AREA ALUMNI NOTEBOOK: Nabb leads Eastern to football playoff victory, Crouthamel earns NJAC honors, local players meet up at a pair of women’s hoops games

Posted: December 1st 2025

Wildwood graduate Macie McCracken (left) and Wildwood Catholic graduate Marianna Papazoglou (right) of West Chester faced off against Wildwood Catholic graduate Kaci Mikulski (center) of Jefferson Sunday afternoon.

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

Catching up with former area high school athletes now competing at the college level …

Macie McCracken (freshman-West Chester basketball-WHS) scored 10 points – a career best to date – and recorded three rebounds, three steals and two assists in 20 minutes off the bench to spark the Golden Rams to a 58-54 victory over Jefferson on Sunday. West Chester rallied from a 10-point deficit late in the third quarter and took its first lead of the second half on McCracken’s layup midway through the fourth quarter. Teammate Marianna Papazoglou (graduate student-West Chester-WCA) added two points and a rebound in nine minutes for West Chester. Kaci Mikulski (sophomore-Jefferson basketball-WCA) scored three points in the loss. …

Imene Fathi (senior-Stockton basketball-WHS) shook off a nagging injury to post two points, three rebounds and two assists in 12 minutes of action in a 61-52 win over Kean last week. One game prior, Fathi scored 14 points and dished two assists in an overtime loss at FDU Florham. Stockton (4-1) is set to host The College of New Jersey Wednesday. …

BRETT NABB

Brett Nabb (graduate student-Eastern football-MTHS) ran for 194 yards and four touchdowns and completed 5-of-7 passes for another 46 yards to lead the Eagles to a 28-24 win over 16th-ranked Franklin & Marshall in the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs last weekend. Eastern (10-1) will host Susquehanna in the next round this Saturday. For the season, Nabb has rushed for 1,301 yards and 11 touchdowns on 218 carries and has completed 88-of-145 passing attempts for 1,283 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was recently named the Middle Atlantic Conference Offensive Player of the Year and was given first team MAC honors at quarterback. Eastern, in just its third season as a program, won the MAC title this fall. …

Brock Zurawski (junior-Rider wrestling-LCMR) lost a thrilling 11-8 overtime decision to West Virginia’s Rune Lawrence, who entered the match on Nov. 23 ranked No. 24 in the nation in the 197-pound weight class. One match earlier, Zurawski posted an 8-5 overtime victory to help Rider to a 24-16 win over Michigan State. …

Dave Giulian (senior-TCNJ football-MTHS) was recently named a first-team All-New Jersey Athletic Conference selection for the second straight year after the linebacker led the NJAC with 67 tackles in conference play. He led TCNJ with 92 total tackles overall. The Lions finished 6-4 overall this fall. Giulian is currently with the TCNJ wrestling team as a 184-pounder. TCNJ wrestling is ranked second in the nation in Division III. …

KAITLYN CROUTHAMEL

Kaitlyn Crouthamel (junior-Rowan swimming-LCMR) was named the New Jersey Athletic Conference Women’s Swimmer of the Week in mid November. She earned the honors after winning the 1650 freestyle and the 400 individual medley in a meet at West Chester University. She was also part of Rowan’s second-place 400 medley relay team at the meet. More recently, Crouthamel finished third in both the 500 freestyle and the 1650 freestyle and was part of the third-place 400 medley relay team to help the Profs to a fourth-place finish out of 13 teams at the Franklin & Marshall Invitational held Nov. 21-23. …

Kimmy Casiello (senior-Widener basketball-WCA) did not score but dished five assists and claimed a rebound in the Pride’s 78-52 win over Neumann last week. Teammate Mia Elisano (junior-Widener basketball-MTHS) scored two points and grabbed six rebounds in the contest. Lindsay Holden (senior-Neumann basketball-LCMR) recorded seven points, three rebounds and an assist and Hannah Cappelletti (sophomore-Neumann basketball-MTHS) had seven points and one assist in the loss. …

CARLY MURPHY

Carly Murphy (junior-Swarthmore basketball-WCA) recorded eight points, four rebounds and two blocked shots to help the Garnet to a 75-58 win over Gwynedd Mercy last week. One game earlier, Murphy posted 14 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals in a 78-35 victory over Penn State Brandywine. Swarthmore (2-2) was scheduled to play Penn State Abington Monday evening. …

Justin Harper (junior-Stockton basketball-WCA) scored eight points and claimed two rebounds in Stockton’s 79-71 loss to Kean last week. Stockton (1-3) is set to host The College of New Jersey on Wednesday. …

McKenzie Palek (freshman-Felician basketball-MTHS) registered 11 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals to help the Golden Falcons to a 73-37 win over Pace on Saturday. Palek has started four of a possible five games so far for Felician (3-2). …

Madison Palek (junior-Clarion basketball-MTHS) posted four points, six rebounds and a blocked shot in the Golden Eagles’ 88-71 win over Lake Erie on Nov. 22. One game prior, she had 10 points and seven rebounds in a 77-57 over Ohio Dominican. Clarion is next in action Tuesday at home against Penn State-DuBois. …

Keith Palek III (senior-Missouri State basketball-St. Augustine Prep-Woodbine resident) recorded a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds in a 92-71 win over Northeastern State on Sunday. Through seven games, Palek is averaging a team-best 17.0 points and is tied for the team lead at 7.1 rebounds per contest. He also leads the team with 26 assists. Missouri State (4-3) is scheduled to play at Tulsa on Saturday. …

Junior Hans (sophomore-Centenary basketball-WHS) had eight points, one rebound and one steal in an 86-59 loss to Cairn last week. …

CHASE MCCRAY

Chase McCray (junior-Misericordia swimming-MTHS) placed 11th in the 50 freestyle, 12th in the 50 freestyle and 12th in the 100 freestyle and was part of the fourth-place 400 freestyle relay team at the Cougar Splash Invitational hosted by Misericordia Nov. 21-23. Misericordia hosts Wilkes in a dual meet on Saturday. …

Amir Elston (freshman-Rowan Cumberland basketball-MTHS) scored seven points on 3-of-4 shooting and added two blocked shots to help the Dukes to an 87-74 win over Sussex County Community College on Nov. 22. One game earlier, Elston registered six points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals in a 93-80 loss to Northampton Community College. …

Jamir McNeil (freshman-Rider basketball-MTHS) scored four points for the Broncs in a 68-65 loss to Coppin State last week. …

Kennedy Campbell (freshman-Atlantic Cape Community College-CMTHS) has played in three games and is averaging 12 points per game for the Buccaneers. She had 15 points, six assists, four steals and three rebounds in an 89-37 win over Rowan Cumberland last week. …

Ciara DiMauro (junior-Clarion soccer-MTHS) became the first forward in Clarion history to be named a first team All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference selection after setting program records with eight goals and 20 points this season. With one season remaining, DiMauro is tied for the program’s all-time career point mark with 37. Clarion finished the season at 4-12-3.

(Have information on other local athletes competing at the college level? Send email to cmcgazettesports@yahoo.com)