Affidavit: Priest supplied alcohol

According to an affidavit with a police warrant, witnesses told police that the Rev. Henry… According to an affidavit with a police warrant, witnesses told police that the Rev. Henry Krawczyk supplied alcohol to Pitt football player Billy Gaines the night that Gaines suffered fatal injuries in a fall.

The affidavit alleges that Gaines and four other Pitt football players attended a cookout, at which liquor was supplied by Krawczyk, on June 17, according to a report by the Associated Press.

Gaines, a 19-year-old wide receiver from Ijamsville, Md., fell 25 feet from the ceiling of Homestead’s St. Anne Catholic Church around 2:30 a.m. on June 18, and died 20 hours later from head and spinal injuries.

According to an autopsy, Gaines’ blood-alcohol content was .16. Pennsylvania’s legal limit for driving is 0.1.

Friends of Gaines, whom the police would not identify, claimed that Krawczyk supplied alcohol to underage people at previous parties and, according to one player, Krawczyk showed the Playboy Channel on television during a prior party.

Krawczyk resigned as a pastor of St. Maximilian Kolbe parish, a group of five churches in Homestead, on July 3, and has not been charged in connection with Gaines’ death or the alleged underage drinking.

Krawczyk has been accused of providing alcohol to minors twice before.

In 1986, a family accused the priest of supplying their 18-year-old son with alcohol and marijuana, and, in 1992, a woman told the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh that she believed that Krawczyk had provided alcohol to her teenage son. Krawczyk denied both allegations.

Pitt officials had no comment concerning the affidavit.

Jordano named Person of the Year

The Pitt baseball team earned more recognition on Friday, when it was announced that head coach Joe Jordano had been named the Erie Person of the Year.

Presented by the Baseball Committee of the City/County All-Star Game in Erie, Pa., the award was given to Jordano for his long-time support of, and accomplishments in, high school and college baseball in Erie and Erie County.

Jordano finished his sixth season at Pitt in 2003, during which the Panthers compiled a 36-20 record overall and finished 13-13 in the Big East. The team’s 72 wins over the past two seasons mark the highest total for that span in school history.

Before coming to Pitt, Jordano spent 10 years at Mercyhurst College in Erie. During that time, Jordano became the school’s winningest coach, compiling a 283-118 overall record, along with winning two conference championships and appearing in the postseason six times.

Savini earns academic honors

On July 7, Pitt swimmer Carolyne Savini received College Swim Coaches Association of America Academic All-American honors for the 2002-2003 academic year.

To be considered for the CSCAA honor, student-athletes must have earned at least a 3.5 grade point average and be a letter winner. Savini’s GPA was 3.63.

A communications/rhetoric major, Savini placed 11th in the 200-yard backstroke at the NCAA Championships and earned honorable mention All-American honors. During the season, Savini broke six individual Pitt records and helped Pitt finish fifth at the Big East Championship.

Both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams finished third in the Big East in cumulative grade point average. The men recorded a 2.96 GPA to rank 26th among Division I teams, while the women ranked 41st with a GPA of 3.21.

Men’s soccer adds six

With 10 seniors graduating from a team that went 8-9-1 in 2002, Pitt head coach Joe Luxbacher needed to find someone to take their place.

This year, the Panthers add six freshmen, one of the largest recruiting classes Luxbacher has had in recent years.

“We have recruited a strong class of student-athletes that are very talented,” he said. “We have met our immediate needs with this class and we hope some will step in and make an early impact for our team.”

This year’s recruiting class includes Tyler Bastianelli, Jonathon Clow, Jeremy Gillespie, Brian Madden and Jeffrey Tidd.

“The key to this season will be to mesh our incoming players with the returning core of the team,” Luxbacher said. “We have high expectations for this season, and I believe that we’ll be a good team.”

Pitt will begin its season at home on Aug. 30 against defending Big East Champion Boston College.