Blue White Illustrated

MEN'S SOCCER PSU sophomore suffers spinal injury Sophomore defender Brett Gravatt is recovering after a serious snowboarding accident that has left him without the use of his lower body. The accident oc- curred on Dec. 26 at the Liberty Mountain Snowflex Centre in Lynchburg, Va., when Gravatt fractured a vertebrae in his spinal column. Immediately after the fall, Gravatt was airlifted to a hospital in Lynchburg and later that night was flown to the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville. While there, he underwent emergency surgery to stabilize the fracture and also had two rods and eight screws put in his back. A native of Dunn Loring, Va., Gravatt was flown to Shepherd Rehabilitation Center in Atlanta on Jan. 6, where he is performing rehab. Since the injury, coach- es, teammates, friends and family have flocked to the various facilities where Gravatt has been housed to show sup- port. "Accidents can happen to any of us, and I have told our players, what if it were you? What would you want your team- mates to do?" head soccer coach Bob Warming said. "'One Team' is a motto of our athletic department and as I have told people before, the 'One Team' theme really means that we are all in this life together, to help each other, to be there when others need us, to support each other, to work together to make things better. It is our challenge and call to action to do this on a daily basis. In this instance, how can we help make things better for Brett?" The injury is considered a very serious one and consists of a break to his T6 tho- racic vertebrae. After spending a night in the intensive care unit, Gravatt was moved to UVA Hospital's trauma unit, where he was placed for more than a week before being flown to Georgia. "Brett has been dealt a challenging sit- uation, and I am sure he will attack it with the same amazing competitive drive he demonstrated this past fall with our team," Warming said. "Our job is to en- courage, applaud and support the effort he is going to put forth." Gravatt transferred to Penn State last year after playing his freshman season at Akron in 2013. After recovering from knee surgery over the summer, he made a big impact for the Nittany Lions. Gravatt scored the winning goal in the first round of the NCAA men's soccer tournament vs. Hartwick, and his stingy defense helped preserve 10 Penn State shutouts during the season. ■ Gravatt left partially paralyzed following snowboarding accident ALL SPORTS Penn State fourth in Directors' Cup Penn State is off to another strong start in the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup, earning the No. 4 spot in the first rankings for 2014-15. Six Penn State fall teams competed in their respective NCAA championships to earn Directors' Cup points, and the football team won the New Era Pin- stripe Bowl. The Nittany Lions are seeking their eighth consecutive top-10 finish for the fall sports season and 18th overall top-10 fall finish in the 22 years of the Directors' Cup. Penn State won the 2014 NCAA women's volleyball cham- pionship and earned the Big Ten women's soccer title this past fall and has 338.0 Directors' Cup points. Stan- ford leads with 500 points, followed by UCLA (430), North Carolina (405.50), Penn State and Virginia (303). Wash- ington, Syracuse, Michigan State, Col- orado and Florida State round out the top 10. The Directors' Cup final fall stand- ings will be announced later this month. Penn State finished No. 5 in the final 2013-14 Directors' Cup standings, its fifth top-five finish. Penn State has won 26 NCAA championships since 1993-94, its first full year in the Big Ten Confer- ence, more than double every other Big Ten institution. The Nittany Li- ons have won 74 team national cham- pionships all-time, including three in 2013-14, and 90 Big Ten crowns since 1992-93. Penn State is one of only nine pro- grams nationwide to have finished in the final top 25 in every Directors' Cup standings. The others are Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio State, Southern California, Stanford, Texas and UCLA. WEBSITE PROVIDES UPDATES Gravatt's family has set up a website, brettgravatt.cmnph.com, where friends, fans and all those in the Penn State community can receive updates on his condition and overall progress. Those wanting to send cards or letters of encouragement can do so by writing him at: Attn: Brett Gravatt Shepherd Center 2020 Peachtree Road NW Atlanta, Ga. 30309-1465

• Cover