Penn State Sits Ninth In LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup Following Fall Soccer Season

Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics posted 271 points in the LEARFIELD Directors' Cup Division I standings throughout the Fall season to sit ninth in the Final Fall rankings.

Penn State's 271 points were led by Women's Soccer's 73 points after reaching the NCAA Quarterfinals. Women's Volleyball contributed 64 points, advancing to its NCAA Regional Semifinal. Football collected 63 points, making its first ever appearance in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The Women's Cross Country team tallied 43 points, while the Men's Cross Country team secured 28 points.

Penn State has ranked among the Top 10 in 17 of the last 20 standings that have been published (not published in Winter 2020 due to COVID-19).

Led by head coach Erica Dambach, Women's Soccer knocked off Central Connecticut State (7-0), No. 23 Santa Clara (2-0) and No. 21 Saint Louis (4-3) to reach the NCAA Quarterfinals. Senior+ midfielder Cori Dyke was recognized as a second-team All-American by the United Soccer Coaches and was named Big Ten Defender of the Year.

Women's Volleyball, led by head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley, played in the NCAA Tournament for the 43rd consecutive season. Penn State finished the year with a 23-9 mark and earned NCAA Tournament wins over Yale (3-1) and No. 15 Kansas (3-2). Senior outside hitter Jess Mruzik was selected a second-team All-American by the AVCA.

Football, led by head coach James Franklin, finished the season with a 10-3 record and was ranked No. 10 in the final College Football Playoff rankings. Penn State made its first ever appearance in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against No. 11 Ole Miss. The Nittany Lions played in their fifth New Year's Six Bowl in the last seven seasons. Olumuyiwa Fashanu became Penn State's 41st consensus All-American after being named a first-team All-American by four NCAA-recognized outlets. Chop Robinson was recognized as a third-team All-American by the Associated Press.

Led by head coach John Gondak, the Women's Cross Country team finished its 2023 campaign at the NCAA Division I Championships, placing 31st in its first trip back to the national meet since 2019. Maddie Ullom paced the Nittany Lions at the championships with a time of 21:00.7. The women's team also finished second at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals, while the men's team placed fourth in the region.

North Carolina currently holds first in the overall standings with 372.5 points. They were followed in the Top Five by Stanford (371), Texas (344), Notre Dame (343) and Tennessee (292.5).

Penn State joins Wisconsin (277.5) as Big Ten schools among the Top 10 and is one of eight Big Ten schools represented in the Top 50.

Under the leadership of Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. Patrick Kraft, Penn State has one of the nation's most comprehensive and successful athletic programs, featuring 800 student-athletes across 31 varsity programs (16 men's, 15 women's). The Nittany Lions' 31 programs are tied for the fourth-highest number of sports sponsored by a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) institution.

Penn State student-athletes have led the athletic department to 40 Big Ten championships and 11 NCAA National Championships since 2012. The Nittany Lions have finished in the top 15 of the LEARFIELD Directors' Cup 20 times in the last 29 years (the Directors' Cup was not awarded in 2019-20).