Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1492675
M A R C H 2 0 2 3 13 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M State College Spikes Will Send Sean Clifford Into 'Retirement' Sean Clifford hasn't even started his pro football career yet, much less finished it, but he's going to get a retire- ment party this summer, courtesy of the State College Spikes minor league baseball team. Teaming up with Clifford's Limitless NIL venture, the Spikes recently announced plans to host a party for the Rose Bowl-winning Penn State quarterback on July 15, complete with retirement gifts and bobbleheads for the first 1,000 fans who turn out for the game against the Frederick Keys. "It's been the greatest experience of my life to play in Happy Valley, and I'm looking forward to celebrating it with Nittany Nation at Medlar Field on July 15," Clifford said in a news release. "I'm pumped to be part of all the fun the Spikes have planned, especially the bobblehead, and hopefully I can get some tips from my fellow retirees at the party." The celebration is a cheeky acknowledgement of Clif- ford's longevity at Penn State. The Cincinnati native, who will turn 25 the day before his retirement party, spent six years with the Nittany Lions and was the team's starting quarterback for the past four seasons. He finished his college career with 11,456 total yards, seventh-highest in Big Ten history. In his honor, all fans ages 25 and older will be eligible to receive the Spikes' senior citizen discount for the game. — Matt Herb PENN STATE'S TOP PERFORMERS Cal Fisher — Men's Volleyball Returning to action aer an early-season injury, Fisher powered Penn State to consecutive 3-1 victories over No. 10 USC and No. 2 UCLA in the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge Feb. 3-4 at Rec Hall. The graduate opposite hitter from Pittsburgh, a second-team All-American the past two seasons, came off the bench against the Trojans to help Penn State rally for a win in the first set. He went on to finish the match with a .429 hitting percentage, 13 kills and 9 digs. The following night against the Bruins, he hit .367 with 15 kills, 6 digs, 3 aces and 2 blocks. Fisher finished the weekend with a .397 hitting percentage. Tessa Janecke — Women's Ice Hockey A freshman forward from Orangeville, Ill., Ja- necke was one of 28 players recently named to the watch list for the Hockey Commissioners As- sociation National Women's Rookie of the Year award. Coming off a stellar high school career at the North American Hockey Academy in which she totaled 46 goals and 76 assists in 78 games, Janecke has been enjoying an outstanding debut season with the 10th-ranked Nittany Lions. Through the team's first 32 games, she was leading all first-year players nationally with 36 points. She was second in the College Hockey America conference in both goals (18) and assists (18), trailing junior teammate Kiara Zanon in both cat- egories. Ma Traynor — Men's Lacrosse Penn State opened its men's lax season on Feb. 4 with a 21-11 romp over visiting Lafayette. Traynor was a big reason for the Nittany Lions' offensive success. The sophomore midfielder from Down- ingtown, Pa., scored a career-high 5 goals, in- cluding the opener just 13 seconds into the game. Traynor is the third member of his family to suit up for the PSU men's lacrosse program. Older brother Tripp played for the Nittany Lions from 2015-18, and another brother, Jack, is a graduate attack- man on this year's team. As a freshman last year, Matt Traynor saw action in two games and scored his first career goal against Johns Hopkins in the Big Ten Tournament. Daphne Wils — Women's Swimming and Diving Wils is a super senior from the Netherlands who transferred to PSU from Hawai'i in order to earn her master's degree and prepare for the 2024 Olympics. She was dominant at McCoy Nata- torium, going unbeaten at home over the course of the regular season. That included first-place performances in both the 1- and 3-meter diving events in the final home meet of the campaign, a 183-106 victory over Villanova on Jan. 27. A week later, she turned in a personal-best score of 227.33 in the platform event at West Virginia. — Matt Herb fensive MVP award and was a second-team All- American, Porter will be aiming to secure his status as a first-round pick after opting to leave the Nittany Lions a year early. Brown will be hoping to parlay a strong showing into a possible Day 2 selection. The defensive backs will participate in on-field drills on March 3. Tinsley, Washington, and Strange will arrive on Feb. 28, with their on-field workouts set to take place March 4. Finally, Scruggs starts his time in Indy on March 1 and does on-field work March 5. Penn State players have tested extremely well at the NFL Combine during the James Franklin era. This year should be no exception, with Chuck Losey entering his second season at the helm of the pro- gram's strength and conditioning efforts. Dwight Galt III had overseen the strength program from 2014 through 2021. When Galt announced his retirement last January, Losey was named his suc- cessor. ■