Three Berks high school grads earn season-ending athletic awards at Kutztown University
Jun. 30—Berks high school graduates earned three of Kutztown University's major season-ending athletic awards.
Boyertown grad Jerome Kapp, a wide receiver on the football team, was announced as the school's Male Athlete of the Year for 2022-23 on Friday.
Wrestler Dalton Gimbor, a Hamburg grad was voted KU's Male Freshman of the Year, while women's volleyball player Adrianna Derstine, a Boyertown grad, was the Female Freshman of the Year.
Kapp, who has signed as an undrafted free agent with the New York Jets, had a career-high 47 catches for 916 yards and nine touchdowns to help the Golden Bears go 8-3 last fall. He was a Don Hansen Football Gazette All-America honorable mention selection and selected to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America second team.
Kapp, a two-time All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East first-team selection, finished his career with 122 catches (12th in program history) for 2,190 yards (third) and 22 TDs (tied for fourth). He helped Kutztown win PSAC East titles in 2019 and 2021, the PSAC title in 2021 and reach three NCAA Division II tournaments.
Gimbor, competing at 165 pounds, went 21-10 and qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships.
He won two bouts at nationals in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, defeating Glenville State's Gaetano DeLeonardis 9-5 in the preliminary round and Newberry's Patrick Wunderlich 9-7 in a first-round consolation.
Gimbor qualified for nationals by playing third in the Super Region 1 Championships. After losing in the semifinals, he beat Mercyhurst's Mike Clark by fall in 2:25 and East Stroudsburg's Luke Ciampa 8-2.
He also finished fifth at the season-opening ESU Open. He went 8-3 in dual meets, 5-2 against Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference opponents. He defeated 10th-ranked Dillon Keane of Pitt-Johnstown 9-5 in a road PSAC meet.
Gimbor was a third-team All-PSAC selection.
Derstine helped the Golden Bears go 13-12, their most wins since 2014, and was named the PSAC East Freshman of the Year. She also was named to the All-PSAC East first team and D2CCA All-Atlantic Region second team. She was the program's first All-Region selection since 2015.
Derstine started all 25 matches, finishing with the eight-most kills (401) in a season in program history. She also had 51 blocks, 241 digs, 19 aces and 18 assists. Her 450 points (kills/blocks/assists/digs) led the PSAC.
She tied the KU record with 30 kills in a match.
Women's soccer player Kayla Argen was the school's Female Athlete of the Year.
The awards are voted upon by athletic department administration, coaches and support staff.
