Alderman earns honor as Player of the Week

Senior Mike Alderman of the Penn State diving team was named the Big Ten Diver of the Week yesterday for his efforts in Penn State's first dual meet of the year last Thursday at West Virginia. Alderman won both the one and three-meter events and put up an NCAA Zone A qualifying score in the one-meter.

Alderman, a fifth-year senior and the defending Big Ten champion on the one-meter springboard, started out last week's meet by winning the three-meter with a 282.80 score, topping the second place diver by 24 points. He then scored a 319.80 on the one-meter, easily surpassing the minimum qualifying score of 300 that is necessary to qualify for the NCAA Zone Championships. He won the one-meter by a large margin of 48.3.

Highberger walks on to men's basketball

The Penn State men's basketball roster has grown to 16 as the Nittany Lions announced the addition of freshman guard Adam Highberger to the team. The 6-2, 175-pound graduate of Blairsville High School (2006) becomes the third walk-on to join the Penn State roster and has already proved to be a valuable contributor during preseason practices.

Highberger tallied 2,096 career points as a four-year letterman at Blairsville. He served as team captain as a junior and senior, helping to lead the squad to 29-2 and 28-3 records, respectively. He averaged 20.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game as a senior. The team won Heritage Conference and District 6 championships both years and reached the PIAA Class A state semi-finals in both 2005 and 2006.

In his three years as a starter, the Bobcats posted a 79-10 mark. Highberger also excelled on the football field earning Pennsylvania Class A first-team All-state honors at quarterback and is believed to be the first Pennsylvania athlete to throw for over 4,000 yards in football and score more than 2,000 points in basketball. The recipient of numerous academic and community awards, Highberger also lettered in track and graduated second in his class with a 4.0 grade-point average.

The Nittany Lions will get there first test of the season on Nov. 1 when they take on Edinboro in exhibition action at the Bryce Jordan Center at 7:30 p.m. Penn State will also play an exhibition on Nov. 6 vs. Shippensburg in the Jordan Center before opening the season at home on Nov. 10 with a 7:30 p.m. contest against Morehead State.

Field hockey's Legel becomes an all-star

Senior Annelise Legel of the Penn State field hockey team has been named a 2006 National Field Hockey Coaches' Association (NFHCA) Division I All-Star and will play in the NFHCA Division I All-Star game on Saturday, November 18, in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The all-star teams, which are chosen from the best seniors around the country, will be held the same weekend as the NCAA Final Four, which is also being held in Winston-Salem and is being hosted by Wake Forest University.

Legel is one of three seniors on the Nittany Lions this year and is a co-captain. Entering this weekend's final games, she has started all 15 games and has scored four goals and recorded three assists for 11 total points. Her 34 shots and 22 shots on goal both rank third on the team. For her career to this point, Legel has played in 73 games and has 25 goals, 10 assists, and 60 points.