Natalie Ciccone (Chik-o-nee) has been named a Penn State Sports Information Assistant, Sports Information Director Jeff Nelson said Tuesday.

Ciccone, a 1998 graduate of Goucher College, joins the staff after serving as the Assistant Sports Information Director at Mount St. Mary's College for two years. At Penn State, she will serve as the primary contact for field hockey and women's gymnastics programs, including other assignments.

At Goucher, Ciccone (who is a Manhattan native) was a member of the women's lacrosse team for four years, and she worked as a student assistant in the sports information office. During her senior year, she was Co-Interim Sports Information Director for three months while a new SID was being hired.

Joining Ciccone as a Penn State Sports Information Assistant will be Randy Press, who served as Penn State's Sports Information intern this past year.

While in that capacity, Press worked with Penn State's men's swimming, men's golf and men's volleyball and softball squads, as well as assignments with the football and women's basketball teams.

Press, a 1999 graduate of Georgia Southern University, will serve as the primary contact for the women's volleyball, women's gymnastics and baseball programs at Penn State, as well as other assignments.

A native of Coral Springs, Fla., Press recently was honored by the College Sports Information Directors of America, who named his 1999-2000 Penn State men's golf brochure as "Best in the District."