April 13, 2010
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.--Tara Davies (Cape May Court House, N.J.) was named the National Strength and Conditioning Association's Athlete of the Year on March 31. The NSCA recognizes hundreds of collegiate athletes every year.
"Tara is an athlete who benefitted individually as much from strength training as any athlete we've had," said strength coach Kirk Adams, CSCS, through a release by the NSCA. "Although small in stature and not being someone who always enjoyed strength training, she understood the value it could have for her; she came into each time with a positive attitude, worked hard, and was a role model for her teammates in the weight room. Her hard work allowed her to change positions from forward to defender, become an invaluable contributor to four Big Ten Championships, and become the team's best one-on-one defender."
Davies played in 74 games as a Nittany Lion, starting 48 contests in four years. The senior defender earned her first points of her collegiate career on a spectacular goal in Senior Day against Purdue (Nov. 1, 2009), a 4-0 win over the Boilermakers. Davies took the ball, made a darting run of 50 yards down the left flank and chipped a call over the goalie's head and inside the far post. Davies appeared in 20 or more games in each of her last three seasons in the Blue and White.
In total, 232 collegiate athletes from across the country representing 106 schools were recognized by the NSCA this year. The NSCA All-American Athlete of the Year Award program is in its 32nd year and is made possibly by a grant from Power Systems, Inc., a Knoxville, Tennessee fitness product leader.
As for the current Nittany Lions, they will host a jamboree of exhibition games this weekend at the Jeffrey Field Training Complex on Saturday. PSU will take on the Penn Quakers at 1:00 p.m. in a 45-minute game, while Pittsburgh plays Penn in a 45-minute match at 2:15 p.m. The day will wrap up with a 60-minute 3:45 p.m. game between Pitt and Penn State. All of those matches will take place on Saturday, April 17.
The Nittany Lions wrap up the spring schedule against Maryland on Friday, April 23 at 7:00 p.m. The game, hosted at the Training Complex, will take place as part of Blue-White Weekend, which features the Penn State Football Spring Game the following day in Beaver Stadium.
For more information the Penn State Sport Camps 2010 visit http://www.outreach.psu.edu/psu-sport-camps/
For complete coverage of Penn State women's soccer, please visit http://www.GoPSUsports.com/sports/w-soccer.
Follow Penn State women's soccer on Twitter: @PSUWomensSoccer
--NITTANY LIONS--