July 16, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State coaches and student-athletes in 2012-13 produced one of the most outstanding years in Nittany Lion history with school-record accomplishments both in competition and in the classroom.
Twenty-one of the Nittany Lions' 31 varsity teams participated in their respective NCAA Championships in 2012-13, boosting Penn State to No. 6 in the final Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings. The Nittany Lions earned their ninth top-10 finish in the past 20 years and their highest finish since placing fifth in the 2002-03 standings.
"Our student-athletes and coaches continue to reach new levels of excellence each year," said Dave Joyner, Director of Athletics. "Their record-breaking performances in 2012-13 are testaments to their hard work and dedication during their respective seasons. I congratulate them on a tremendous year and look forward to their achievements in 2013-14."
In 2012-13, Penn State student-athletes won a school-record 11 conference championships, including a record eight Big Ten crowns, adding Big Ten titles in women's outdoor track and field, women's basketball and wrestling to the fall crowns by field hockey (regular season and tournament), men's soccer, women's soccer and women's volleyball.
Penn State, which has won 81 Big Ten Championships all-time also claimed 2012-13 conference crowns in men's lacrosse (CAA), women's lacrosse (ALC) and men's volleyball (EIVA).
The Penn State wrestling team, under the guidance of head coach Cael Sanderson, won its third consecutive NCAA Wrestling Championship, in addition to a third straight Big Ten title. The Nittany Lions also crowned two NCAA individual national champions as Ed Ruth (Harrisburg, Pa.) and Quentin Wright (Wingate, Pa.) each claimed their second career NCAA titles.
The national wrestling title gave Penn State 12 NCAA Championships (in five different sports) since March 2007 as the Nittany Lions are tied with USC for the most in the nation over the past six years. Penn State has won 23 NCAA Championships since 1993-94, its first full year in the Big Ten Conference, more than double every other Big Ten institution. The Nittany Lions have won 69 team national championships all-time.
During the 2012-13 campaign, Penn State produced 75 All-Americans, as well as 51 first-team all-conference selections. Ten Nittany Lion coaches earned Coach of the Year Honors, including a school-record eight Big Ten Coach of the Year recipients.
Penn State is one of only nine programs nationwide to have finished in the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup Top 25 in all 20 years, joined by Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio State, Southern California, Stanford, Texas and UCLA.
In the classroom, seven Penn State student-athletes - Kelsey Amy (field hockey), Matt Brown (wrestling), Julian Cardona (men's soccer), Tatum Coffey (women's lacrosse), Robby Creese (track & field/cross country), Pete Massaro (football),>John Urschel (football) - earned Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America® laurels. Penn State's 182 all-time Academic All-America® honorees are the third highest total among NCAA Division I institutions.
A school-record 296 Penn State student-athletes earned Academic All-Big Ten accolades during the 2012-13 academic year. In June, eight teams received a Public Recognition Award from the NCAA for earning scores in the top 10 percent nationally in their respective sport in the 2011-12 Academic Progress Rate (APR) compilation.
Penn State student-athletes also earned a Graduation Success Rate of 88 percent compared to the 80 percent average for all Division I institutions for students entering from 2002-03 through 2005-06. The 88 percent figure was third-highest among Big Ten institutions.
Please see below for Penn State's primary 2012-13 athletic and academic accomplishments:
* Penn State was No. 6 in the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings, earning a school record 1,100 points. The Nittany Lions earned their ninth Top 10 finish in the Directors' Cup survey and their highest finish since placing No. 5 in 2002-03. Penn State is among only nine schools to finish in the Directors' Cup Top 25 all 20 years.
* The Nittany Lions earned a school record 11 conference championships, including a record eight Big Ten titles. In addition to the Big Ten titlists (see below), the men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse and men's volleyball teams also won or shared their conference championships.
* The Nittany Lions earned a school-record eight Big Ten championships, the most of any institution. Penn State's Big Ten champions: women's basketball, field hockey (regular season and tournament), men's soccer, women's soccer, women's outdoor track and field, women's volleyball and wrestling.
* Penn State has won 81 Big Ten regular season or tournament titles all-time, including 13 in the past two years. The 1993-94 academic year was Penn State's first full year in the Big Ten.
* A total of 21 Penn State programs (out of 31) participated in their respective NCAA Championship in 2012-13 either as a team or by individuals.
* Penn State has won 12 NCAA Championships since March 2007 (in five sports), tied with USC for most in the nation during the past six years. Penn State has won 23 NCAA Championships since 1993-94, its first full year in the Big Ten Conference, more than double every other Big Ten institution. The NIttany Lions have won 69 national championships all-time.
* Coach Cael Sanderson, the NWCA Coach of the Year, led Penn State to its third consecutive NCAA Championship, beating Oklahoma State by four points. Big Ten Wrestler of the Year Ed Ruth (184) and senior Quentin Wright (197) earned their second career NCAA individual titles. Three additional Nittany Lions were national runners-up: Nico Megaludis (125); David Taylor (165) and Matt Brown (174). Brown also was the NCAA Elite 89 recipient.
* Freshman men's gymnast Trevor Howard claimed the program's third national title on the floor exercise when he executed a nearly perfect routine in front of the Rec Hall faithful at the 2012 NCAA National Championships. The rookie posted a score of 15.800 and became the first Nittany Lion to win the national title on the floor exercise in 50 years and helped the team to a fourth place showing at the national meet.
* Penn State captured five fall Big Ten titles for the first time since 2005. The Nittany Lions were conference champs in women's soccer, women's volleyball, field hockey (regular season and tournament) and men's soccer.
* A school record eight Penn State coaches were selected Big Ten Coach of the Year: Beth Alford-Sullivan (women's outdoor track and field), Char Morett (field hockey), Bill O'Brien (football), Russ Rose (women's volleyball), Cael Sanderson (wrestling), Erica Walsh (women's soccer), Bob Warming (men's soccer) and Coquese Washington (women's basketball).
* The women's soccer team was the NCAA runner-up, advancing to the NCAA College Cup for the fourth time (first since 2005). Coach Erica Walsh's Nittany Lions captured their 15th consecutive Big Ten regular season title, a record for a conference women's sport.
* The women's volleyball team advanced to the NCAA semifinals for the 10th time since 1993. Coach Russ Rose's Nittany Lions won their 15th Big Ten title; the ninth in the last 10 years.
* Led by Coach Char Morett, the field hockey team won its sixth Big Ten regular season championship and its sixth conference tournament title.
* The men's soccer team won its first Big Ten title under third-year head coach Bob Warming and its fourth title overall.
* The Lady Lion basketball team won its second consecutive Big Ten title under the leadership of Coach Coquese Washington. Junior Maggie Lucas was selected Big Ten Player of the Year and was joined on the first team by Alex Bentley, who earned first team honors for the third consecutive year.
* Coach Beth Alford-Sullivan's women's track and field team won its fourth Big Ten Outdoor championship in the past six years.
* The men's track and field team finished 14th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, earning its first Top 15 NCAA finish since 1976.
* Under the direction of first-year head coach Bill O'Brien, the Penn State football team won eight of its final 10 games, capped by a senior day win over Wisconsin, the eventual Big Ten Champion. O'Brien was selected the Bear Bryant, Maxwell Football Club and ESPN Coach of the Year and the Big Ten Coach of the Year.
* The women's lacrosse team was ALC co-champions, earning their first ALC title. Coach Missy Doherty's team earned the No. 7 seed in the NCAA Championship and won its first two matches, advancing to the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year.
* The men's lacrosse team won its first CAA regular season championship and was the No. 8 overall seed in the NCAA Championship. Coach Jeff Tambroni's team hosted its first-ever NCAA contest and earned its first NCAA bid since 2005. Tambroni was named CAA Coach of the Year and Austin Kaut was selected the National Goalie of the Year.
* The men's volleyball team won the EIVA Championship, advancing to the NCAA semifinals for the 15th consecutive year.
* In its first season as an NCAA varsity program, Coach Guy Gadowsky's men's hockey team earned victories at Wisconsin and Michigan State and also had notable wins vs. Ohio State, RIT and Vermont. The team will open Pegula Ice Arena Oct. 11 vs. Army and will play a 20-game Big Ten hockey schedule starting this fall.
* The women's golf team earned its first NCAA Championships berth since 2002-03, being selected to play in the East Regional.
* The women's tennis doubles team of Petra Januskova and Chelsea Utting was selected to the NCAA Championships, the first Nittany Lions selected for the NCAA doubles event since 1997-98.
* Senior Petra Januskova (women's tennis) and John Urschel (football) were selected Penn State's McCoy Award and Big Ten Medal of Honor recipients.
* Penn State student-athletes earned an NCAA Graduation Success Rate of 88 percent compared to the 80 percent average for all Division I institutions for students entering from 2002-03 through 2005-06. The 88 percent figure was third-highest among Big Ten institutions.
* Six Penn State teams earned perfect multi-year NCAA Academic Progress Rate scores of 1,000. The average multi-year APR score for Penn State's varsity teams was 984, easily above the Division I average of 974.
* Eight Penn State teams received a Public Recognition Award from the NCAA for earning scores in the top 10 percent nationally in their respective sport in the 2011-12 Academic Progress Rate (APR) compilation. Penn State's eight honored teams were second-highest among Big Ten institutions.
* A school record 296 Penn State student-athletes earned Academic All-Big Ten accolades during the 2012-13 academic year. The 296 Penn State honorees crushed the previous record of 261 during the 2007-08 academic year. Penn State student-athletes broke the previous school mark for honorees in all three seasons: fall (100), winter (64), spring and at-large (132). Penn State has earned a total of 4,477 Academic All-Big Ten honorees through its 20 years of full membership in the conference.
* Penn State boasted 68 Ben Ten Distinguished Scholars in 2012-13, breaking the previous high of 62 set in 2008-09. To be named a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, a student-athlete must earned a minimum grade-point average of 3.7 or higher for the previous academic year.
* The Penn State football team broke its program record for the second consecutive year and finished seventh among all Football Bowl Subdivision teams with a Graduation Success Rate of 91 percent. The Nittany Lion basketball (92 percent) and Lady Lion basketball (100) also earned GSR scores at least 15 percent higher than the national average.
* Seven Penn State student-athletes earned Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America® accolades, including three first-team honorees. Penn State's 182 all-time Academic All-America® honorees are the third-highest total among NCAA Division I institutions.
* A school-record 19 Penn State student-athletes competed in the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London, with five alums - Megan Hodge (volleyball), Christa Harmotto (volleyball), Erin McLeod (soccer), Carmelina Moscatto (soccer), Natalie Dell (rowing) - earning medals. Penn State has sent athletes to every Olympic Games since 1948.