| 2007 Fencing Team |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; June 27, 2007 ?C After a pair of national championships in men??s and women??s fencing and men??s gymnastics, Penn State finished 21st in the 2006-07 U.S. Sports Academy??s Directors' Cup Standings. The Top 25 finish marked the 14th-straight for the Athletic Department in the Cup??s 14 year history. The Nittany Lions scored 848.83 points, which was only 13.92 points short of No. 20 Minnesota. Five Big Ten schools finished in the Top 25 in this year??s standings. In the 14-year history of the Directors' Cup, the Nittany Lions have finished in the Top 10 seven times and the Top five a total of four times.
Two More National Championships Rack-Up Points for the Nittany Lions
Over the past 10 years, no Big Ten institution has won more national championships then Penn State. In 2006-07, Penn State brought its total to nine in the past decade after men??s and women??s fencing and men??s gymnastics both added to their championship dynasties.
Head coach Emmanuil Kaidanov??s fencing teams claimed their record 10th combined national championship, winning the crown on March 25 at Drew. Freshman Doris Willette (Lafayette, Calif.) won the individual national championship in the women's foil as well. Penn State had a total of 11 All-Americans (six women and five men). The team earned a perfect 100 Directors' Cup points with the championship, as did the national champion men??s gymnastics squad.
Led by 2007 NACGC National Coach of the Year Randy Jepson, the Penn State men's gymnastics captured its NCAA-record 12th national championship on its home floor in historic Rec Hall in mid-April. The Nittany Lions posted a season-high score of 221.000 to outdistance two-time defending champion Oklahoma. Individually, Nittany Lions earned six All-America honors at the national collegiate championships, including three by junior Tommy Ramos (Guaynabo, P.R.) on the still rings, parallel bars and high bar. Junior Vladi Klurman (North Miami Beach, Fla.), sophomore Casey Sandy (Brampton, Ont.) and freshman Nick Virbitsky (Harrisburg, Pa.) captured the first All-America honors of their careers. Also highlighting the 2007 season was the presentation of the prestigious Nissen-Emery Award to senior captain Matt Cohen (Agoura Hills, Calif.). Bestowed in recognition of outstanding athletic achievement, academic excellence and sportsmanship, it is the highest honor presented in collegiate gymnastics.
Nittany Lion Fall Points Wrap-Up
The No. 5 Penn State women??s volleyball team advanced to the NCAA Championship quarterfinals, being eliminated by No. 3 and regional host Washington. Coach Russ Rose??s squad earned a superlative 32-3 record and its unprecedented fourth consecutive outright Big Ten Championship, which marked Penn State??s 50th Big Ten title overall. The Nittany Lions have won 10 Big Ten volleyball titles in 16 years of conference competition. Freshman Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) was selected the AVCA Freshman of the Year and was joined as a first team AVCA All-American by sophomore Nicole Fawcett (Zanesville, Ohio). Hodge also was the Big Ten Player and Freshman of the Year. Women??s volleyball picked up 73 points for the Nittany Lions.
Also tallying 73 fall points, the No. 7 Penn State women??s soccer team captured its ninth consecutive Big Ten title and advanced to the NCAA Championship quarterfinals, being eliminated at eventual national runner-up Notre Dame. The run of nine straight Big Ten titles is tied for the second longest string in women??s Conference championship history. The Nittany Lions also won their fourth Big Ten Tournament crown. Senior Ali Krieger (Dumfries, Va.) earned first team NSCAA All-America honors for the second consecutive year.
The Nittany Lion field hockey team contributed 60 Directors' Cup points after advancing to the NCAA Championship quarterfinals. The Nittany Lions rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat North Carolina, 4-3, before falling to No. 2 Maryland, 1-0. Coach Char Morett??s team was ranked No. 6 and finished with a 16-6 mark. Junior Kiersten Wood (Lititz, Pa.) earned NFHCA first team All-America honors to lead Penn State??s four All-America selections.
The Penn State football team defeated No. 17 Tennessee, 20-10, in the Outback Bowl to finish with a 9-4 mark. The Nittany Lions were ranked No. 24 in the final Associated Press poll to earn their 32nd Top 25 finish under Joe Paterno. Five Nittany Lions earned All-America accolades, the most since 1994. Senior linebacker Paul Posluszny (Aliquippa, Pa.) won his second consecutive Bednarik Award as the nation??s top defensive player and was named the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American of the Year in Division I football. Football earned 49 points to round out the fall tally of 255.
| 2006-07 Men's Gymnastics Team |
Nittany Lion Winter Points Wrap-Up
The wrestling team grabbed 66 points after a strong showing at NCAAs. National runner-up Aaron Anspach (Columbia, Pa.) ended his 2007 season with a 22-4 record at heavyweight. Junior 197-pounder Phil Davis (Harrisburg, Pa.) became Penn State??s 15th three-time All-American with his fifth-place finish. Sophomore Jake Strayer (South Fork, Pa.) also earned All-American laurels at the 2007 championships by finishing seventh at 133. All told, Troy Sunderland??s Nittany Lions finished 11th at NCAAs.
Women??s gymnastics earned 59.33 Directors' Cup points after falling just shy of advancing to the team National Championships. Steve Shepard's Nittany Lions placed third at regionals by a slim .050 margin. Freshman gymnast Brandi Personett (Katy, Texas) finished ninth in the all-around with a score of 39.100 in the second session of the NCAA Women??s Gymnastics Championships in Salt Lake City. She earned the right to advance to the NCAA Gymnastics Championships after she finished second with a career-high-tying 39.425 at regionals.
After finishing with four All-Americans at NCAAs, Beth Alford-Sullivan??s women??s indoor track & field squad earned 50.5 points toward Penn State??s total. Redshirt-seniors Briene Simmons (Decatur, Ga.) and Shana Cox (Westbury, N.Y.) each brought home individual All-America honors. Junior Dominique Blake (Bronx, N.Y.), Simmons, Cox and redshirt-sophomore Aleesha Barber (Decatur, Ga.) nabbed fourth-place in the 4x400-meters, also earning All-America honors. The squad shattered the previous school standard of 3:34.04, set by the same group last year. Simmons took seventh in the 800-meters, clocking 2:06.27 to earn her first-career All-America honor. Cox claimed her then-fifth career All-America honor in the 400-meters, finishing third in her section and seventh overall with a time of 53.25.
With a 26th place finish at NCAAs, the Nittany Lion women??s swimming and diving team added 48 points to Penn State??s Directors' Cup tally. Senior Nikki Collins (Carmel, Ind.) finished seventh in the 1650 freestyle to repeat as an All-American, breaking her own school record in that event. Freshman honorable mention All-American Kailey Morris (Lewistown, Pa.) also picked up 3.5 points for the Nittany Lions as she tied for 13th place in the 200 butterfly. Freshman Kaitlin O'Brien (Caldwell, N.J.) also earned honorable mention All-America honors after finishing ninth in the 400 IM. The Lions?? 800 free relay of Jessica Barnes (Glenmoore, Pa.), Molly Crispell (Boalsburg, Pa.), Kelly Nelson (West Chester, Pa.) and Collins also earned honorable mention All-America honors. Penn State's 26th place finish with 30.5 points marks the seventh straight year that Bill Dorenkott??s Nittany Lions have placed and scored points at the NCAA Championships.
Alford-Sullivan??s men??s indoor track & field added 25.5 points to Penn State??s total after finishing 47th at NCAAs. Sophomore Ryan Fritz (Parkesburg, Pa.) was outstanding in his first NCAA appearance, taking fifth in the high jump with a career-best 7-3.25 (2.22m). Fritz became the 42nd indoor All-American for the Nittany Lion men and the first since 2002, when Ryan Olkowski took fifth in the same event, as well as an eighth-place effort in the 200-meters. Fritz also won the Big Ten championship in the high jump and was named Mid-Atlantic Region Field Athlete of the Year.
On the strength of 200 points from their pair of winter national championships, Penn State had 704.33 points in the final winter standings.
Nittany Lion Spring Points Wrap-up
Head men??s and women??s track & field coach Beth Alford-Sullivan??s team boosted Penn State??s total with a spring-high 43.5 points after another strong effort by her women??s outdoor team at NCAAs. Redshirt-senior Shana Cox earned her seventh-career All-America citation, finishing second in the 400-meter dash. Cox??s runner-up run marked the highest finish by a Nittany Lion since DeShaya Williams won the NCAA title in the discus in 2003. Sophomore Gayle Hunter (Riverside, Calif.) earned her All-America honors with an eight-place finish in the heptathlon, setting a Penn State record of 5711 points. Hunter and Cox are 55th and 56th outdoor All-Americans in program history.
Men??s golf qualified for the NCAA East Regional, scoring 26 points for the Directors' Cup. Penn State finished 16th in the team race while junior Robert Rohanna (Waynesburg, Pa.) posted a final round of 2-over par 74 to come up just shy of an individual NCAA bid. Rohanna finished tied for 19th with a final score of 3-over 219 (75, 70, 74) and was third among golfers who did not play for one of the top 10 finishing teams. Rohanna and freshman Kevin Foley (Somerville, N.J.) were both named to the PING Division I Mid-Atlantic All-Region team. The Nittany Lion pair are the 34th and 35th all-region selections in head coach Greg Nye??s 15 seasons at the helm.
Softball made its seventh NCAA appearance in the past eighth years, garnering 25 points for Penn State??s total. Sophomore Danielle Kinley (Carlsbad, Calif.) earned second-team NFCA All-America honors after leading the team in most offensive categories all spring. Kinley was only the third All-American in Penn State history, with all three coming under current head coach Robin Petrini. The Nittany Lions were one of only four Big Ten teams to receive selection to the NCAA Tournament after taking their eighth trip in the past nine years to the Big Ten Tournament.
Head coach Todd Doebler??s men??s tennis squad earned the team??s second consecutive NCAA bid this year, grabbing the Nittany Lions 25 Cup points. Penn State went 16-7 (6-4 Big Ten). The bid into the 2007 NCAA Championships marked Penn State??s fourth all-time selection (1997, 1998, 2006, 2007). Junior Michael James (Clifton, Va.) was named to the All-Big Ten Team for the first time in his Nittany Lion career.
A historically strong squad, men??s volleyball continued to perform well this year, adding another 25 points to the tally. Head coach Mark Pavlik??s squad followed last year??s runner-up finish with a trip to the national semifinals. The Nittany Lions played to a 22-8 overall record, their 19th EIVA championship and 22nd NCAA appearance. Sophomore Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) was named a second team All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).
The U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. The United States Sports Academy, based in Daphne, Ala., is the program's sponsor. More than 300 Division I institutions are eligible to be ranked in the standings. Points are awarded based on each institution??s finish in up to 20 sports ?? 10 men??s and 10 women??s. Complete standings are available at: www.nacda.com.