Double duty for Chartiers Valley duo
Chartiers Valley graduate Margo Mason was named to the Westminster College All-Decade Team.
Margo Mason
Taran Sifontes-Lavine
Margo Mason and Taran Sifontes-Lavine are anomalies among collegiate athletes. They both pulled double duty, competing in two different sports, while pursuing their academic endeavors at Westminster College.
The Chartiers Valley High School graduates were pretty productive Titans as both recently garnered recognition on the college’s All-Decade teams.
A junior, Mason earned the distinction in both her activities. She gained first-team accolades in lacrosse and second-team honors for tennis.
In lacrosse, she helped put the Titans on the map as they captured their first Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) championship and netted a first-round appearance in the NCAA tournament. There she tied the Division III tournament record with 10 goals.
Mason was named All-Region by the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association as well as PAC Offensive Player and Newcomer of the Year — all firsts for the program.
An All-PAC first-team selection in 2019, Mason holds multiple season school records including goals with 96, points with 124 and ground balls with 103. She also holds game records including goals with 13, points with 17, and draw controls and ground balls with 16 each. Mason set a school record with 16 consecutive games scoring at least one goal.
Also in 2019, she led the conference with 124 points, 93 goals, 28 assists and 01 ground balls.
Among NCAA Division III counterparts, she ranked second in ground balls per game with 6.06, sixth in goals per game with 5.65 and seventh in points per game with 7.29. Mason also is currently third in program history in career goals, points, ground balls and assists.
In tennis, Mason made her mark immediately. In two years, she earned all-conference first-team laurels.
She has a career singles record of 25-8 and a career doubles record of 29-6.
Mason has already earned four All-PAC first-team citations.
In 2018 and 2019, she was No. 1 in singles and doubles competition with Alex Marzouca.
In 2019, Mason had a career-best 13 singles wins in No. 1 singles and compiled a record of 16-3 in No. 1 doubles with Marzouca — the team’s most doubles wins that year and one win off of from tying the 13th-most doubles wins in a season in program history.
In 2018, Mason was 10-5 in singles matches — all at No. 1 — and earned 13 wins in doubles matches — all at No. 1 with Marzouca, which was tied for the most on the team.
The most decorated player in program history, Mason was featured in Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd. She was the first Westminster student-athlete to earn this national honor.
The daughter of Lisa and James Mason is a neuroscience major.
Meanwhile, Sifontes-Lavine was a wide receiver for the Titans before earning his bachelor of science degree in biology. He earned his spot on the All-Decade team, however, for track and field.
Sifontes-Lavine made an impact in jumps, hurdles and relays during his time with the Titans.
He earned a pair of bronze medals at the PACs in the hurdles. In the 2015 outdoor season he finished the 400 56.06 and during the 2016 outdoor season he finished the 110 in 15.97.
Sifontes-Lavine was part of the team that holds the outdoor school record in the 1,600 relay with a time of 3:19.23 and the indoor school record in the 1,600 relay with a time of 3:24.78.
He was also part of the 2016 PAC outdoor champion 4×400 relay team that clocked in at 3:21.55 — only the second PAC winning 4×400 relay team in school history. Sifontes-Lavine played a significant role on three conference championship squads in 2012, 2013 and 2016.
In football, Sifontes-Lavine finished with 44 career receptions for 583 yards. He averaged 13.3 yards per catch and scored eight touchdowns.