Lions ranked No. 13 in annual Sports Cup

A trio of NCAA quarterfinal appearances and a New Year's bowl win once again has Penn State among the leaders in the U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup standings, a ranking system that takes all of a school's varsity sports under account.

The Nittany Lions are ranked 13th in the standings (255 points) through the fall sports season and off to a good start as they seek a 14th consecutive top 25 finish in the Cup's 14-year history. Penn State has finished in the top 10 seven times, and the top five a total of four times.

The U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. The United States Sports Academy, based in Daphne, Ala., is the program's sponsor. More than 300 Division I institutions are eligible to be ranked in the standings. Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in up to 20 sports -- 10 men's and 10 women's.

Four Big Ten schools are among the Directors' Cup Top 25 through the fall, with Wisconsin tied for No. 4 (309 points), Penn State at No. 13 (255), Ohio State at No. 16 (214) and Michigan at No. 19 (204).

Penn State track star earns weekly honors

Junior Lena Bettis has been named the Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week, announced by Big Ten offices yesterday afternoon. Bettis looked sharp at the Penn State Relays last Saturday, winning a pair of individual events, and helping the sprint relay medley team to victory. The Big Ten honor is the first of her career.

Bettis, along with teammates Lauren Burns, Aleesha Barber, and Briene Simmons, combined to finish the sprint medley relay in three minutes, 52.25 seconds, setting new meet, school, and facility records.

Individually, Bettis captured wins in both the long and triple jump, winning the Penn State Relays' long jump title for the second time in two years. Bettis recorded a leap of 18 feet, 10.5 inches to win the long jump. The leap was just a quarter of an inch off her indoor personal best.

In the triple jump, the junior took top honors with a mark of 39-1.75.