Kapinos a candidate for top punter award
Penn State senior Jeremy Kapinos is among the candidates for the Ray Guy Award, presented to the nation's top punter.
One of the top punters in Penn State history, Kapinos is one of 47 candidates for the honor.
A four-year starter, Kapinos has 9,213 punting yards during his career. The Penn State record holder is Ralph Giacomarro, with 9,402 career yards, leaving Kapinos 190 yards from breaking the mark.
Kapinos is averaging 41.7 yards on 31 punts this season, with 13 kicks inside the 20 and 10 fair catches. Penn State opponents have just 12 punt returns for a 4.5 average through seven games. His 41.7 career average is tied for fourth all-time at Penn State with John Bruno, Jr.
Posluszny nominated for Lombardi Award
All-America linebacker Paul Posluszny has been selected a semifinalist for the 37th Rotary Lombardi Award, presented by Wachovia Bank. The award is presented to the nation's top lineman or linebacker.
Posluszny was one of four finalists for the 2005 Rotary Lombardi Award and the only junior. The 2006 recipient will be announced December 6 at a dinner, which benefits the American Cancer Society, to be held at the Hilton Americas Hotel in Houston.
The 2006 Pre-season Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Posluszny won the 2005 Butkus Award as the nation's premier linebacker and the 2005 Chuck Bednarik Award, presented to the nation's top defensive player.
Posluszny leads the Nittany Lions with 57 tackles (34 solo) this season, including three tackles for losses, one sack and two pass break-ups. The former Hopewell High School standout is just the third Nittany Lion to record 300 career tackles and with 313 stops, is just 31 away from breaking Greg Buttle's school career record.
Posluszny made a season-high 12 tackles against Notre Dame on Sept. 9. In the past three contests, he has made 10 stops vs. Northwestern, nine solo hits at Minnesota and seven tackles vs. unbeaten Michigan, including two tackles for losses.
In 2005, Posluszny became the seventh Nittany Lion to earn first team All-America and Academic All-America honors in the same season. He is one of the squad's top students with a 3.56 grade point average in finance. He has made the Dean's List in five of his initial six semesters and is on schedule to graduate in December, in 3 years.
Fencers earn medals representing the U.S.
Two members of Penn State's women's fencing team have claimed world medals for performances in two prestigious international events in October. Sophomore Caitlin Thompson and freshman Doris Willette both brought home medals after representing the United States this month.
Thompson, a sophomore on Penn State's women's saber team and a returning All-American, was a member of the United States National Saber team that won a silver medal at the 2006 World Championships in Turin, Italy in early October.
Willette, an incoming true freshman on the women's foil squad, won the 2006 women's foil title at the Junior World Cup in Bratislava, Slovakia. Willette's gold medal performance took place this past weekend.
Penn State will open up the 2006-07 NCAA fencing season with a visit to the Temple Open on Oct. 28-29. The home slate ensues the following weekend when the Lions host the annual Garret Penn State Open on Nov. 4-5.
