, the Bearcats appeared in the NAIA National Tournament in seven of ten years and added another NAIA postseason trip in 2002-03, when they recovered from a 4-6 start to finish 22-12, earning Kristen AMC Coach of the Year accolades.
The winning hardly stopped upon the Bearcats’ move to NCAA Division II, as a young 2009-10 squad, of which nine of fifteen players were either freshmen or sophomores, finished 23-5. In a season full of highlights, the Bearcats wrapped up the regular season with a 64-56 home win over nationally ranked Thomas More to give Kristen her 500th victory, while two weeks later, the Bearcats won the ECAC championship with a nail-biting 60-58 victory over Juniata to close with a 23-5 record.
The Bearcats entered the 2010-11 season ranked in the top 25, and after opening the year with seven straight victories, ascended to 16th in the national poll—its highest ever ranking. Three days before Christmas, the Bearcats took to the court against Randolph Macon in the final game of the Daytona Beach Shootout. In front of a bevy of family that resides in the Daytona area, Kristen would walk off the court a 72-52 winner in what turned out to be the final game of her illustrious career, as she unexpectedly passed away on Christmas Day at the age of 52.
Kristen’s impact on Bearcat Athletics continues to be felt today, as she was responsible for producing two of the College’s most successful coaches.
In July 2006, following an impromptu meeting, she hired a young graduate assistant coach, a Saint Vincent College graduate who was eager to embark on a college coaching career. Seventeen years later, this young GA, Jimmy Petruska, has led the Bearcats to three PAC titles, four trips to the NCAA tournament, and a .703 winning percentage.
Kristen’s star softball pupil, Nicole (Hinerman) Karr, rewrote the record books between 2001-04 and is still regarded as arguably the finest player in program history. In 2006, Kristen handed over the coaching reigns to Nicole, a 2019 SVC Athletics Hall of Fame inductee and fellow 40 Women for 40 Years honoree, who has since amassed more than 300 career wins and has guided the team to nine PAC tournament appearances and two trips to the NCAA playoffs.
Along with Jimmy and Nicole, dozens of Kristen’s alumnae went on to coach at the youth, high school, and collegiate levels, part of an alumni base that boasts successful women in fields including medicine, law, education, and business.
A discussion on whom to include on a Mount Rushmore of Saint Vincent College Athletics would stir endless debate, but with her twenty-seven years of success and immeasurable influence as a coach, administrator, mentor, and friend, one figure who would be included without a doubt is Kristen Zawacki.
Andrea Redinger
Biology Major | C’01
An energetic, creative biology instructor, whose lesson for the day can be indicated by her earrings, and coordinator of gifted education, Andrea (Ferraco) Redinger has been working with students at Greensburg Salem for over twenty years. Andrea graduated with highest honors in 2001, earning a BS in Biology followed by an MS in Science Education from Duquesne in 2002. She was instrumental in founding the Pennsylvania Science Curriculum Council and currently serves as its executive director.
Andrea is the recipient of multiple awards, including the SVC Alumnus Achievement Award, and is a finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the highest honor bestowed by the US Government for STEM teaching.
At SVC, Andrea served as her class president, captain of the women’s volleyball team, and was highly active in the Life Science Club, Campus Ministry, and Alpha Chi Honor Society.
Through her efforts on the Boyer School Advisory Council, Andrea helped to institute Healthcare Exploration Days for gifted high school students, bringing them to campus for a day of hands-on laboratory activities.
Andrea loves animal critters of all types and houses 20 different species in her classroom. She possesses a passion for education and the desire to instill not only knowledge and experience in all those whom she encounters, but also the passion and love for science that she possesses.
Andrea’s enthusiasm has been referred to as “infectious” (pun intended). She can be found with her husband, David, and three kids, Everett, Patty, and Samuel, at any athletic field or court, skiing, or watching the new Star Wars movies and shows.
Mary Regina Boland
Bioinformatics Major | C’10
Mary Regina Boland began her education at Saint Vincent College as a biochemistry major but switched into a newly created bioinformatics program when the biochemistry research involved larger and larger data sets, which required sophisticated computational methods. She won the departmental bioinformatics award, graduated magna cum laude, and was accepted into Columbia University’s biomedical informatics PhD program.
Mary Regina’s passion for research into socioeconomic disparities that exist in health care led her to an assistant professorship at University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, where she established a lab to develop novel methods that shed light on environmental and socioeconomic exposures that are important in women’s health and fetal outcomes. At Penn, she also had affiliate relationships with their Wharton School of Business and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. This fall, she has returned to Saint Vincent College to develop and advance the College’s new data science major, an expansion of the former bioinformatics major.
But Mary Regina’s interests aren’t limited to bioinformatics and data science. At five years old, she began taking piano lessons. As an undergraduate, she began taking organ lessons from Father Cyprian Constantine, the Saint Vincent Archabbey Organist. She enjoyed the organ so much that she enrolled in lessons throughout her college experience.
Mary Regina’s impact on SVC students, from teaching and researching to occasionally playing the Basilica organ, is profound.
Julie (Claybaugh) Selep
Biology Major | C’92
As a young girl, Julie loved coming to the August Saint Vincent Development Club picnic. She was the youngest of eight children of Tom and Florence Claybaugh, both active participants in the Development Club, a fundraising program for the monastery. The picnic began with an outdoor Mass behind Gerard Hall, followed by games on the field organized by Br. Pat Lacey, a picnic meal, and endless ice cream treats. In those days, she also enthusiastically collected autographs and photos of the Super Bowl-winning Steelers.
Her brother, Dave, is an alumnus. While her older sisters attended Seton Hill (SVC was still all male then), one married a Bearcat, Jay Murray. In 1988, it was an easy decision for Julie to enroll in a coeducational SVC because of its traditionally strong biology program and newly-established winning women’s basketball team. After winning the conference championship in three of her four years and completing the biology major and teacher certification, she moved on to her career at Avonworth School District.
Saint Vincent has enjoyed enrolling multiple students recommended by Julie, including her son, Ben, and two nieces, Maria Claybaugh and Carlee Kilgus. Like Julie, Carlee excelled both in the labs as a science major and on the court on the Women’s Basketball team.
For more than thirty years, Julie has served as an active member of the SVC Alumni Council and served two years as president. Equally important has been her continued informal engagement with alumni.
Julie and her husband Michael reside in Bethel Park and are proud parents of Laurel, Ben, and John.
Nicole (Hinerman) Karr
Head Women’s Softball Coach and Assistant Athletic Director | C’04, G’13
BY Jim Berger
The greatest player and coach in program history, Nicole Karr has been the face of Saint Vincent College softball for over two decades.
From 2001-04, Nicole put together a stellar playing career, graduating as the team’s record-holder in numerous offensive categories. Two years after graduating, she was named just the third head coach in the program’s history and has built her team into a perennial playoff contender.
A four-year starter and three-year team captain, she burst onto the scene as a freshman by hitting a school-record 13 doubles. She hit over .400 as a sophomore before earning All-American Mideast Conference honors and leading her team to the conference playoffs in 2003 after batting .415 with six triples and 15 doubles, both team records at the time. Her 2004 senior season remains arguably the finest in team history, as she led the conference with a .538 batting average, 20 doubles, and .925 slugging percentage, which all remain team records nineteen years later.
After serving as assistant coach in 2005, Nicole took over as head coach in 2006, needing only two years to lead her team to its first 20-win season. In 2012, she earned her 100th career victory while guiding the Bearcats to a first-place regular-season Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) finish before presiding over a storybook 2016 season in which the Bearcats won their first PAC championship and advanced to the NCAA Regional Championship Tournament, where they scored a first-round upset of top-ranked Virginia Wesleyan. It remains the only NCAA playoff win for any SVC team.
Nicole’s Bearcats won their second PAC title and landed another NCAA tournament berth in 2019, the same year in which she was inducted into the SVC Athletic Hall of Fame for both her playing and coaching achievements. The 2022 season, which included a record 13-game winning streak, culminated with a trip to the PAC semifinals, while in 2023, Nicole picked up her 300th career win as the Bearcats again qualified for the PAC tournament. She closed the 2023 campaign with a career record of 320-237-1.
A native of Greensburg, Nicole, who was recently elevated to the role of assistant athletic director, graduated with honors in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology education, later going on to earn a master’s in curriculum and instruction from SVC in 2013.
Jennifer Miele
Public Policy Analysis Major | C’00
Jennifer Miele graduated from Saint Vincent in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science degree in public policy analysis and minor in communication and information arts. She earned a Master of Arts degree in political science from Virginia Tech and a certificate in strategic planning from Georgetown University. After graduation, Jennifer worked as a television news reporter at WDBJ in Roanoke, Virginia, and at
WTAJ in Altoona. Locals might recognize Jennifer from her time as Westmoreland County Bureau Chief at WTAE
Channel 4 in Pittsburgh. Following her television career, she would become vice president of marketing and communications at Excela Health, where she facilitated both internal and external communications as well as system branding and digital strategies.
Currently, Jennifer is the chief communications officer and managing director of evangelization at the Diocese of Greensburg. She serves in the Bishop’s Cabinet and also hosts The Catholic Accent TV Show on WPXI.
The Catholic Media Association has named her Communication/Marketing Executive of the year four times, most recently in 2023. She and her team have received dozens of Telly, American Videographer Association, and Communicator Awards of Excellence. Jennifer also received the Athena Winner’s Circle Award for Community Service, having served on more than a dozen non-profit boards over the last two decades.
Jennifer spent more than ten years as the host of Get Acquainted Days for Saint Vincent College and taught both public speaking and marketing as an adjunct professor. She serves on the McKenna School of Advisors, covered Steelers Training Camp, and acted as emcee when President George W. Bush gave his commencement address
in 2007.
Jennifer and her husband, Dr. Jason Cinti, have 2 children, Francesca and Vivienne Cinti, who attend Queen of Angels Catholic School in Irwin. She coaches cheerleading at Queen of Angels and is often seen at school events. The family attends Immaculate Conception Parish in Irwin, where the girls are altar servers and Jennifer lectors.
Ivette Mejia
Management Major | C’11
Ivette Mejia enjoyed arguably the most prolific running career in the history of women’s cross country at Saint Vincent College. A four-time All-Presidents’ Athletic Conference honoree, two-time PAC Champion, two-time All-Region honoree, and 2011 NCAA All-American, Ivette remains the team record-holder in both the 5- and 6-kilometer distances.
Ivette graduated with a bachelor’s degree in management. She returned to her hometown of New York City and has continued to run competitively in the road racing circuit, successfully qualifying for the 2020 USA Olympic marathon trials. Ivette is also active in coaching, as she works as a training supervisor at New York Road Runners Inc., and as assistant track and field and cross-country coach at Baruch College in New York City.
Marianne Anderson
Computer Systems Analysis Major | C’87
Marianne Anderson’s accomplishments are as diverse and well-rounded as the liberal arts education she received. She achieved great success through the Forhan and Wakefield Group working with Exxon Research and Development, IBM, and Ashton-Tate. She was the first woman alum to be invited to serve on the SVC Board of Directors, starting at the young age of 35 (2000-2015). During her tenure, she chaired multiple committees: she was the Honorary Chairperson of 25 years of Co-Education at SVC, created the Michael F. Kubiak scholarship, and won the 1999 Alumna of Distinction award. She was also an adjunct professor for the McKenna School, teaching the Advanced Microsoft Excel course and a freshman collegiate computer camp.
Her life is led by the principle: always keep learning. She credits SVC’s well-rounded education with her ability to find success in science, technology, and mathematics; however, it was the business core classes that enabled her to own Maritom, LLC. Varied core classes gave her the ability to adapt her career to write human interest articles and become the executive editor of two local magazines. She feels deeply blessed and grateful for her SVC education and the SVC community support.
Molly Robb Shimko
English Major | C’90
BY George Fetkovich
As Basil Robb replenished vending machines on the Saint Vincent College campus in 1985, he took a step that changed the trajectory of his daughter’s future: stopping at the Saint Vincent financial aid office during one of his visits, he asked for advice on how he could help his daughter apply to the newly coeducational college.
Several months later, with academic and financial goals met, Molly Robb enrolled as a new Bearcat in the fall of 1986.
As a first-generation student, her early days on campus might have proved a challenge, but Molly was excited to be part of a liberal arts environment, and within a short time, she knew she could do well at Saint Vincent, and she did.
Thanks to encouragement from her mentor, the late Dr. Richard Wissolik, Molly, an English major, applied for a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to prepare a critical edition of a comic opera. Dr. Wissolik was at Molly’s side when she opened the congratulatory letter.
The world opened up for her as a student at Saint Vincent, and the relationships she developed were life-changing. To acknowledge that impact, Molly created a scholarship in the name of her parents. Moreover, the Benedictine spirit has remained with Molly throughout her life. She and her husband, Ken, are members of Saint Vincent Basilica Parish, and she stays involved in the community by serving on nonprofit boards and committees.
A 2009 Alumni of Distinction awardee, Molly went on to be one of the first females elected to SVC’s Alumni Council, even serving as president for a time. She currently serves as vice president for institutional advancement at Seton Hill University.
The trail blazed by Molly was soon followed by her two sisters, and now their children have also graduated from and matriculated at SVC, providing a new generation of the Robb family with the opportunity to mark their paths within the Saint Vincent community.
Frances Zauhar
Former English Department Chair
BY Dr. Sara Lindey
Fran(ces) Zauhar taught literature for fifteen years at Saint Vincent College from 1991-2006. In that time, she was almost always the English Department chairperson, and she had a special connection with students and faculty alike.
When I arrived in 2008 as faculty in English, Fran was famous, having taught as freshman the students I ushered out as seniors. They recalled passionate discussions about literature in her Multiethnic Literature of the US course. They told me how Dr. Zauhar took the literature they read seriously as intricate works of art, poignant social commentary, and beloved and touching stories. In her class, you could admit that you loved characters, even as you untangled the puzzle of the text that offers lessons from their failures. Fran loved literature in front of her students, and our students loved that they could both feel deeply about the stories, plays, and poems they read while analyzing them. Fran built community around important and touching stories.
Fran was also beloved by her colleagues. She brokered playful antics among her English department faculty, a male cohort she affectionally refers to as “My Guys.” As the only woman in the English Department, Fran frequently interrupted sword fights between Dr. Dick Wissolik and Father Wulfstan Clough, O.S.B. The fun-loving pranks and occasional trash can fire (somehow it was okay to smoke in the classrooms) brought a sense of joy to the English Department. Everyone from her time here remembers the way students and faculty would hang out on the fourth floor of Placid, a place abuzz with spirited conversations.