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BRITTANY A. BATTS has been named assistant women’s basketball coach for Shepherd University. Batts comes to Shepherd after spending the 2017-18 season as an assistant at Bridgewater College and the 201516 season as a graduate assistant at Castleton University in Vermont. Batts helped lead the Lady Knights to a 102-win record and four NCAA postseason appearances, including an Elite Eight appearance in 2012-13. She was a three-time PSAC Scholar-Athlete, a second team All-PSAC West Division choice and a first team Academic AllDistrict selection at Gannon. ADAM M. BLAZEK was named Georgian Super League Most Valuable Player during his first season with BC Rustavi. The Georgian Super League is the top level of competition in Georgia, located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. Blazek guided Rustavi to a 21-11 record and fourthplace finish during the regular season. Blazek led the Georgian Super League in assists per game (5.8) and steals per game (3.6). In addition to ranking third among all league players in points per game (17.9), he also hauled down 6.1 rebounds per game. Blazek shot 46.8 percent (146-312) from the field, 36.6 percent (97-265) from three-point range and 76.9 percent (150-195) from the free throw line. MARISSA M. CARONITI ’16M is a physician assistant in the emergency department at the Cleveland Clinic. JEZREE J. FRIEND ’15M has joined the Manufacturer and Business Association as the government relations representative. He is responsible for developing legislative priorities and strategies, encouraging membership grassroots activities and lobbying on behalf of a pro-growth, pro-business agenda. ALEXIS M. WHEELER ’15C has joined the Pittsburgh office of Strassburger, McKenna, Gutnick & Gefsky, attorneys at law. Wheeler’s primary areas of focus will be public/non-profit and litigation.
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JESSICA A. ECHEMENT has happily earned her master’s degree in communications and digital journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. KATLYN L. HEITZHAUS ’16M is currently employed at CTBK in Amherst as a public accountant and is also currently coaching field hockey for the WNY Whalers. STEPHEN J. KOCIENSKI ’16M is a mechanical engineer for GE Transportation. MACKENZIE M. KRANZ has been hired by the Millcreek Township Police Department as a new police officer. Kranz is also currently an officer in the National Guard. He previously worked for a security firm. ASHLEY E. LAWSON ’16M is among the nine new appointees to the Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority’s Board of Directors. Lawson is an honors program coordinator at Gannon University. RYAN C. MURPHY ’16M has joined the staff of the Knoxville Ice Bears as their new athletic trainer. The Ice Bears are a professional Ice Hockey Organization competing in the Southern Professional Hockey League. Murphy also serves as the Knoxville community outreach athletic trainer through Benchmark Physical Therapy.
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EHSAN AKBARI DAHOUEI ’17M, MATTHEW R. GAWLIK, JAMES GRUSS, GREGORY D. INCARDONA and ANDREW R. PEIRSON along with Nate Carlin, are founding members of Olympia Technologies who have created an app that is making the “going out” experience in Erie a little bit easier. The app is called “Hippoh,” and the slogan is “find your watering hole.” While graduates of different majors, Dahouei, Gawlik, Gruss, Incardona and Peirson, share the same entrepreneurial vision, they each brought their skills to develop the Hippoh app.
ANDREW R. PEIRSON also recently played in five consecutive games with the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League. He started the season on the practice roster, but was moved up to the active roster in early October. Peirson’s nickname “Little Angus,” has been given to him by one of his coaches who thought he resembled longtime Lions center Angus Reid. KAYLA A. PITTSER ’17M is a special education teacher at Mars Area Elementary School and an afternoon kindergarten teacher at Mars Area Primary Center. Pittser previously served as a kindergarten teacher at Bradford Area School District in Bradford, Pa.
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ANN (CICCHETTI) CARLIN has been promoted to vice president, First Notice of Loss, Customer Service Ops & Strategy. She has served in this role on an interim basis since March 2018 and has nearly 25 years of experience in the insurance industry. Carlin began her career at Erie Insurance Company as a part-time policy processor and first notice of loss representative. In 2000, she began working full-time as an inside claims representative, later being promoted to supervisor. In 2011, Carlin made the move to Customer Care Operations, holding several leadership roles, including her most recent role as director of Contact Center Operations. RONI L. CROWELL ’18M has joined the staff of Mount Nittany Health Fit for Play as a physical therapist. WILLIAM A. GADSON has been named new basketball head coach at Northwestern High School in Albion, Pa. MEGAN E. HAMM performed in the Erie Dramashop’s performance of “The Laramie Project,” which was selected as their eighth season opener. Hamm performed with fellow Gannon alumni Kathleen Cahill ’11 and Alyssa Pelinsky ’10. BRITTNEY D. VOETTINER has joined the staff of the North East School District as a new full-time learning support teacher at Earle C. Davis Primary School. #GUPOSSIBILITIES 37