2007-08 A Banner Year for Penn State Behrend Athletics
10
+ 5 = 1. That's the numerical equation for this year's athletic
successes.
"The college's athletic teams earned ten of a possible thirteen AMCC championships, made five NCAA tournament appearances, and won an eighth AMCC Presidents' Cup," Brian Streeter, athletics director, said. "Having that level of success across so many teams in one year is unprecedented."
The Behrend Lions, who have belonged to the ten-member AMCC since its inception in 1997-98, earned regular-season titles in baseball, men's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's swimming and diving, and men's tennis this past year.
Of those, Penn State Behrend also earned AMCC tournament championships in baseball, men's basketball, men's and women's soccer, and softball. These five championship titles secured NCAA post-season appearances for each team, marking Penn State Behrend's greatest number of NCAA post-season appearances in one year.
The 2007-08 season marked sixteen years as head coach for Paul Benim, baseball, Dan Perritano, men's soccer, and Roz Fornari, women's basketball. Dave Niland, men's basketball, has been head coach for fifteen years; Jeff Barger has eleven years at the helm of the men's and women's tennis programs. Jen Wallace has been with the men's and women's swimming and diving teams for nine years, six as head coach and three as assistant.
The six remaining "rookies" have a combined twenty-six years with the Behrend Lions. Stacy Pondo, softball, and Joe Tristan, men's and women's water polo, have six years each as head coach. Phil Pisano, women's volleyball, is in his fifth year, while Patrick O’Driscoll, women's soccer, is in his fourth. James Bowen will return for his third season as the head coach for men's and women's golf. Greg Cooper is entering his second year leading the men's and women's track and field and cross country teams after serving as an assistant for five years under his father, Dave, now his son's assistant.
"Teamwork is the key ingredient to success at the collegiate level for student-athletes, coaches and administrators," Paul Benim noted. "Our staff works exceptionally well together and we are fortunate to have such terrific leadership."
In addition to its team successes, Penn State Behrend was identified by the Chronicle of Higher Education as a top-five NCAA Division III institution for providing athletic opportunities for women. The article "Title IX Enforcement Called 'Deeply Troubling" ran in the Chronicle's July 29, 2007, issue.
According to the article, U.S. Department of Education guidelines require colleges to pick one of three options to ensure they are offering female athletes a fair chance to play sports. Penn State Behrend's choice is to have at least the same proportion of athletes who are female as undergraduates who are female. Based on 2005-06 data, Penn State Behrend had 93 female athletes, which represented 50 percent of the college's total athletes, and 1,052 female students, which represented 34 percent of its total student body.
A second national honor for the program came in May, when the college reached its highest ranking to date for the Division III U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup, which was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today.