UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics posted 431.75 points in the LEARFIELD Directors' Cup Division I standings throughout the Winter championship season to bring its total to 702.75 overall points. Penn State sits fifth in the country heading into the Spring championship season.
The Nittany Lions notched 431.75 during the Winter championship season, led by wrestling's 100 points after claiming its 11th national title in the last 13 years. The points include 75 by fencing, 66.8 by women's gymnastics, 52.5 by men's indoor track & field, 42 by women's indoor track & field, 38 by men's swimming, 32.5 by men's gymnastics, 25 by women's hockey.
Penn State's 271 points in the Fall were led by Women's Soccer's 73 points after reaching the NCAA Quarterfinals. Women's Volleyball contributed 64 points, advancing to its NCAA Regional Semifinal. Football collected 63 points, making its first ever appearance in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The Women's Cross Country team tallied 43 points, while the Men's Cross Country team secured 28 points.
Penn State has ranked among the Top 10 in 18 of the last 21 standings that have been published (not published in Winter 2020 due to COVID-19).
Led by head coach Cael Sanderson, the wrestling squad won the team national title, setting a new all-time record with 172.5 points, a full 100 points ahead of second place, also setting a record for margin between first and second place. Aaron Brooks and Carter Starocci brought home individual titles, becoming Penn State's first four-time national championships, while Levi Haines and Greg Kerkvliet earned their first NCAA individual titles. Penn State captured its 12th overall national title and 11th under Sanderson.
Penn State fencing tallied 75 points in the director's cup after finishing fifth at the NCAA Championships. Neil Lilov earned All-America status after being the NCAA Championship runner-up at sabre. Junior Kamar Skeete finished sixth in sabre to also earn All-American status. On the women's side, Samantha Catantan (foil), Kateryna Chorniy (epee) and Arianna Proietti (foil) were honorable mention All-Americans.
The women's gymnastics team, led by head coach Sarah Brown, earned 66.8 points after advancing to the Ann Arbor regional final, where the Nittany Lions posted a program-regional record 197.050. Sophomore Amani Herring competed on balance beam at the NCAA Championships.
Penn State Men's and Women's Indoor Track & Field, coached by John Gondak, collected 52.5 and 42 points, respectively. Gondak was named USTFCCCA Men's Indoor Coach of the Year. Cheickna Traore and Hayley Kitching received Indoor Track Athlete of the Year recognition from both the USTFCCCA (Mid-Atlantic Region) and Big Ten. Traore and Kitching became the first PSU teammates to sweep the Big Ten Indoor Track Athlete of the Year awards in the same season. Traore ran a school-record 20.30 to finish as the runner-up in the men's indoor 200-meters. Kitching finished fourth in the women's 800-meters with a 2:02.16.
Men's Swimming and Diving secured 38 points after earning multiple All-Americans at the NCAA Championships. Junior Mariano Lazzerini notched All-American honors after competing in the 100 breast at the NCAA Championships. Cooper Morley qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 100 back. Lazzerini and Morley joined Lachlan Byrne and Matthew Bittner on the 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay teams, who both collected All-American accolades.
Men's gymnastics, led by head coach Randy Jepson, recorded 32.5 points. Josh Karnes claimed bronze in the parallel bars and earned All-American status in the parallel bars and all-around.
The Penn State women's hockey team, led by head coach Jeff Kampersal, reached the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight year after winning CHA regular season and tournament titles. Penn State battled St. Lawrence in the NCAA Regional Semifinal. Kampersal repeated as CHA Coach of the Year, while Tessa Janecke was named CHA Player and Forward of the Year.
Stanford currently holds first in the overall standings with 977 points. They are followed in the Top Five by Texas (746.5), North Carolina (733.5) and Michigan (708).
Penn State joins Michigan, Nebraska (672.25), Ohio State (669) and Wisconsin (662.5) as Big Ten schools among the Top 10 and is one of 11 Big Ten schools represented in the Top 50.
Under the leadership of Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. Patrick Kraft, Penn State has one of the nation's most comprehensive and successful athletic programs, featuring 800 student-athletes across 31 varsity programs (16 men's, 15 women's). The Nittany Lions' 31 programs are tied for the fourth-highest number of sports sponsored by a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) institution.
Penn State student-athletes have led the athletic department to 41 Big Ten championships and 12 NCAA National Championships since 2012. The Nittany Lions have finished in the top 15 of the LEARFIELD Directors' Cup 20 times in the last 29 years (the Directors' Cup was not awarded in 2019-20).
Complete standings and the scoring structure of the LEARFIELD Directors' Cup can be found on NACDA's website at www.directorscup.org.
Aaron Brooks and Carter Starocci