March 19, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State field hockey program, under the direction of head coach Charlene Morett, has been recognized by Gladiatior and the National Field Hockey Coaches Association with the National Academic Team Award for sporting a team GPA above 3.0. In addition, the Nittany Lions placed 12 players on the Gladiator by SGI/NFHCA Division I National Academic Squad.
Junior Katie Andrews, junior Katie Breneman, freshman Carly Celkos, junior Amanda Dinunzio, freshman Emilee Ehret, senior Abby Fuhrman, junior Laura Gebhart, freshman Kirsten Gochnauer, senior Jacqueline Kenney, sophomore Haley Kerstetter, senior Lauren Purvis and senior Whitney Reddig all earned the accolade. Fuhrman, Reddig and Purvis have each earned the honor all four years of their Penn State careers.
The National Academic Squad recognizes student-athletes who have achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or higher through the first semester of the 2013-14 academic year.
The award is the most recent recognition in a growing list of academic honors for the Penn State field hockey program. Earlier in the year, Andrews, Breneman, Dinunzio, Fuhrman, Gebhart, Kenney, Kerstetter, Purvis and Reddig were named to the Academic All-Big Ten team along with senior Brittany Grzywacz, junior Taylor Herold and senior Ashtin Klingler.
The aforementioned group of student athletes played a vital role to the team's success on the field during the 2013 season. Penn State won its seventh Big Ten title in program history with a final record of 5-1 in conference play and an overall mark of 13-6, while earning the program's 29th berth into the NCAA Tournament.