March 13, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - As the spring athletic season gets into full swing, the Penn State Alumni Challenge for Former Student-Athletes is shaping up to be a race to the finish. Alumni are supporting their teams in even greater numbers than last year, and there's still a chance for come-from-behind drama as teams vie for the challenge's two prizes.
More than 2,100 former student-athletes have contributed to Penn State Athletics, totaling 47 percent more donors than had contributed at this time last year and nearly as many donors as had contributed in all of last year. New donors continue to make a strong showing in the challenge; about one-third of this year's donors are new donors since last year to Penn State Athletics.
The Football program has slightly edged Women's Soccer thus for the first part of the $6,000 prize, which is for the highest percentage of former student-athletes who represent their team in supporting Penn State Athletics. With gifts from 32.48 percent of its former student-athletes, football is leading the field, but Women's Soccer (32.39%), Women's Ice Hockey (23.26%), Field Hockey (22.1 percent), Men's Lacrosse (19.54 percent) are still within striking distance.
More teams are beginning to surpass last year's numbers and are making runs toward the second prize of $6,000 for the team with the highest percentage increase of former student-athlete donors over last year. Putting a little pressure on Women's Soccer, who has seen an increase of 15.49 percentage points over last year, are Field Hockey (6.94 percentage points ahead) and Women's Basketball (5.3 percentage points ahead).
It's time to make a playoff run and help your team climb into first place as the challenge wraps up over the next few months. Be sure to support your sport before the challenge ends on June 30, 2013! To see your team's results, go to the Alumni Challenge Graph.
Penn State Men's Lacrosse coach, Jeff Tambroni is excited regarding the opportunity for the alums to show their pride.
"It has been an honor to be part of the Penn State lacrosse program for the past two and a half years. Our staff and team are very proud of our tradition and the people who have worked so hard to build our current foundation. The Penn State Alumni Challenge is yet another symbol of the dedication and commitment that our alumni have for our program and institution. Every gift will assist in our goal of winning this year's Varsity `S' club competition not to mention the $12,000 bonus that goes with it."
To learn more about this challenge and to stay up-to-date on the progress, visit the Varsity `S' Club website and Varsity `S' Facebook page.
Make your sport-specific gift today. As a former student-athlete, 100 percent of your donation can go to your program while receiving all Nittany Lion Club benefits. To support your team online, please click on the below link.
Softball
Women's Ice Hockey
Women's Golf
Wrestling
Women's Volleyball
Men's Volleyball
Women's Tennis
Men's Tennis
Women's Swimming and Diving
Men's Swimming and Diving
Women's Soccer
Men's Soccer
Women's Lacrosse
Men's Lacrosse
Men's Ice Hockey
Women's Gymnastics
Men's Gymnastics
Men's Golf
Football
Field Hockey
Women's Fencing
Men's Fencing
Women's Track & Field/Cross Country
Men's Track & Field/Cross Country
Women's Basketball
Men's Basketball
Baseball