Press Releases - Summer 2004

The following are press releases for the Kutztown University Athletic Department, released during the time listed above.  For more information, contact the sports information office.  

GOLDEN BEARS 30th IN DIRECTORS CUP STANDINGS

Baseball
Jon Shade (fr. Muhlenberg/Muhlenberg)
Jason Verdelli (so. Hummelstown/Lower Dauphin)

Men's Basketball
Alburn Brown (sr. Philadelphia/Engineering & Science)

Women's Basketball
Jennifer Loprete (fr. Wescosville/Emmaus)
Brooke Martin (jr. Lock Haven/Central Mountain)
Danielle Zeigler (sr. Carlisle/Carlisle)  (also softball)

Men's Cross Country/Indoor, Outdoor Track & Field
Tim Bartholomew (sr. Whitehall/Whitehall)
Kent Eisenhuth (so. Orwigsburg/Blue Mountain)
Tony Hegedus (fr. Coopersburg/Southern Lehigh)
Matt Hoover (fr. Lancaster/Lancaster Catholic)
Sean Loomis (fr. Havertown/Haverford)
James McDonough (sr. Waynesboro/Waynesboro)
Nate Wood (sr. Lanse/West Branch)

Women's Cross Country/Indoor, Outdoor Track & Field
Jen Baney (sr. Bloomsburg/Central Columbia)
Amie Bennett (jr. Sinking Spring/Wilson)
Candice Bullard (jr. Schwenksville/Perkiomen Valley)
Bethany Davanzati (jr. Morgantown/Hewitt-Trussville {AL})
Amanda Grant (jr. Whitehall/Whitehall)
Tara Hannon (fr. Ellicott City, MD/Howard)
Deneen Igo (fr. Barnesville/Mahanoy Area)
Laura Kline (fr. Reading/Reading) (also field hockey)
Megan Lacy (fr. Richboro/Villa Joseph Marie)
Anita Landis (sr. Milton/Warrior Run)
Molly Lare (fr. Bethlehem/Liberty)
Lauren Maxwell (sr. Woburn, MA/Woburn) (also field hockey)
Lauren McNeil (so. Easton/Easton)
Danielle Mousley (jr. Manheim Twp./Manheim Twp.)
Sara Otis (jr. Wyalusing/Wyalusing Valley)
Erin Peiffer (sr. New Providence/Solanco)
Jaclyn Pfeiffer (so. Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough)
Christine Procopio (so. Oakland, NJ/Indian Hills)
Amy Schaeffer (so. Richland/ELCO)

Field Hockey
Amanda Behney (so. Lyons/Kutztown)
Laura Belfatti (fr. Hatfield/Lansdale Catholic)
Ciara Borden (jr. Hanover/Delone Catholic)
Ali Delich (so. Palmerton/Palmerton)
Colleen Healey (so. Toms River, NJ/Toms River North)
Trista Hershey (so. Fredericksburg/Tulpehocken)
Jamie Kennally (so. Lansdale/Lansdale Catholic)
Erin Livingston (jr. Philadelphia/Archbishops Carroll) (also softball)
Lauren McCabe (so. Shohola/Delaware Valley)

Football
Michael Baldwin (so. Philadelphia/Dobbins Tech)
Larry Baumgardner (fr. New Oxford/New Oxford)
Trevor Miller (sr. Lititz/Manheim Township)
Greg Mitchell (so. Bethlehem/Bethlehem Catholic)
Eric Newell (so. Bethlehem/Bethlehem Catholic)
Patrick O'Neil (fr. Souderton/Souderton)
Eric Painter (sr. Brookville/Brookville)

Women's Golf
Colleen Casey (fr. Collegeville/Perkiomen Valley)
Laura Dietz (sr. Langhorne/Neshaminy)
Tara Redcay (sr. Lewisburg/Bloomsburg)

Women's Soccer
Erin Gallagher (so. Vorhees, NJ/Eastern)
Mallary Kamen (fr. Lancaster/Manheim Township)
Allison Kern (fr. Reading/Exeter)
Angelic Ostrander (jr. East Stroudsburg/East Stroudsburg)
Gwen Post (so. Edinboro/General McLane)
Colleen Rooney (so. Reading/Muhlenberg)
Lauren Tatro (jr. Somerville, NJ/Somerville)

Softball
Kathleen Bittner (fr. West Chester/West Chester East)
Sara Cook (so. Chambersburg/Chambersburg)

Men's Swimming
Chris Becker (so. Reading/Schuylkill Valley)
Greg Fulkerson (jr. Towanda/Towanda)

Women's Swimming
Kristen Chapin (jr Bloomsburg/Central Columbia)
Teri Greszczak (fr. Hackettstown, NJ/Hackettstown)
Kati Hoover (fr. Hershey/Hershey)
Leigh Anne Kaufmann (jr. Oradell, NJ/River Dell Regional)
Carol Luschas (jr. Bloomsburg/Central Columbia)
Haley Ravel (sr. Reading/Governor Mifflin)
Jill Sobolefski (sr. Huntingdon Valley/Upper Moreland)
Jennifer Steider (jr. Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial)
Megan Strychowski (so. Doylestown/Central Bucks East)
Kelsey Wiley (fr. Chalfont/Central Bucks West)

Men's Tennis
Somdeep Appineni (fr. Andhra Pradesh, INDIA)
Thorsten Maier (fr. Ludwigs Hafen, GERMANY)

Women's Tennis
Kerstin Kloeffer (fr. Ludwigs Hafen, GERMANY)
Zsuzsanna Lukovicxki (jr. Bekescaba, HUNGARY)
Priya Pachkawde (fr. Nasik, INDIA)
Katie Rohrbach (sr. Lebanon/Cedar Crest)
Jennifer Wiand (fr. Pottstown/Pottstown)

Women's Volleyball
Sarah Brandon (fr. Gibsonia/Pine-Richland)
Shelby Bunting (fr. Green Lane/Pennridge)
Jessie Didier (sr. Tunkhannock/Tunkhannock)
Krystalee George (fr. Wescosville/Emmaus)
Erin Gruver (fr. Coplay/Whitehall)
Katie Herman (fr. Grove City/Grove City)
Mary Kate Strine (sr. York/Central York)
Dani Witherite (fr. State College/State College)

June 21, 2004 

DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS CLARK YEAGER TO TAKE ON NEW ROLE AT KU 

KUTZTOWN, PA – Kutztown University Director of Athletics Clark Yeager has been named the school’s new assistant to the provost, Dr. F. Javier Cevallos, university president, announced.  

Yeager

          Yeager, who has served as director of athletics at KU since 1992, will step down as AD on August 1, and will assume his new position on August 21. 

            Jack Entriken, a member of the department of athletics faculty, will move from his current role as athletic trainer to interim director of athletics.  Entriken will also chair the search for Yeager’s full-time replacement.  A new athletics director is expected to be named by January 1, 2005. 

               "Clark took our athletics program from one of the lowest in the state, to second in ranking,” Cevallos said.   “We are delighted that he now will be applying that same imagination and ability to develop successful programs in our academic arena." 

            Yeager has been the driving force behind many of Kutztown University’s athletics team and student-athlete successes, both on the playing venues and in the classrooms.   

            During his 12 years at KU, the sports teams won a combined 33 division, conference and regional championships.  Prior to 1992, the university’s teams had won just 10 titles in 100 years of intercollegiate athletic competition. 

            Over the same time span, Yeager guided a dramatic improvement in the academic success of Golden Bear student-athletes.  From 1992 to 2004, KU student-athletes’ combined grade-point average rose from 2.50 to 2.86, and is currently within 0.02 of the overall campus average of 2.88.  The number of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Scholar-Athletes has grown from 15 in 1992-93, to as high as 89 last year.  Finally, the six-year graduation rate for student-athletes has risen from 50 percent in 1991-92, to 60 percent last year.  The graduation rate for scholarship student-athletes has risen from 33 to 50 percent over the same time span. 

            “It was an incredible experience working with Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Chick Woodard, former President Dr. David McFarland and President Cevallos, as well as other members of the University leadership and community,” Yeager said.  “They provided me with great support in maintaining a commitment to quality, diversity, academics and athletic success, and doing so the right way.           

            “I’m proud of the role our department has had – as a result of the hard work of the coaches, support staff and student-athletes – in improving the reputation and perception, as well as the quality of campus life at Kutztown,” Yeager said.  

            During his time at the helm, Yeager oversaw remarkable increases in athletic, academic and endowed scholarships for student-athletes.  He spearheaded the expansion of the athletics staff by eight full-time coaching and support staff positions and directed a better-than 300 percent increase in external fund raising by the athletics department.  Yeager has also helped KU make strides in Title IX compliance.  During his tenure, the university has nearly doubled the number of opportunities for female students to compete at the intercollegiate level, while maintaining all of its men’s sports.   

            “Clark has always placed the ‘student’ first, and the ‘athlete’ second, in his list of priorities to help ensure that the student-athlete’s central purpose of pursuing higher learning was always in proper order,” said Woodard, who oversees the athletics department.  “While it is comforting to know that his talents will be used to help the university attain other plateaus of excellence, he will be sorely missed in our athletics program.” 

            The athletics success reached an all-time high during the 2003-04 school year, as the department finished as runner-up in the standings for the PSAC’s Dixon Trophy, an award to measure the athletic success of the PSAC’s 14 member schools.  The Golden Bears also finished 30th in the United States Sports Academy Directors' Cup, an award given to the top athletics programs in NCAA Division II.  It was the highest finish by any PSAC institution this year.  Additionally, KU’s teams won a combined 202 contests, including 87 against PSAC opponents, the most ever.   

            “Clark has a good vision of what college athletics is all about,” said Brian Mondschein, Kutztown’s head track & field coach.  “He would push us as coaches and expected what seemed like unattainable goals.  Then we would surpass those goals, and realized that they were in fact attainable.  For that, I am thankful.” 

            In his new position at Kutztown, Yeager will assist Dr. Linda Rinker, university provost, in the areas of summer school, transfer students and lifelong learning. 

            Yeager came to KU from Chico State (CA) University in 1992. During his time there, he served as CSU’s interim athletics director, associate athletics director and head swim coach. He won 13 league championships, while never having lost a conference dual meet and never finishing lower than seventh NCAA Division II Championships.  He was inducted into Chico State’s Hall of Fame in 1998.

             Yeager holds a bachelor’s degree in humanities and a master’s degree in physical education, both from Chico.

June 14, 2004 

GOLDEN BEARS 30th IN DIRECTORS CUP STANDINGS 

KUTZTOWN, PA – The Kutztown University Athletics department placed 30th in the final standings for the NCAA Division II United States Sports Academy Directors’ Cup, presented annually by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) to the best overall collegiate athletics programs in the country.             

             Kutztown had 358.5 points to finish 30th overall.  KU’s finish this year ranks among the top 11% of the 282 Division II institutions eligible for the competition.  Of those institutions, 225 registered points.  

             Eight KU sports contributed to the standings.  Those sports that contributed, along with their NCAA division II national finish and points scored, were: baseball (seventh, 70 points), softball (ninth, 64), men's tennis (ninth, 64), women's soccer (17th, 25), men's swimming (24th, 26), men’s indoor track & field (31st, 42.5), wrestling (31st, 42) and women's tennis (33rd, 25).  Men’s outdoor track & field also placed at the NCAA Championships, but since the indoor team finished higher, its points were used.   

Grand Valley State (Mich.) won its first Directors' Cup trophy with a total of 810 points.  That total was nearly 150 points more than the second place institution, California-San Diego.  

Kutztown’s score was the highest by a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) school in the 2003-04 standings.  After Kutztown, Shippensburg achieved the next highest standing for a PSAC institution with 316 points and a 35th place finish.  Last month, Shippensburg edged Kutztown for the PSAC’s Dixon Trophy, awarded to the conference’s top athletics program based on performance in PSAC championships.  Indiana (PA) (41st, 296) and Edinboro (47th, 279) also finished among the top 50.   

             Points for the Director’s Cup are awarded based on the bracket size for team sports, or the number of teams that place in individual sports, for each championship.    

            Kutztown was 53rd in last year’s standings after finishing 29th in 2001-02.  The Golden Bears’ highest ever finish in the standings was 25th after the 1995-96 school year, the first year the award was presented.