Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1496986
M A Y 2 0 2 3 17 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M This Month in Penn State Athletics History FIVE YEARS AGO, 2018 Two Penn State middle distance run- ners shined at the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Indiana. Isaiah Harris won the league's 800-meter title for the third time, fin- ishing in a meet-record time of 1:45.31. His victory in the event gave the Nit- tany Lions their eighth 800-meter win in 10 years at the conference meet. It was a PSU runner — Casimir Loxsom — whose record Harris broke. Loxsom had finished in 1:46.12 six years earlier, but Harris went into the race feeling as though he was ready to do something special. "Today I would say that I felt bet- ter than I've ever felt," he said. "I just knew I had to get around the leaders going into the final turn and hold them off down the final straightaway." On the women's side, Danae Rivers took first place in the 1,500. She had finished second as a freshman the year before and was thrilled to find herself atop the podium this time around. "I'm thankful to have this opportu- nity, and I'm blessed," she said. 10 YEARS AGO, 2013 After winning a school-record 12 games, the Penn State men's lacrosse squad earned its first NCAA Tourna- ment berth since 2005. The Nittany Lions played host to Yale in the first round and seemed poised to extend their season even further after taking a 5-1 lead into halftime against the visit- ing Bulldogs. It was not to be. Yale seized the mo- mentum from Penn State in the second half, using a 9-1 scoring binge to rally for a 10-7 victory. Goalie Austin Kaut stopped 14 shots, the fifth game of the season in which he finished with 14 or more saves, but it wasn't enough to keep the Bulldogs from bringing a heartbreaking end to PSU's season. Still, the Nittany Lions finished 12-5 in coach Jeff Tambroni's third year at the helm and went unbeaten in the Colonial Athletic Conference, finish- ing 6-0 to claim the league's regular- season crown. After the loss to Yale, Tambroni sa- luted captains Jack Forster and Travis Crane, along with the seven other members of a senior class that had helped Penn State reach the NCAA Tournament for only the third time in the program's history. "I feel a sense of pride for our se- niors, our captains in particular, Jack and Travis, and what a wonderful job they did this year of bringing Penn State to new heights," Tambroni said. 25 YEARS AGO, 1998 The Penn State baseball team was in the midst of an up-and-down season, but after ending April with a 4-2 win over Ohio State, it began trending back up in early May. The Nittany Lions swept a four-game series from host Michigan, then returned home to take two of three from Purdue. The late-season surge continued at Illinois, site of the Big Ten Tourna- ment. Penn State held off the Illini 5-2 in its opener before falling to Minne- sota 14-5 the next day, then dropping its rematch with Illinois 11-5. The loss to the Illini brought an end to the Nittany Lions' season, but by winning eight of their last 11 games, they finished with a winning record (28-24, 15-11 Big Ten) for the third consecutive year under coach Joe Hin- delang. What's more, one of the stars of that team, starting pitcher Nate Bump, re- ceived first-team All-Big Ten honors and third-team All-America notice af- ter setting a Penn State single-season record with 135 strikeouts. — Matt Herb In 2013, his third season as men's lacrosse coach at Penn State, Jeff Tambroni guided the Nittany Lions to a 12-5 record, a Colonial Athletic Conference regular-season championship and the program's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2005. PHOTO COURTESY PENN STATE ATHLETICS