The athletics program at Pitt-Johnstown stands as a monument to Ed Sherlock.
Beginning in 1970, when he took over as the school’s first full-time athletic director, and running through his retirement in 2001, Sherlock was the visionary, the architect, the builder of what now is a 15-team NCAA Division II operation.
Most of those sports that have been added, and the facilities that were completed on his watch, such as the school’s Sports Center, are Sherlock’s pyramid, both metaphorically and literally. Sherlock officially will be inducted into the Cambria County Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2020 on October 16 after two COVID-19 related postponements of the ceremony.
A key accomplishment for Sherlock was getting Pitt-Johnstown into the NCAA in 1975, shifting from its previous NAIA affiliation.
The school’s wrestling program also claimed two NCAA Division II team national championships during Sherlock’s tenure and the women’s basketball team reached the Division II Final Four.
Sherlock, a native of Windber, played on a Pitt-Johnstown men’s basketball team that won the Pennsylvania Junior College League State Championship in 1958.
After transferring to Pitt’s main campus, Sherlock won three letters as a jumper and hurdler on the men’s track team.
Among Sherlock’s career highlights are:
- Pitt-Johnstown Athletic Director from 1970 to 2001.
- Former national president of the NAIA Athletic Directors.
- Helped found and was past president of Mason-Dixon Athletic Conference.
- Coached and played basketball at Pitt-Johnstown.
- Three-year letterman as jumper and hurdler for Pitt’s main campus track team.
- Helped initiate soccer, men’s and women’s cross country, women’s gymnastics, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s track, women’s volleyball and wrestling at Pitt-Johnstown.
- Oversaw Pitt-Johnstown’s move to NCAA Division II in 1975.
- Instrumental in the building of Pitt-Johnstown Sports Center, which opened in 1977.
Leave a Comment