Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1472993
1 4 A U G U S T 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 1 Number of Penn State players on Mel Kiper Jr.'s posi- tion-by-position rankings of the top prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft. Kiper listed his top 10 draft prospects at 15 positions in May, and the only Nittany Lion on his list was JOEY PORTER JR. The redshirt junior came in sixth among cornerbacks. One former Penn Stater made the list, with Kentucky's Will Levis listed fifth among quarterbacks. Kiper's top two overall prospects are both from Alabama: defensive end Will Anderson Jr., fol- lowed by quarterback Bryce Young. Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud is third in the longtime draft analyst's pro- jected draft order. 3 r d Former Penn State great Kelly Mazzante's rank- ing on the list of the all-time leading scorers in Big Ten basketball history, male or female. Mazzante, who scored 2,919 points at Penn State from 2000 to 2004, was named to the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in June. A native of Montoursville, Pa., she still holds the Penn State records for most points in a season (872 in 2001-02) and most points in a game (49 against Minnesota in 2001). Following her col- legiate career, she played both in the WNBA and overseas before retiring in 2014. She is currently associate head coach of the Bucknell women's basketball team. Mazzante will be inducted into the hall on Oct. 30 in Reading. 4 . 0 Grade point average compiled by senior Clair Swedberg of the Penn State softball team. Swed- berg, who played both in the outfield and infield for the Nit- tany Lions, was the only Penn State student-athlete to grad- uate this spring with a perfect 4.0 GPA. She was also one of 16 Academic All-Big Ten honorees on the PSU softball team. The women's track and field team had the most academic all-conference honorees among Penn State's spring sports teams, with 32 players receiving league recognition. On the men's side, the lacrosse team led the way with 28 honorees. 1 1 Big Ten victories by the Penn State baseball team this past season. The Nittany Lions went 11- 13 in conference play and qualified for the eight-team Big Ten Tourna- ment for the first time since 2012. The sixth-seeded Lions won their first game at the tournament, which took place in Omaha, Neb., defeating Iowa 5-2. They went on to lose to Rutgers 5-4 in 10 innings and were eliminated with an 11-3 loss in a rematch with the Hawkeyes. Penn State ended its season with a 26- 29 overall record. The 26 wins were the most for PSU since 2016 when it went 28-27. 2 5 Improvement, as measured in total victories, by the Penn State softball team from Year 1 to Year 2 of Clarisa Crow- ell's tenure as head coach. The Nittany Lions went 32-22 this past season after going 7-34 in Crowell's first year in charge of the program. It was the big- gest turnaround in Division I during the 2022 season. PSU went 13-10 in Big Ten play, marking the first time since 2016 that it finished with a winning conference record. Following the season, Crowell was named Division I Coach of the Year by the Eastern College Athletic Conference. 6 6 f e e t , 7.7 5 i n c h e s Distance that Penn State football recruit Jven Williams threw the shot put at the PIAA Class AA Track and Field Champi- onships in May. Williams, an On3 five-star offensive lineman from Reading, broke a state record that had stood for 15 years. The previous record-holder is none other than Joe Kovacs, who set the mark in 2007 before going on to become a Big Ten shot put champion at Penn State and later a two-time world champ and Olympic silver medalist. Williams broke Kovacs' record by 2 feet, and he also won the discus title to help Wyo- missing High claim the team championship. By The Numbers PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL