WE ARE....NIT CHAMPS!

Hi All,

What a week here in Happy Valley. The Penn State Men's Basketball Team won the first championship of a national tournament in program history. While it was not the NCAA, the NIT still gives students a team to rally behind.

On Tuesday, our team headed to Madison Square Garden to play Notre Dame. Over sixteen busloads of students (myself included) made the five hour voyage from State College to New York City to watch Penn State beat the Irish! We were all excited after we won!

On Thursday, our competition was a bit stiffer. Over 36 busloads of students (myself included again) made the trip to Madison Square Garden to watch Penn State knock off Baylor in a come from behind 69-63 victory to win the NIT Championship! It was such a great experience to watch my team hoist a trophy and cut down the nets in the mecca of all sports, Madison Square Garden!



On top of that, the #40 recruited player for 2010, Taran Buie, brother of our co-captain, Taylor Battle, committed to Penn State after we clinched the NIT championship! We are so excited for what our program may become - Penn State will always be a football school, but basketball is definitely on the rise!

As far as my life is going, I am in the middle of the final stretch of tests before a break before finals week. I have been averaging three to four tests a week and can't wait for the summer to have the burden of school lifted off of my shoulders. College is fun, but is also a lot of work. It is all about maintaining that balance of work and fun - I had my fun last week with Penn State winning the NIT and now it is time to start buckling down for the home stretch of my freshman year!



- Tracker
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"Numbers, you can beat numbers sometimes. Records can be broken, but legacies, they live forever, and that's what I want to leave with." -- Jamelle Cornley (Penn State Forward; Senior)

Madison Square Garden...Here We Come!

Hi All,

Just a quick post to let you know that Penn State advanced to the semifinals of the NIT and earned a ticket to Madison Square Garden. We are going crazy here on campus and some of us are making plans to go to the Garden to watch the festivities on next Tuesday night. One of those people is me - I can't wait to see us get announced!

We play the winner of the Kentucky v. Notre Dame game which tips off tomorrow night at 7:00 PM on ESPN 2.

Other than that, life in Happy Valley has been pretty subdued. We are experiencing an early Spring cold spell and are looking forward to warmer weather. I have my first track and field meet on Thursday (it was supposed to be Saturday, but got cancelled due to an expected rain storm).

- Tracker
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"Success doesn't come to you…you go to it."- Marva Collins

Hartman Race

Hi All,

This past Saturday the Adaptive Sports Foundation hosted the annual Ralph Hartman Tribute Race. It was a great event and fun was had by all! I saw the best conditions that I have ever seen for a Hartman Race and it really allowed everybody to showcase the improvements they made over the course of the season! I finished with a silver medal and am already looking forward to next season!

I am now back in Happy Valley after my Spring Break, so I've been very busy with work as I had to give a speech on Tuesday and a big test on Thursday. Now that the week is over, I can breathe a bit easier and look forward to the weekend.

Unfortunately, the Penn State Men's Basketball Team got robbed of an NCAA berth and wound up with a #2 seed in the NIT as our consolation prize. Some students are extremely disappointed, but I have chosen to move on and enjoy the fact that we have a postseason. Also, a huge plus to being in the NIT instead of the NCAA is the opportunity for home games.

Since we were the #2 seed, we played George Mason at home on Tuesday. George Mason was a #7 seed that gave us a run for our money! We almost lost and, as a matter of fact, trailed for the majority of the second half. With 4.8 seconds left and George Mason up by one, we fouled one of their players who made both of his free throws. Down by three, our star player, Taylor Battle, got the ball and ran down the court and released the ball with under a second left from beyond the arc. The ball went in and the game was sent into overtime! We wound up winning that game and moving on to the second round! It was a great game to be at!

The second game was held last night (Thursday) and was against Rhode Island, a #6 seed that we lost to earlier in the season. Many people blame our loss to Rhode Island as one of the many reasons that we did not get an NCAA berth. The game was marketed as "REVENGE" and it was revenge that we got! We never trailed in the game and won by 11 with a final score of 83-72. We thought it would be a bit closer as one of our captains did not play as he injured his shoulder. Our underclassmen stepped up and the game was a pleasure to watch! I had great seats for the game as I was in the first row of the student section at center court. I was literally right between the two TV announcers and was on TV for the pregame and halftime talks. It was so cool!

We play the winner of Florida and Miami (a game that is on ESPN U at 7:00 PM tonight). Ideally, we want Miami to win because Florida is the #1 seed which would mean we would have to travel. If Miami wins, we get one more home game this season. If we win our next game (whether it be home or away) we are in the final four and play at the Madison Square Garden!

As you can see, ski season may be over, but I am still extremely busy between schoolwork and sporting events! I am already looking forward to ski season next year, but am kind of excited for the warmer weather and baseball season.

I hope everyone had as great of a season as I did!

- Tracker
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"No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow." - Proverb