Dzuricsko retires as girls track coach at Hickory High

Barb Dzuricsko should have been a carpenter. She loves to build things.
That's exactly what she has done for the past 23 years with the Hickory High boys and girls track and field teams.
She started from ground zero and built her teams into the most competitive scholastic units around. Year in and year out, Dzuricsko's teams have to be dealt with. They are either at the top or making a run for a title shot.
What nobody seemed to realize, however, is that a person can only do so much.
Dzuricsko was not only coaching the girls track and field team (she also coached the boys team for three years), but she was serving as the Hickory High athletic director as well as being the Mercer County representative on the District 10 committee.
Now some of this hectic lifestyle will subside somewhat as Dzuricsko has retired from her coaching career.
Stays on as AD
She will remain on as Hickory's athletic director while also maintaining her post as Mercer County's representative on the District 10 committee. She is also Mercer County Athletic Conference's executive secretary.
Dzuricsko decided it was time to enjoy some leisure with her family. Her husband, Bill, was formerly head basketball coach of the Hornets varsity team, and he also helped his wife in coaching.
In her long tenure as head girls coach, Dzuricsko put up some spectacular marks.
She led her teams to 160 dual victories and also carved some records that may never be touched, including 52 consecutive triumphs. To go along with those tremendous marks, she also had nine undefeated seasons.
Strickland named
Sean Strickland, 32, never had a head coaching position. He can put that behind him now as he was recently named head coach of the Slippery Rock High basketball team.
Strickland, who graduated from Rush Henrietta High in Rochester, N.Y., was an assistant basketball coach at Butler County Community College where the Titans racked up some impressive marks. He earlier had been an assistant football coach at Mount Pleasant High School. He is a resident of Cranberry.
Strickland takes over for former Slippery Rock High coach Chris Burtch, who resigned following the 2003-04 season.
Under their new head coach, the Rockets are expected to showcase an up-beat tempo with plenty of speed and full-court pressure defense.
Ms. Reds tough
In just seven years, the West Middlesex Ms. Reds won the hearts of Mercer County girls softball fans by winning the District 10 title and advancing into the state playoffs.
They finally bowed out to a rugged Smethport team in eight innings. The Ms. Reds, under head coach Gene Rubeo, posted a record of 20-3 while having a tremendous season.