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STATE of Excellence Week Penn State's week-long celebration of student-athlete achievement

Throughout the week, Penn State will celebrate four aspects of student-athlete success and experience — cultural, social, academic and athletic.

ATHLETIC

Yahoo! Sports ranked Penn State the nation’s No. 8 athletic department among the 65 Autonomy Five institutions in July.
The Nittany Lions won seven Big Ten Championships (nine overall conference titles) in 2016- 17.

Penn State football won both the Big Ten East division title as well as the Big Ten Championship Game.

Penn State men's volleyball won both the EIVA regular season title and the EIVA Tournament to earn an automatic berth to the 2017 NCAA Tournament.

Penn State men's hockey made history, capturing the program's first Big Ten Tournament title in program history.

All five Penn State wrestling finalists earned individual NCAA titles in addition to the program's sixth team title in the last seven years.

Penn State men's hockey's 2-1 win against Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game secured its first NCAA Tournament bid in program history.

Women's lacrosse topped Princeton in the NCAA quarterfinals to advance to a second consecutive appearance in the NCAA national semifinals at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts.

Penn State men's and women's lacrosse both earned spots in the 2017 NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013.

SOCIAL

Inspired and dedicated to give back, Penn State student-athletes are committed to community involvement.

Penn State student-athletes completed more than 6,200 hours of community engagement during 2016-17.

ACADEMIC

Guided by the support of the Morgan Academic Center, ICA staff, faculty, fans and donors, Penn State student-athletes are committed to academic excellence.
A record 66% of student-athletes recorded a 3.0 GPA during the spring 2017 season.

159 Nittany Lion student-athletes earned their degrees in 2016-17.

Penn State student-athletes combined for a record-setting 3.14 GPA in the 2017 spring semester.

Penn State student-athletes have earned 5,875 Academic All-Big Ten honors all-time. Student-athletes must be letterwinners with a 3.0 GPA for selection.

CULTURAL

Showcasing diversity among student-athletes, the Nittany Lions have taken various international trips, also benefitting from Penn State University's study abroad program.

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL VISITS BRAZIL

"This trip has been an experience of a lifetime and I don't think we could possibly put into words how grateful we are for this opportunity." - Bryanna Weiskircher
"It has been such an awesome experience, especially since it is my first time out of the country! Thank you to all for making this trip possible." - Heidi Thelen

WOMEN'S GOLF TAKES ON IRELAND

"My parents joined us from Dublin for dinner and it was lovely having them there beside me before I leave for college." - Ariana Coyle Diez
"The route we took was so scenic that we stopped a few times to take it all in. After a three hour ride we arrived for one of the most enjoyable rounds of my life." - Maddy Herr.

OVERALL

During the 2016-17 academic year, five Nittany Lion student-athletes were selected CoSIDA Academic All-Americans to push Penn State’s all-time total to the brink of 200.

Penn State is among only nine programs nationwide to have finished in the top 25 in all 24 Learfield Directors' Cup final rankings.
The Nittany Lions have finished in the Directors’ Cup top 10 four of the past five years (No. 8 in 2016-17) and has 12 top-10 finishes overall.

Credits:

Mark Selders, Penn State Athletics

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