June 8, 2010
Your Most Memorable Moments Since Penn State Joined the Big Ten
The Big Ten Council of Presidents formally admitted Penn State as the conference's 11th member on June 4, 1990. Below are some of the highlights from the past 20 years, which has seen Penn State win 65 Big Ten Championships since starting competition in 1991-92.
The Nittany Lions have won 19 NCAA Championships since their first full year in the conference in 1993-94, more than double any other Big Ten institution.
December, 1989: Penn State President Bryce Jordan and Director of Athletics Jim Tarman see their efforts to have Penn State join the Big Ten Conference come to fruition, as the Big Ten Council of Presidents vote to admit Penn State as the conference's 11th member.
June 4, 1990: The Big Ten Council of Presidents formally admits Penn State as the conference's 11th member. Penn State is conference's first new member since Michigan State was admitted in 1949.
March, 1991: Penn State wins its second NCAA Fencing Championship, the school's last national title as a member of the Atlantic-10 Conference.
August 30, 1991: The women's volleyball team wins Penn State's first event as a Big Ten member. The Lions knock off Pittsburgh, 3-2.
1991-92: Twelve Penn State teams begin Big Ten competition, including men's and women's cross country, men's soccer and women's volleyball in the fall.
February, 1992: Shelley Mitchell (pentathlon) becomes Penn State's first Big Ten Indoor women's track and field champion.
Spring, 1992: Antonio Davis wins the triple jump to become Penn State's first Big Ten outdoor track and field champion.
1992-93: Twenty-two of Penn State's teams compete in the Big Ten, with football starting in September, 1993 and the newly-created women's soccer program getting underway in August, 1994.
November, 1992: Women's volleyball gives Penn State its first Big Ten Championship, sharing the 1992 title with Illinois with a 19-1 conference record.
February 9, 1993: Playing its fifth Big Ten home game in program history, Coach Bruce Parkhill's Nittany Lions take No. 1 Indiana to double overtime before falling, 88-84, in a controversial game in front of a raucous Rec Hall crowd and ESPN audience.
March, 1993: Brian Kelley (pentathlon) becomes Penn State's first Big Ten men's indoor track and field champion.
March, 1993: National Coach of the Year John Fritz leads the wrestling team to a 22-0-1 record and a second place finish in the NCAA Championships, its highest finish in 40 years.
Spring, 1993: Brian Milne wins the NCAA Championship in discus. Milne also stars at fullback on the football team.
September 4, 1993: Penn State ends 106 years of football independence with a 38-20 win over Minnesota in its first game as a Big Ten member. Wide receiver Bobby Engram catches a school four touchdown passes of 29, 31, 20 and 31 yards from quarterback John Sacca.
November 7, 1993: In just its third season as a member of the conference, Penn State men's soccer wins its first Big Ten Championship by defeating Wisconsin, 1-0, in Madison.
December 30, 1993: Jim Tarman retires as Athletic Director and is succeeded by Associate Athletic Director Tim Curley, a 1976 Penn State graduate and former football squad member. The announcement takes place in Orlando, Fla., two days before Penn State beats Tennessee in the Florida Citrus Bowl to finish its first Big Ten season with a 10-2 overall record.
Spring, 1994: In just their second season in the Big Ten, the Lady Lions win their first Big Ten regular season title, which they share with Purdue, with a 16-2 conference record.
March, 1994: Kerry McCoy becomes Penn State's first NCAA wrestling champion in the Big Ten era, capturing the heavyweight crown, the first of his two NCAA titles.
May 7, 1994: The men's volleyball team captures Penn State's first NCAA Championship as Big Ten members, with a stunning 3-2 victory over UCLA. The Nittany Lions become the first non-California school to win the NCAA men's volleyball title.
June, 1994: In the first compilation of NACDA's Directors' Cup, Penn State finishes No. 5 in the nation, the first of its eight Top 10 Directors' Cup finishes through 2008-09.
August 21, 1994: Women's soccer opens its inaugural season, becoming Penn State's 29th varsity sport. The 1994 season is the only year Penn State has failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, advancing to 15 consecutive through 2009 with two NCAA College Cup appearances.
November 12, 1994: Penn State clinches its first Big Ten football title by rallying from a 21-0 first quarter deficit with one of the greatest clutch drives in history, a 96-yard, 15-play march into the rain and wind late in the fourth quarter to beat Illinois, 35-31, in Champaign.
December, 1994: Five members of Penn State's record-setting offense are selected first team All-Americans: Kyle Brady, Ki-Jana Carter, Kerry Collins, Bobby Engram and Jeff Hartings. Collins wins the Davey O'Brien Award and Engram wins the inaugural Biletnikoff Award. Carter is second and Collins is fourth in balloting for the 1994 Heisman Trophy.
Kerry Collins |
January 2, 1995: Penn State beats Oregon, 38-20, to win its first Rose Bowl and become the first 12-0 team in the Big Ten's 99th year of existence. The Nittany Lions finish No. 2 to Nebraska in the final polls.
Winter, 1995: The Lady Lions wins their second-straight Big Ten regular season title with a 13-3 record, sharing the title with Purdue for the second year in a row.
March 6, 1995: The Lady Lions defeat Ohio State, 83-70, to win the inaugural Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament. Missy Masley is named Tournament MVP, while Tina Nicholson and Angie Potthoff are selected to the All-Tournament team.
March 28, 1995: Penn State wins its third fencing national championship.
November 5, 1995: Field hockey beats Iowa, 4-1 to win its first-ever Big Ten Tournament Title and the first of four consecutive conference tourney titles.
January 5, 1996: In their final game in Rec Hall, the Lady Lions beat Minnesota, 75-57, but with three consecutive road games, must wait 15 days before moving across campus to the new Bryce Jordan Center.
January 7, 1996: The Nittany Lions play their final game in Rec Hall, defeating Wisconsin, 79-60.
January 11, 1996: The Nittany Lions play their first game in the 15,261-seat Bryce Jordan Center, beating Minnesota, 76-51, en route to a second place finish in the Big Ten and an NCAA Tournament berth.
January 20, 1996: The Lady Lions play their first game in the Bryce Jordan Center, falling to No. 4 Georgia, 79-78.
March 4, 1996: Penn State wins its second consecutive Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament title with a 71-69 decision over Purdue. Angie Potthoff is selected the Tournament MVP and Tina Nicholson claims All-Tournament team honors for the second-straight year.
April 1, 1996: The fencing team clinches its second consecutive and fourth overall national championship. Olga Kalinovskaya caps an outstanding career by winning her fourth consecutive Women's Individual Foil Championship.
May 13, 1996: The baseball team beats Ohio State, 8-7, in the final game of the regular season to clinch its first Big Ten regular season championship. Penn State finishes with a 19-8 conference record, 1/2 game ahead of Indiana.
May 28, 1996: The men's golf team competes at the NCAA Championships for the first time since joining the Big Ten.
August 5, 1996: Penn State fencers Peter Cox, Suzanne Paxton and Tom Strzalkowski compete for the United States in the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta.
November, 1996: Kim McGreevy becomes Penn State's first Big Ten women's cross country individual winner.
December 6, 1996: The Penn State-Iowa wrestling match in the Bryce Jordan Center draws 11,245, the largest crowd ever to watch a dual meet east of the Mississippi River.
March, 1997: Kerry McCoy wins his second NCAA Heavyweight Wrestling title, joining Andy Matter (1971-72) and Jeff Prescott (1991-92) as Penn State's multiple national champions. The 1997 Hodge Award winner and a multiple U.S. National Freestyle champion, McCoy competes at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
March 23, 1997: The Penn State fencing team wins its third consecutive and fifth overall national championship.
March 20-21, 1998: Nittany Lion men's gymnast Mike Dutka sets a Penn State record that still stands by winning four titles at the 1998 Big Ten Championships. Dutka wins individual crowns in the all-around, pommel horse, vault, and floor exercise, leading the Nittany Lions to second place, their highest finish to date.
March 24, 1998: The Lady Lions topple Baylor on the Bears' home court, 59-56, to win the inaugural WNIT Championship. Helen Darling is named WNIT MVP and Andrea Garner is named to the All-Tournament team.
March 28, 1998: The fencing team wins its fourth consecutive and sixth overall national title, led by Charlotte Walker's victory in the Women's Individual Epee Championship.
March, 1998: Missy Leopoldus is named Penn State's first Big Ten Women's Gymnast of the Year.
May, 1998: Erica Bosler becomes Penn State's first Big Ten women's outdoor track and field champion with a gold medal run in the 800 meters.
November, 1998: Coach Patrick Farmer's women's soccer team wins its first of 12 consecutive Big Ten titles.
November 8, 1998: Field hockey wins its fourth consecutive Big Ten Tournament title with a 3-1 win over Michigan.
November 28, 1998: The women's volleyball team completes its first undefeated Big Ten season (20-0) with 3-0 sweep of Indiana en route to its fifth Big Ten championship.
February 26, 1999: Under the direction of head coach Peter Brown, the men's swimming & diving team wins its first Big Ten Championship.
March 18-20, 1999: Penn State hosts the NCAA Wrestling Championships in the Bryce Jordan Center for the first time. The overall attendance of 80,654 is third-highest in the event's history at the time.
March 21, 1999: The Nittany Lion fencing team earns its fifth consecutive and seventh overall national championship
March, 1999: Nittany Lion women's gymnast Ellen Casey is named Big Ten Gymnast of the Year.
April 14, 1999: Women's lacrosse advances to the NCAA Championship semifinals where it falls to Maryland, 17-13, in Baltimore.
December 3, 1999: Just five years after the program's inaugural season, Penn State women's soccer becomes the first Big Ten team to compete at the Women's College Cup. The Lions lose 2-0 to No. 2 North Carolina in the program's national television debut.
December, 1999: Junior linebacker LaVar Arrington win the Chuck Bednarik and Butkus Awards.
December 18, 1999: Women's volleyball defeats Stanford, 3-0, for the program's first NCAA Championship. The national title would be the first of four for Penn State over the next 10 years under head coach Russ Rose.
Spring, 2000: The Lady Lions clinch their first outright Big Ten regular season championship and third overall.
March 17, 2000: Helen Darling wins the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award. The award is presented annually to the nation's most outstanding female senior collegiate basketball player 5-8 or under.
March 26, 2000: The fencing team wins its sixth consecutive national championship to become the first school in NCAA fencing history to accomplish the feat. Daniel Landgren wins the Individual Epee Championship and Jessica Burke wins the women's Individual Epee Championship to pace the Nittany Lions.
March 27, 2000: Penn State defeats third-seeded Louisiana Tech, 86-65, to earn the Lady Lions' first trip to the NCAA Women's' Final Four. The Lions loste to eventual national champion Connecticut in the national semifinals at the First Union Center in Philadelphia.
March 31, 2000: Penn State men's gymnastics earns the program's 10th national championship and the first under Coach Randy Jepson with a score of 231.975.
April 15, 2000: Penn State All-Americans Courtney Brown and LaVar Arrington are selected 1-2 in the NFL Draft.
May 28, 2000: The baseball team beats North Carolina twice in NCAA Regional play to advance to the Super Regionals (Sweet 16) at Texas.
March 9, 2001: The Nittany Lions beat No. 2 Michigan State, 65-63, to advance to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals for the second consecutive year.
Titus Ivory and Joe Crispin |
March 18, 2001: The Nittany Lions stun fifth-ranked and No. 2 seed North Carolina, 82-74, in the Louisiana Superdome to advance to the NCAA East Regional semifinals.
May 12, 2001: The women's tennis team plays in its first NCAA Tournament match against Florida International in Nashville, Tenn.
September 1, 2001: The newly-expanded Beaver Stadium (107,282) opens with Adam Taliaferro leading the Nittany Lions onto the field vs. Miami (Fla.), less than one year after suffering a severe spinal injury during a game at Ohio State.
October 27, 2001: Penn State rallies from a 27-9 deficit to score the final 20 points and defeat Ohio State, 29-27, giving Joe Paterno his 324th career victory and moving him past Paul "Bear" Bryant and into the all-time victories lead among major college coaches. The comeback is Penn State's greatest at home under Paterno.
October 31, 2001: Men's soccer head coach Barry Gorman becomes the program's all-time winningest coach when he earns his 186th by virtue of a 1-0 victory over Lehigh.
Christie Welsh |
December 4, 2001: Christie Welsh becomes the first player in Big Ten women's soccer history and only second ever Nittany Lion to win the prestigious Hermann Trophy.
February 23, 2002: Led by Coach Bill Dorenkott, the Nittany Lion women's swimming and diving team captures its first Big Ten Championship.
March 20, 2002: Penn State etched its name in the history books when it took the field for a contest against Johns Hopkins, becoming the first women's lacrosse program in current Division I history to play 500 games.
Katie Rowland |
March 24, 2002: The Penn State fencing team wins its ninth NCAA title in school history and the seventh in eight years.
November 17, 2002: Penn State men's soccer tops Michigan, 2-1, to capture the program's second Big Ten Championship, gaining the crown at home on Jeffrey Field.
November 22, 2002: Field hockey advances to program's first-ever NCAA National Championship match with a 3-2 win over Old Dominion.
December, 2002: Tailback Larry Johnson wins Walter Camp Player of the Year, Maxwell Award and Doak Walker Award. Johnson is just the ninth player in NCAA Division I-A history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season, finishing with 2,087, including a school record 327 yards at Indiana on November 16.
December 6, 2002: Penn State women's soccer makes its second appearance in the Women's College Cup. The Lions fall to eventual national champion 2-0.
Deshaya Williams |
February 20, 2003: Penn State claims its fourth Big Ten regular season title with a 76-55 win over Wisconsin in front of 10,394 fans at the Bryce Jordan Center. The win also enabled Penn State to close out its eighth undefeated regular season.
March 28, 2003: Penn State men's gymnastics wins its first Big Ten Championship since joining the league in 1992. Led by still rings champion Kevin Tan, the Nittany Lions dominated the competition, posting a score of 220.500, nearly two points ahead of second place host Ohio State (218.600).
March, 2003: Nittany Lion women's gymnast Katie Rowland named Big Ten Gymnast of the Year for the second time in her career, joining her honor from 2001.
May, 2003: Led by senior Katie Futcher, the women's golf team qualifies for the NCAA East Regional. Futcher advances to the NCAA Championships and later earns her LPGA Tour card.
June 14, 2003: Deshaya Willliams wins the national championship in discus at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Fall, 2003: Women's volleyball wins its seventh Big Ten championship with a 17-3 record. The Lions would go on to win seven consecutive Big Ten titles.
January 18, 2004: Kelly Mazzante scores 24 points in Penn State's 79-64 win over Illinois to break the Big Ten Conference women's basketball all-time scoring record. Mazzante passes the scoring mark of 2,578, previously held by Ohio State's Katie Smith (1992-96).
Kelly Mazzante |
January 22, 2004: Kelly Mazzante becomes the Big Ten's all-time scoring leader (men or women), scoring 29 points in Penn State's 75-56 win over No. 9 Minnesota. Mazzante breaks the Big Ten all-time scoring mark of 2,613 held by Indiana's Calbert Cheaney.
February 29, 2004: Penn State rallies from a 14-point halftime deficit to post a 69-60 victory over Purdue, in front of a record Bryce Jordan Center Lady Lion crowd of 15,407. The win clinches back-to-back Big Ten regular season championships for the Lady Lions and their fifth title overall.
February 29, 2004: Penn State women's track wins its first Big Ten Indoor title behind three individual titles. Beth Alford-Sullivan is named Big Ten Coach of the Year.
March 20, 2004: Future bronze medal-winning Olympian Kevin Tan becomes Penn State's first and only three-time Big Ten men's gymnastics individual event champion when he wins his third consecutive still rings title at the Big Ten Championships in Champaign, Ill.
April 3, 2004: Penn State men's gymnastics captures the program's 11th national championship, scoring a 223.350 to top the NCAA field at the National Collegiate Championships in Champaign, Ill. Luis Vargas wins his first of two national titles in the all-around to lead the Nittany Lions.
June 1, 2004: Men's golf qualifies the NCAA Championships for the second time in the the Big Ten era.
February 19, 2005: The women's swimming team earns its second Big Ten Championship with a dominating effort. The Nittany Lions racked up 693 points while Indiana came in second with 497.
Fall, 2005: Penn State becomes the first Big Ten institution to win five conference championships during the fall sports season, earning titles in field hockey, football, men's soccer, women's soccer and women's volleyball.
October 8, 2005: The Nittany Lions beat No. 6 Ohio State, 17-10, in front of a raucous Beaver Stadium student whiteout crowd of 109,839 and a primetime ESPN audience.
October 28, 2005: Field hockey wraps up its first-ever perfect Big Ten regular season with a 4-3 overtime win vs. No. 9 Indiana, capturing the Big Ten Championship outright.
October 30, 2005: Penn State men's soccer defeats Michigan, 3-2, in overtime to become just the fourth team in conference history and the first team other than Indiana to finish the regular season with a perfect 6-0 record. With the win, the Nittany Lions secure their first Big Ten regular season championship.
November 13, 2005: Penn State knocks off No. 2 Indiana, 1-0, in Evanston, Ill. to win the program's third Big Ten title. With the victory, the Nittany Lions also become the first Big Ten team to defeat the Hoosiers twice in one season.
November 19, 2005: Penn State defeats Michigan State 31-22 in East Lansing to claim its second Big Ten football title. The victory caps a 10-1 regular season and a berth in the FedEx Orange Bowl.
December 2, 2005: Women's soccer falls to Portland, 4-3, on penalty kicks after a scoreless draw in the NCAA Women's College Cup Semifinals. Penn State finishes with a 23-0-1 record and No. 2 in the national rankings.
December, 2005: All-America linebacker Paul Posluszny wins the Butkus Award and the first of his two Bednarik Awards.
January 3, 2006: Freshman Kevin Kelly kicks the game-winning field goal in the third overtime to lift Penn State to a 26-23 win over Florida State in the FedEx Orange Bowl. The Big Ten champions finish 11-1 and No. 3 in the polls.
February 4, 2006: The Nittany Lions stun No. 6 Illinois, 66-65, in Champaign.
February 18, 2006: Penn State women's swimming wins its second consecutive Big Ten Title and third overall, capping off an incredible comeback in which it improves upon a 10th-place finish after day one.
November 29, 2006: Dan Mazzocco becomes a two-time All-American in men's cross country.
December, 2006: All-America linebacker Paul Posluszny wins his second Bednarik Award and is selected the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American of the Year in college football.
March 3, 2007: The baseball team scores in the seventh and ninth innings to erase a 2-0 deficit and force extra innings, where they plate a run in the 10th for the dramatic win over No. 1 ranked and previously undefeated North Carolina.
March 25, 2007: Penn State fencing wins its 10th national team title, led by Doris Willette, who wins the women's individual title in the foil competition.
April 11, 2007: Senior Matt Cohen is presented with the prestigious Nissen-Emery Award, becoming the fifth Nittany Lion to earn the honor and the first since Spider Maxwell in 1987.
April 13, 2007: Penn State men's gymnastics wins its NCAA-record 12th national title and third of the decade when it comes from behind in the final rotation to defeat Oklahoma and thrill the Nittany Lion fans packed into Rec Hall.
May 13, 2007: The softball team earns its seventh bid to the NCAA Tournament and its third in a row. The Nittany Lions appear in the tournament for the seventh time in eight years.
September 8, 2007: The Nittany Lions pound Notre Dame, 31-10, in the first all-stadium "Whitehouse" crowd of 110,078 in Beaver Stadium and a primetime ESPN audience.
November 16, 2007: Field hockey wins at Maryland to advance to the NCAA semifinals where they would go on to beat Wake Forest and earn their second trip to the championship game in six years.
December 4, 2007: Joe Paterno becomes just the third active coach to be inducted into the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame. Paterno is forced to delay his induction by one year due to leg injuries suffered in the 2006 game at Wisconsin and had been scheduled to enter the Hall in 2006 with active coaches Bobby Bowden (West Virginia/Florida State) and John Gagliardi (St. John's, Minn.)
December 15, 2007: The women's volleyball team holds off Stanford, 3-2, for its second national championship. The victory would mark the first of three straight NCAA titles for head coach Russ Rose and the Nittany Lions.
December 29, 2007: Joe Paterno coaches his 500th game as head coach of the Nittany Lions. Penn State erases a 14-0 first quarter deficit to defeat Texas A&M, 24-17, in the Valero Alamo Bowl.
March 15, 2008: Nittany Lion track star Shana Cox earns her sixth indoor track All-American honor at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
March 23, 2008: Phil Davis wins the NCAA Championship at 197 pounds, boosting the Nittany Lion wrestling team to a third place finish, its highest team finish since 1994.
March 29, 2008: Patrick Schirk becomes Penn State's first national champion swimmer as he wins the 200 backstroke at the NCAA Championships with a school record time of 1:40.22.
April 4, 2008: Penn State men's gymnastics thrills a partisan Rec Hall crowd by capturing its second Big Ten Championship. The Nittany Lions dominate the field, scoring a 360.450, easily outdistancing second place Illinois (357.300). Penn State's margin of victory was the largest in 14 years at the Big Ten Championships.
May 3, 2008: The top-ranked men's volleyball defeats Pepperdine, 3-1, for the program's second NCAA title.
May 10, 2008: The Nittany Lion men's tennis team posts a 4-0 win over 27th-ranked VCU in the first round of the NCAA Championship. The win marks the program's first victory in the modern-day 64-team NCAA Championship format.
May 18, 2008: Penn State wins its first Big Ten Outdoor Women's Track championship. The Nittany Lions claim four individual event titles en route to the team crown. Beth Alford Sullivan named Big Ten Women's Outdoor Track Coach of the Year.
May 28, 2008: The Nittany Lion men's golf team qualifies for the NCAA Championships for the third time since joining the Big Ten.
June 14, 2008: Shana Cox wins the national championship in the 400 meters and helps Penn State win the 1,600-meter relay at the NCAA Outdoor Track Championships.
August, 2008: Three Penn State fencers participate in the Beijing Olympics. Doris Willette is part of the silver medal United States women's foil team. Penn State fencing alum Nonpatat Panchan represents Thailand and competes in the individual epee and Adam Wiercioch was a part of the silver medal Polish epee team.
October 26, 2008: Field hockey clinches its second Big Ten Championship with a 3-0 win over Michigan.
November 22, 2008: The Nittany Lions' defeat Michigan State to become the seventh football program to win 800 games all-time.
December 6, 2008: Fencing head coach Emmanuil Kaidanov earns his 700th career win.
December 20, 2008: Penn State women's volleyball caps an unprecedented 38-0 season with a 3-0 sweep of Stanford to win its second consecutive national championship and third overall. The Lions drop just two individual sets en route to their third national title.
February 1, 2009: The Nittany Lion basketball rallies to defeat No. 9 eventual NCAA runner-up Michigan State, 72-68, for the program's first win in East Lansing.
February 2, 2009: Casey Sandy breaks the conference record for the Big Ten Gymnast of the Week Awards in a career when he earns his eighth. He would go on to extend his record to 11 before the end of his senior season.
February 28, 2009: The Nittany Lion men's basketball team defeats Indiana 61-58 for its first season sweep of the Hoosiers in program history.
March 9, 2009: Nittany Lion basketball coach Ed DeChellis is named Big Ten Coach of the Year after leading Penn State to its 10th 20-win season in program history. Sophomore guard Talor Battle is named first team All-Big Ten.
March 22, 2009: Penn State fencing wins its 11th national championship. Penn State's Aleksander Ochocki and Nick Chinman win the National Championship for the individual weapons of sabre and foil, respectively. Anastasia Ferdman and Doris Willette win women's individual titles in the epee and foil competitions, respectively.
April 2, 2009: The Nittany Lions defeat Baylor, 69-63, to win the National Invitation Tournament, the first national title for the program. Thirty-six busloads of fans travel to Madison Square Garden to see the Lions earn their school record 27th victory of the season.
April 2, 2009: Women's lacrosse advances to the title game of the ALC Championship for the first time in program history. The Nittany Lions fell to eventual national champion Northwestern in the tital match.
April 15, 2009: Senior Casey Sandy further solidifies his legacy as one of the greatest gymnasts in Penn State's storied history when he is named the 2009 recipient of the Nissen-Emery Award. Sandy becomes the second Nittany Lion in three years to receive the honor and Penn State's six overall, an NCAA record.
April 20, 2009: Wrestling legend Cael Sanderson is introduced as the Nittany Lions' 12th head coach. Sanderson comes to Penn State after three years as head coach at Iowa State, where he earned a 159-0 record and four NCAA titles from 1999-2002 before winning a Gold Medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
May 19, 2009: Penn State wins its second consecutive Big Ten Outdoor Women's Track title. Shavon Greaves took top honors in the 100 and 200 meters. Beth Alford-Sullivan named Big Ten Women's Outdoor Track Coach of the Year.
June, 13, 2009: Ryan Foster becomes the 23rd All-American in Penn State men's outdoor track since joining the Big Ten. Fawn Dorr, Bridget Franek and Gayle Hunter become NCAA Outdoor Track All-Americans, giving Penn State 55 All-Americans since joining the Big Ten.
June 23, 2009: Men's golf standout Kevin Foley is named an All-American to become Penn State's fifth All-American in the Big Ten era.
November 1, 2009: Penn State wins its first Big Ten team title in women's cross country on its home course. Bridget Franek fuels the team victory with Penn State's second all-time individual winner.
November 8, 2009: The women's soccer team beats Michigan, 2-0, to claim its 12th-straight Big Ten title, tying the women's record for Big Ten titles set by Michigan's swimming & diving program in the 1990s.
November 23, 2009: Bridget Franek earns her seventh career All-America finish at the 2009 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Penn State has fielded seven All-American women's cross country athletes since joining the Big Ten.
December 17, 2009: Hall of Fame coach Russ Rose scores his 1,000 career victory when the Lions defeat Hawai'i, 3-1, in the NCAA Championship semifinals.
December 19, 2009: The women's volleyball team completes an epic comeback to defeat Texas, 3-2, to win a third straight national championship. Called one of the greatest volleyball matches of all-time, Penn State's win marks its 102nd consecutive victory, longest in NCAA women's sports history and second-longest overall.
February 20, 2010: Softball coach Robin Petrini wins her 400th game in a 6-1 victory over her alma mater, Utah State. Petrini is Penn State's all-time leader in wins.
February 28, 2010: The Penn State women's track wins its second Big Ten Indoor title behind three individual event titles. Bridget Frankek (one mile) and Shavon Greaves (60 and 200 meters) give Penn State 27 Big Ten individual indoor champions with gold medal runs. Ryan Foster becomes Penn State's 10th Big Ten Indoor Men's Track champion with a victory in the 800 meters.
March 14, 2010: Fawn Dorr and Bridget Franek give the Nittany Lion women's track and field team All-American honors for the 45th time.
March 27, 2010: Brandi Personett is named Big Ten Women's Gymnast of the Year for the second straight year with an all-around victory at the Big Ten Championships. Sharaya Musser is selected the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
March 28, 2010: The fencing team captures its third NCAA Championship in the past four years and 12th under Coach Emmanuil Kaidanov since 1990.
May 14, 2010: Catcher Ben Heath belts his 18th home run, in the Metrodome, to break Dave Simononis' 32-year school single-season record. Heath goes on to earn second team All-America honors.
May 15, 2010: Bridget Franek wins the Big Ten Outdoor Track title in steeplechase. With the victory, Franek becomes Penn State's 34th Big Ten Outdoor individual champion.
May 16, 2010: The women's track and field team completes the "Triple Crown" for 2009-10 by winning its third consecutive Big Ten Outdoor Championship, to go with its cross country and indoor titles. Penn State becomes just the third Big Ten school to win all three titles in the same academic year. Beth Alford Sullivan is named Big Ten Women's Outdoor Track Coach of the Year, earning all three honors in 2009-10, and her sixth career conference accolade. Casimir Loxsom (800 meters) and Blake Eaton (shot put) become the 28th and 29th individual Big Ten champions in men's track.
June 1, 2010: The men's golf team qualifies for the NCAA Championships for the fourth time since joining the Big Ten.
--NITTANY LIONS--