Nittany Lions earn another Top 20 Directors' Cup finish

Photo: GoPSUsports.com Nicole Fawcett and the Penn State women's volleyball team won their second consecutive national title this past academic year.

University Park, Pa. — Another outstanding year of achievement has seen Penn State finish in the Top 20 for the 14th time in the 16 years of the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings.

The Nittany Lions earned their 16th consecutive Top 25 finish by placing No. 19 among the more than 300 Division I institutions eligible to be ranked in 2008-09. Penn State has eight Top 10 finishes and four top five placings in the 16 years of the Directors' Cup.

Penn State was one of five Big Ten schools in the Top 20, second only to the Pac-10 (six) among all conferences. The ACC (4), SEC (3) and Big 12 (2) also were represented in the Top 20.

The Nittany Lions finished with 813.10 points in the Directors' Cup, as 17 Penn State squads were represented in their respective NCAA Championships. PennState had 56 All-Americans and 41 first team All-Big Ten selections (48 total first team all-conference honorees) during the past year.

The No. 1 ranked women's volleyball team won its second consecutive national title, and third in the past 10 years, with a 38-0 record, losing only two sets all season. The fencing team captured its nation's best 11th NCAA Championship since 1990, winning the crown in Penn State's Ashenfelter Mult-Sport Facility. Four Nittany Lions won national titles.

Penn State has won six NCAA Championships in the past three years. The Nittany Lions have won 17 NCAA titles since their first full year of Big Ten membership in 1993-94, nearly double the next highest total within the conference (Minnesota, 9).

The 2008-09 athletic campaign also saw Penn State win six Big Ten Championships or tournament titles, tied for its best yearly performance (with 2005-06). Field hockey, football, women's soccer (11th consecutive), women's outdoor track and field (second straight) and women's volleyball (sixth consecutive) captured conference championships. Women's soccer also won its fifth Big Ten Tournament.

Over the past four years, Penn State has won 19 conference crowns, tied for the second-highest total in the league. The Nittany Lions have won 60 Big Ten titles overall.

Following the winter sports season, Penn State was No. 5 in the Directors' Cup standings. During the spring, the men's volleyball team won its 11th consecutive EIVA Championship, advancing to its 11th straight NCAA semifinal berth. Five Nittany Lions earned AVCA All-America honors. The women's outdoor track & field team finished 14th at NCAA Championships to earn 61.5 points. Eight NIttany Lions earned All-America accolades. The men's golf team earned its 19th NCAA regional bid in the past 20 years, finishing 10th at the Northeast Regional.

Earlier this month, Penn State's Tim Curley was named NACDA's Director of Athletics of Year for the Northeast Region for the second time in the past six years.

Stanford captured its 15th straight Learfield Sports Directors' Cup, tallying 1455.00 points. The Nittany Lions were one of five Big Ten institutions in the Top 20, being joined by Michigan (5), Ohio State (10), Minnesota (14), and Illinois (20).

The all-sports competition among Division I institutions and sponsored by Learfield Sports was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in up to 20 NCAA Championships - 10 men's and 10 women's.