Category: Athlete | Alma Mater: Connellsville, 2001 | Sports: Basketball, Softball, Cross Country
A 2001 graduate of Connellsville, Beth Swink was a multi-sport star who went on to achieve athletic and academic success at the next level. Swink was a three-sport letterwinner for the Falcons in basketball, cross country, and softball, and led the basketball and softball teams to the PIAA playoffs. In basketball, she scored 1,500 career points and was a two-time All-Section pick, while on the softball diamond, Swink compiled 27 victories, 324 strikeouts, and 11 shutouts in two seasons on the mound. As a senior in the first round of the WPIAL Softball Championships, she tossed a 10-strikeout no-hitter in a narrow 1-0 victory over Penn Hills. Swink was one of the recipients of the WPIAL James Collins Scholar-Athlete Award, receiving a $5,000 scholarship that she donated back to the Connellsville softball program. Following graduation, she attended Saint Francis University and played for the basketball team, helping lead the Red Flash to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments. Swink accumulated 2,127 points and 957 rebounds over her career, earning Northeast Conference (NEC) Player of the Year in 2003-04, NEC Rookie of the Year in 2001-02, and three All-NEC First Team nods. She was a two-time College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American and was named “Miss Frankie” as the university’s most outstanding female senior student. Swink graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in biology with a Spanish minor in 2005, and a Master’s degree in physician assistant science in 2009. She played two seasons of professional basketball in Sweden from 2005 to 2007, and was inducted into the NEC Hall of Fame in 2011, Saint Francis University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015, and Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame in 2018. Swink is currently a physician assistant at MedExpress in Uniontown.