Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1467458
1 6 J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL 4 . 2 8 m e t e r s Katie Jones' height in the pole vault competition at the Bison Outdoor Challenge on April 16 at Bucknell. The se- nior from Williamsport, Pa., set a Penn State women's outdoor record with her showing in Lewisburg, Pa., topping the mark of 4.17 that Hailey Zurich had set at the NCAA East Prelims last season. Zurich, a junior this year, finished second to Jones at the Bucknell meet. Earlier in the year, Jones set the school record in the women's indoor pole vault when she cleared 4.25 meters. 8 Number of Nittany Lions selected in this year's NFL Draft, which took place April 28-30 in Las Vegas. Receiver Jahan Dotson went in the first round, defensive end Arnold Ebiketie and safety JAQUAN BRISKER in the second, linebacker Brandon Smith and punter Jordan Stout in the fourth, corner- back Tariq Castro-Fields in the sixth, and of- fensive tackle Rasheed Walker and linebacker/ defensive end Jesse Luketa in the seventh. It was PSU's largest draft class since 1996 when 10 Lions were chosen, and it brought the pro- gram's all-time total to 375 draftees, which ranks seventh among Division I schools. 19 Consecutive victories by the Penn State men's volleyball team, a win- ning streak that ranked as the Nit- tany Lions' longest since 1997 and was the longest active streak in Divisions I and II … until it ended at a par- ticularly inopportune time. After compiling a perfect conference record this sea- son, the Lions fell in five sets to Princeton in the semifi- nals of the Eastern Inter- collegiate Volleyball As- sociation tournament April 21 at Rec Hall. They had defeated the Tigers twice in the reg- ular season, dropping just one set in those two wins. But they were unable to finish off their comeback attempt after losing the first two sets. The stunning defeat cost second-ranked Penn State a place in the NCAA Tournament. Not only did the Lions miss out on the EIVA's automatic bid, they also were passed over for an at-large spot in the seven-team field. 40th John Cappelletti's spot in ESPN.com's list of the top 100 running backs of the past 60 years, as compiled by college football writer Bill Connelly. Penn State's only Heisman Trophy winner, Cappelletti was ranked the highest of the five Nittany Lion running backs on the list. "After spending his sophomore season as a defensive back, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Cappelletti switched to offense as a ju- nior," Connelly noted. "Good call. He rushed for 1,117 yards in 1972, then bumped it up to 1,522 during his Heisman campaign of 1973." Also appearing on the list was Larry Johnson at No. 45, and Nos. 68-70 were all Nittany Lions, with Saquon Bar- kley ranking 68th, Lydell Mitchell 69th and Ki-Jana Carter 70th. $100,000 Bonus to be paid to new Penn State ath- letics director Patrick Kraft if the Nittany Lion football team reaches the College Football Playoff. It's the largest of 16 incentives in Kraft's contract. There are also bonuses for a Final Four ap- pearance by the men's or women's bas- ketball team ($50,000), an overall student- athlete graduation success rate of 92 percent or more ($30,000) and for a bowl appearance by the football team ($25,000). 62,000 Estimated attendance of the Blue-White Game, which took place under sunny skies April 23 at Bea- ver Stadium. Coach James Franklin described it as a "packed house" during his post- game presser. That was a bit of hyper- bole; the stadium holds 106,572. But this was the first time since April 2019 that the Nittany Lions held a spring game that was open to the general public, and Franklin was happy to have a sizeable crowd on hand to watch his team wrap up its spring drills. "We haven't had this in a long time, in person, together," he said, "and I'm appre- ciative of that." By The Numbers