Oct. 7, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics' first STATE of Excellence Week was a huge success, as the varied and numerous achievements by its 800 student-athletes were celebrated from Sept. 26-Oct. 2.
The Nittany Lions celebrated four aspects of student-athlete success and experience -- cultural, social, academic and athletic -- with a different facet highlighted on its own day. The student-athlete achievements were celebrated via a series of events, video presentations and social media throughout the week.
On Sept. 29, a public head coaches panel on Penn State student-athletes' commitment to athletic excellence was held in the Penn State All-Sports Museum. The panel included Erica Dambach (women's soccer), Wes Glon (fencing) and Cael Sanderson, all of whom have directed their teams to NCAA Championships in the past two years. Women's rugby head coach Kate Daley also was a panelist after guiding Penn State to the 2016 USA Rugby College 15s national title, its fifth consecutive national crown.
STATE of Excellence Week culminated with 2015-16 team and individual champions being recognized at the Nittany Lions' overtime gridiron win over Minnesota on Oct. 1. The following day, former Penn State All-Americans and 2016 Olympians Christa Harmotto Dietzen and Alisha Glass spoke about their experience in Rio and helping the United States Women's Volleyball team earn the Bronze medal.
Penn State has one of the nation's most comprehensive and successful athletic programs in the nation, with 800 student-athletes across 31 programs (16 men's and 15 women's). The Nittany Lions have won 76 team national championships and 97 Big Ten Conference crowns all-time and their 29 NCAA Championships since 1992-93 are the most of any Big Ten institution.
Penn State student-athletes have an NCAA Graduation Success Rate of 88 percent and have earned 193 Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America selections, the fourth-highest total among Division I programs.
STATE of Excellence Week highlights:
• Monday -- Cultural
• Tuesday -- Social
• Wednesday -- Academics
• Thursday -- Athletics
• Saturday -- Championships. Penn State's 2015-16 championship teams and individuals were recognized at the football game vs. Minnesota. Penn State captured NCAA Championships in women's soccer and wrestling and the women's rugby team won the USA Rugby College 15s national title in 2015-16.
In addition, four Penn State student-athletes won NCAA individual titles last year and were Recognized at the Minnesota game: Andrew Mackiewicz, men's sabre; Nico Megaludis, wrestling, 125 lbs.; Jessie Radanovich, women's epee and Zain Retherford, wrestling, 149 lbs.
Also recognized at the Minnesota game were three of Penn State's 22 Rio Olympic competitors: Silver medalist Joe Kovacs (men's shot put) and Bronze medalists Dietzen and Glass. Former Penn State student-athletes earned a school record eight medals in Rio.
Penn State and the University of Southern California lead the nation with 18 NCAA Championships since March 2007.