PSAC commissioner says expansion a high priority
Since its formation in 1951, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference has been a model of tradition, consisting solely of state-owned colleges. Privately run institutions were considered taboo.
That may be about to change.
As the 14-member NCAA Division II league looks to expand for a variety of reasons, not only is it considering the admission of private schools, but also those located outside of Pennsylvania.
The PSAC, whose members include seven district schools, offered invitations Monday for full membership to two more from the district -- Gannon and Mercyhurst -- and an associate membership to Long Island University-C.W. Post for football and field hockey.
"Expanding the conference is clearly a high priority for our board of directors," PSAC commissioner Steve Murray said. "In our extensive interaction with the schools, we feel confident that all three share a number of common philosophies with our current members, not the least of which is a strong commitment to balancing athletics and academics."
Murray says there's a growing sentiment in the PSAC that expansion will address concerns over the possible decline of championship sports as a result of some schools eliminating programs, the increasingly high cost of travel and the failure to expand into metropolitan areas.
Erie-based schools Gannon and Mercyhurst are members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, while LIU-C.W. Post, located in Brookville, N.Y., is a D-II independent with associate membership in the Northeast-10 Conference for football only.
Under current guidelines, a change from the GLIAC likely would give privately owned schools Gannon and Mercyhurst an edge in terms of scholarship money.
The PSAC, funded solely by state monies, limits its members to the equivalent of 70 full scholarships for all sports, including 25 in football. The GLIAC's football scholarship limit per school is 36.
Nonetheless, PSAC presidents approved a change in the conference constitution in May, allowing non-state schools to join. They voted unanimously last week to extend invitations to the trio of proposed new members.
The league has given the schools a deadline of two weeks to respond. Should any of the three agree to join the PSAC, they could become members as soon as the 2008-09 season.
White House visit
The White House played host to a pair of Penn State national championship teams Monday, when the Nittany Lions fencing and men's gymnastics squads were honored by President Bush during a special ceremony.
The teams presented Bush with Penn State gifts before posing with him for pictures.
"We will always remember the moment as we were entering the South Lawn of the White House and we heard the Penn State fight song played by the Marine Band," assistant fencing coach Wes Glon said.
The Penn State men's and women's fencing team, led by coach Emmanuil Kadianov, captured its nation's-best 10th national title March 25
The Nittany Lions men's gymnastics team, coached by national coach of the year Randy Jepson, claimed an NCAA-record 12th national championship April 13.
"It was an incredible honor to be able to shake hands with the President and present him with a Nittany Lion statue on behalf of our team and the university," Jepson said. "It was also a great thrill to see our team members share the fruits of a special NCAA championship moment."
Scheduling struggles
The decision last week by St. Peter's to drop its football program has reduced the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Football League to four teams and caused another open date for Duquesne, which will be playing in its final season in the MAAC before moving to the Northeast Conference.
The Dukes, who now have three openings, reportedly tried to fill one date with a game against nearby Geneva, which also found itself scrambling to fill an opening created by the demise of the St. Peter's program.
But the Golden Tornadoes replaced St. Peter's with an Oct. 6 home game against Salisbury before Duquesne came calling.
Summer player
Shippensburg pitcher Matt Wright is among only three non-Division I players participating this summer in the Cape Cod Baseball League.
He made his debut Sunday for Cotuit in a 0-9 victory over Hyannis. Wright pitched four innings, gave up three hits and two earned runs, striking out five.
